Calcutta

Got up at cock's crow and made myself ready for a day sightseeing. After a quick cup of tea I headed for the Metro and bought a ticket for Kalighat station. Once there I started asking directions to the Kali temple the station is named after. Eventually I got to some kind of temple but it looked more like a park and next to it was some complex that was closed. Later I learned later that I had been in the wrong place. After walking around in circles there for awhile I took a taxi to College Road.

Sachin Mitra Lane

Sachin Mitra Lane

At College Road, as the name says, are a lot of learning institutions as well as book stores. Was hoping to buy something interesting to read but unfortunately I was out too early. Walked around and watched students having a dip in the pool that I suppose was dedicated for student sports. I came across a tram line so I grabbed a tram and rode over to the Esplanade.

Close to Shyambazaar

Calcutta traffic

Near Kalighat

College Road

From there I started walking towards Park Street and I was suddenly hijacked by a shopkeeper to come and look at his wares. I was totally non+committed but to humor him I decided to go and have a look. He had me sit down and offered Indian chai and started pulling out stuff that I was not in the least interested in. I was interested in Nepalese Gurkha knives, they had obviously been hand made, probably made in Nepal too but buying one in Calcutta was not my deal. I want to buy one in Nepal when I hopefully travel there someday.

Inside the tram

Calcutta tram bogie

My Tamil breakfast

Museum of India

Finally he presented some batiks and I took a fancy of a tapestry that was abt 1.5 x 2.0m long, it depicted Krishna with his women. The asking price was horrendous, something like 3800 rupees so I just took my bag and started to leave and the Owner became frantic and told me how much do I want to pay? I told him that I have no idea what these kind of things cost but I can't afford his asking price. He pleaded me to say something so I told him 1000 rupees. He went into another fit and I told him goodbye and started down the stairs, after 3 steps he said "OK, take it". As I was his first customer of the day he could not afford to have me walk out on the street without buying anything, it would spell disaster for the rest of the days business. I paid him and got my tapestry. I felt quite ruthless but nonetheless I think he made a profit.

Ceremonial Kali Mask

Mammoth found up in Punjab

LP's manufactured by lacquer produced in India (bug excreta)

Opium samples

Kali painting

Miniature of a Parsi "Tower of solitude" 

Next I stopped in a antique store that was displaying brass figures. Being a sucker for such stuff  I had to go in and see what was on offer. There were a lot of brass figurines from the smallest 1 inch to the biggest abt 1 foot tall. The shop Owner was an elderly fellow who loved to talk about his pieces and gladly showed them as well. Finally I settled on 3 figures from the Hindu mythology and the price came to abt 6000 rupees. It was a fair price as I had been earlier in Delhi, Mumbai, Goa & Cochin buying several similar size statues for same price more or less.

Calcutta Architecture

Old gramophone player in an auction shop

As I walked on I came across the Museum of India, the building was imposing and looked interesting so I ventured inside. The entry fee was a pittance and I started walking the halls of the big building. Even to try and explain what was on display would be worth of several novels, but in short I could say it is sort of a Smithsonian of India. There is a lot to see and learn although the building is in dire need of repairs and some of the exhibits are not least to say "tired". I spent there a few hours and started to suffer from culture shock so I decided to leave. I was walking around the streets aimlessly and eventually ended down south of Calcutta and my feet started aching so I took the Metro back to Shyambazar.

Rickshaws & bicycles were still popular ways of transport

Metro art @ Shyambazaar station 

The evening was spent chatting with Priyak while we emptied his fridge of beer. The sleep was excellent after such a day.

Trip to Calcutta

On the 29th I flew to Calcutta from Bangkok with Kingfisher airline. Service was excellent and they were not stingy with the beer, King of Good times...

In Calcutta the taxis are yellow

I landed in Calcutta late afternoon and took a cab to Shyambazar where Priyak Mitra lives. He is the brother of a colleague, Ms. Tushita Patel, that I work with. Shyambazar is one of the oldest townships in Calcutta and I could well see that judging by the narrow and winding lanes that would make you loose orientation in no time. When I arrived Priyak's house only the housestaff was present as the patrons had gone for a function. I left my bag there and went out for a walk after a cup of tea.

Downtown Calcutta

Took Metro to Park Street where I walked around gazing at the architecture and various shops and street stalls peddling their wares. After awhile I arrived the Esplanade station and took the Metro back to Shyambazar. Once back at the house I was given dinner and I exchanged some news with my friendly hosts.

After awhile the elctricity was cut due to blackout so it was a good time to retire for the night.

Shyambazaar 

Departure Lakshadweep

The morning 14th is the last time I go and drop off the security detail and I pick up the last batch of curry and parotha's. Soon enough we send our guests to the airport and it is time for us to settle the bureaucratic matters with locals and have a breather.

The parotha and fish curry cook in front of his tools of the trade

We have time enough so some crew are given opportunity to dive the Fish soup site and other opts for having a stroll on Agatti Island. I'm content in nursing my flu.

Agatti police station

Road to the jetty

It was an interesting sojourn to one of the most remote territories of India. The sad part was that we did not have the opportunity to see more Islands due to the recent piracy clashes with the Indian Navy and pending piracy threat from Somalia. They are now a real scourge of the Indian Ocean in their own right as per the current statistics and news.

