Sundarbans

Deep down inside I, basically am a wanderer, so do not like to be tied down to watertight itinerary. And Sundarban is just for people like me. It topples your cart at the first go. 

It so happened that kids were having Republic Day holidays, so the search for sites near Kolkatta, which could be covered up within 2-3 days, was done. It gave very few results. Darjeeling was vetoed out even without giving it due consideration,  as it was impossible 'To Do' it, in stipulated time. My son is a great fan of wildlife so it was zeroed down to 'Sundarban' for its galore of wildlife. Notable among-st it was the attraction for famous 'Royal Bengal' tiger.

Initially, my opinion about the nomenclature was, 'Another pompous arrogance' of Bengalis, as they always put themselves above the rest, for being [ or they assume ] more 'Articulate, Cultured and dignified !' 'Bhadra Lok'! In other words, 'Snob'? But it turned out that 'Royal Bengal Tiger' is really class apart in the species for a variety of reasons. More about it later.

As everybody knows, 'Sundarban' is situated on the marshy delta, created by the confluence of three major rivers of North India and Bangla Desh. Ganga [ Ganges, Padma ], Meghana [ Mostly from Bangla Desh] and last but definitely not the least, Brahmaputra. In fact, this marshy, water-laden topography starts from Kolkatta itself. Kolkatta has water bodies all over. Maybe, every 500 meters, either there is a small pond or a big lake. It goes from small canals to rivulets, to at times big rivers! [ So The abundance of mosquitoes and high incidence of Malaria !]. Water accompanies you all the way to 'Sundarban' because there are not less than 100s of rivers in Sundarban alone! I don't know or can't say specifically, but it seems that maybe, Bengalis are averse to name ' Ganga'. Right from their own Hooghly, which other than Kolkattans consider being the continuation of Ganga, none of the rivers from the area has the suffix 'Ganga, like we have here, in this part of India, say 'Panchganga. Vainganga Dakshin Ganga' and so on! 

It's a short journey of around 100 km only but takes longer time than expected, even though it's a state highway, SH No. 3. It has only two lanes and passes through many densely populated towns and villages. The road journey ends at Godkhali Ferry Jetty as there are no roads beyond and one has to travel in a boat! 

And here the itinerary took a spin downwards! Due to the extended weekend, the roads were jam-packed with holidaymakers. Our tour operator alone had 5 buses full of tourists! We reached Godkhali 90 minutes late due to frequent traffic jams! As there were no prior arrangements for who would ride which boat,  chaos ruled the roost on the wharf! And I realized that for a full throat-ed quarrel, language is secondary because when fought with full volume, all the verbal duels sound same and Bengali does not lag behind!

One funny thing has to be mentioned! Once off the jetty, most of the boats anchor midstream! Mid steam in capitals! It's to segregate the tourists according to their hotel reservations!  So we were asked to jump from one boat to another, that carried other travellers to our hotel! The ordeal did not end but continued for three more hours. As per the brochure, the boat ride was to be of only for an hour or so but our boatman had decided to have a race with a man walking on the banks, in a reverse way, "Who would be slower!" When confronted, the speed increased but did not overtake the man on the bank! By the time we reached 'Sajnekhali Pakhiralay Sanctuary,' it was dark, as dusk descends earlier on the east Indian horizons! There was 'No Lunch',  only biscuits were served in a journey of 5 to 6 hours since breakfast, naturally, the tempers rose, but well,  if you don't want to pay heed, you don't! Our pleas fell on deaf ears.

Everybody whom we had met a day earlier, when told, that, 'We would be visiting the  Sundarban', had said, ' Oh good, but you won't sight the Tiger !'

And the next day it was vastly apparent that the prophecy was going to be true! There were more than 10s of thousands, eager Tiger watchers waiting on the jetty for their chance! Reminded me of Bhushi dam revellers, with  15th August holiday falling on Saturdays!

To have the glimpse of the royal cat, your watertight itinerary is useless. You have to stay put for hours just to have the whiff. And with those thousands, it was well nigh, next to impossible!

Why Sundarban Tiger is Royal? Straight from the mouth of the guide. They are taller,  better looking with shining colour and bright stripes, stronger and much more ferocious among-st the species. And they drink salt water! Probably that's the reason for their being different! They can swim for miles crossing the river, to catch the easy prey from nearby human habitations. There are nearly 30 or more human deaths every year by tiger attacks!

The way you traverse the jungle terrains in a jeep, here you ride a boat. The only difference is, open Jeep hardly accommodates 5 to 6 people, here boat was teeming with people, ours had more than 35! Thus there was a fat chance to sight the tiger. We decided to do away with few spotted dears here and few wild boars there! The exception was a lazy croc resting on the mud bank listlessly!

Birds! Plenty lost the count.! Kingfisher soothed the eyes while this sparrow-like Robin took away the heart with its cuteness!

The biggest bird of the area a type of heron was just a sight to look at!

It abounds in flora and fauna. The mangroves having more than one species was news to me. In Mumbai we have only one type of plants in mangroves, maybe a few more but in Sundarbans there are more than 20 species of them with their breathing roots jutting out of the muddy soil to seek oxygen. Sundari plants from which the jungle gets its name abound in number! The jungle does not have many tall trees the way normal jungles have. The average height of trees here does not rise above the bush level.

What is breathtaking in Sundarbans, is the sight of waters! At one point there is a confluence of FIVE rivers! Prominent amongst them are Bidya and Matla. Reminded me of dialogue by Vidya Balan from 'Kahani' .' Vidya, Vidya, not Bidya'. But here, it's definitely 'Bidya'! Though the sea, Bay of Bengal, is far away, the vastness of the water body, reminds you of the sea, that takes your breath away!

We visited three spots via boat but it was disappointing due to maddening crowds. Maybe our timing was wrong but if you have more than enough time on the hand and patience to stay a put, Royal Bengal tiger should be a treat to the eyes.

Disillusioned as we were, we cut our trip short by a day and returned to Kolkatta earlier and it was a wise decision, We could spend quality time with our kids that was much more precious than the sight of Royal Bengal Tiger!