Local cargo ship being unloaded

The western jetty on Agatti

Late evening we have everything cleared out, tenders on deck and ship is secured for sea. We heave up anchor and depart for Mumbai.

Tinakara Island, Lakshadweep

The morning starts with same routine of changing security details and picking up a hefty lot of fish curry and roti's for Indian breakfast.

Local cargo ship in the Agatti Is. lagoon

Meanwhile I have come down with a heavy head cold so diving is out my activities. In the afternoon we dive near Bangaram Island (SW side) and is according to all divers the best site so far. I could see bottom fairly clearly and there are deep rifts in the corals where the divers find small grottoes where the fish and other creatures hide.

Morning walk on Agatti Island

Local boat named after the pan-Islamic Indian Independence fighter

Next step in program is to set up BBQ on Tinakara Island and that takes us some time as we have to negotiate the coral reef between Tinakara and Bangaram, luckily most of it is buoyed to the resort that is at Bangaram but after that the rest goes solely on having a lookout sitting on the bow and showing the way.

Seasonal algae growth in the Tinakara lagoon

Coconut store

As we passed Bangaram a lot of people crowds the beach. According to our diveguide, Sikandar, they are local inhabitants of the Island and many have no jobs now when the resort is closed due to some business deal gone sour. The case is in court pending decision, meanwhile the resort stays closed. Well, I suppose they have gone back to their old profession of fishing and coconut harvesting.

Tinakara Island

We set up the BBQ and I walk around the Island, it is fairly big and in the middle is a couple of huts that is probably used for coconut storage and is also having signs of intermittent habitation as I can see fish hanging on a line for drying. It looked like it had been hanging there for quite awhile though.

After some time I meet a group of locals, they speak no english but with some sign language I get them to pick a few coconuts for me. The climbing technique still baffles me, I recall trying it out in 2007 in Maldives but still could not get up the trunk, I guess I'm more of a gorilla despite being born in the year of the monkey.

Coconut picking

At the beaches I can see countless empty bottles of alcohol, interesting considering Lakshadweep is a muslim community with zero tolerance policy.

William is also completing the started dive course and the two students are ecstatic having concluded their first dive.

Alok, my 3rd Officer

As the sun starts to set we pack up and make our way back to the ship, it would not be fun navigating the channel in the dark as it is lined with huge coral boulders just under the surface. Once we are in the channel we floor it and make it back just in time.

In the evening we go for night fishing with a local fish expert of some kind. No matter how many times we change fishing grounds the fish still eludes us. Eventually the night breeze becomes quite strong so we head back for the ship and call it a night.

Lakshadweep, Agatti Island

So early morning we were carrying back the BBQ stuff and cleaning and packing it where every item belongs. Towels and chair covers to the laundry, crockery to the pantry and galley and so on. At last we knock off and get our well deserved rest while the night shift crew deals with the small things and cleaning up the yacht.

Sunset over Agatti Island

I got up in the morning for the change of security detail and curry and parothas. Later, me, Willie and Sikandar take out students to do their pool exercise for their PADI course. We take the tender to the entrance of the Agatti lagoon and anchor in 1m of water that will do instead of the pool. Willie and Sikandar gets into their stuff while I watch over the operation and sneak a few minutes of snorkeling. It is not very interesting as the bottom is more or less dead with a great deal of rubbish spread about, I can see some fish but thats about it.

When one ventures further into the lagoon you can find there are a lot of turtles living in it, big buggers swim away from your boat when you approach and you can also see them coming up to the surface for air. Turtles, unlike in Maldives, are not eaten in Lakshadweep. Yesterday when scouting out the route to Tinakara I saw two of them mating and Sikandar informs me that this is the mating season for them.

Once we return onboard it is just to change dive sets and be ready for diving the Solar site, used set are taken out and full sets put onto the tender. The dive site is only a few miles south of IE and was very much like the yesterdays dive at the Fish Soup. Once we return back onboard again we get to prepare for a beach BBQ at Sea Shells. Same gear is once again loaded onto tenders and minivans and crew gets into beach wear to set up the party.

I get a few hours of rest and I go and relieve Alok form the beach and stay there until the end. There is a fresh evening breeze blowing and my waterlogged sinuses don't like so I feel like I'm coming down with a head cold. The breeze continued until the early morning hours and I was done by when we packed up for the night at 3am.

Lakshadweep, history, religion, and society

Diving Solar

The 12th we dived the Solar site, name is due to the solar power plant next to it. It was just a few miles more south from the Fish Soup.

Pretty much the same as the previous dive at Fish Soup, there is a lot of fish here but the corals are not that spectacular as in Maldives due to bad bleaching some time ago. I could see signs though that the corals are slowly recovering but it is slow growing.

There is also a lot of Napoleon Maori Wrasse among many other species but they are quite camera shy, so it is hard to catch them on the lens.

I let the pictures speak for themselves again:

Fish

Aliens are here

Landscape

Black pyramid butterflyfish

Dash-dot goatfish in front

Like moon landscape

...more moon coral...

...landscape...

Sea star

Threadfin butterflyfish

Tuna (?)

The big one is a parrot fish

Masked bannerfish

Black pyramid butterflyfish on right