Trip to the Kingdom of Floating Vessels | Sundarbans

The water was splashing with the wooden bilge, birds were tweaking and the breeze felt cold through my blanket. I blinked my eyes to life but the reflecting sunlight through the water ripples made them difficult to concentrate. I rubbed my eyes and saw one of the most beautiful mornings of my life. The sun was rising, fading the darkness and melting the morning mist to give a glimpse of nature in its abstract form. I saw a dense mangrove forest floating over the river, people working beside tiny muddy houses by the banks, kids playing with used tires, and boats carrying buck loads of sand over it. The moment was calm. I had never woken up in such an amusing atmosphere before. It was my first morning in the Kingdom of Floating Vessels the Sundarbans.?

People come here for tigers as the majority knows it as a tiger reserve but my reasons were different. My objective was to find different perspectives from this place and its survivors. Of course, the place is known for its ‘into the wild tigers’ but what I learned is a different story. Sundarbans is a living biodiversity including humans where each day is a fight for territory between men and tigers.

The place bends time with its simplicity. You almost feel able to control the velocity of your thoughts. No doubt man is forcing his limit into nature while betting his life over it. My journey was filled with thrill and excitement because, in Sundarbans, a man would cage himself to spot a wild tiger. The frequency of spotting a tiger is very low but knowing that he is watching your every move while looking for a perfect opportunity will definitely give some shiver through your spine. And believe me when I say it feels exactly like “walking through the heart of the Tiger’s Den”.?

Of course, every arriving day seems short to witness this raw beauty but if I have to brief an itinerary, I would suggest spending at least 2 to 3 nights here while touring through the mangrove forest over a boat. You will fall short of stars to rate the hospitality here. The crew arranges every single meal to the best of his capacity and the captain keeps you entertained with his vast knowledge of Sundarban's geography, its culture, and its biodiversity.?They are the best bird watchers in the world.

To tell you some history of this place, I would say, Sir Daniel Mackinnon Hamilton, a Scotsman bought 40 square kilometers ( which included islands such as Gosaba, Rangabelia, and Satjelia.) of deltaic islands in South Bengal in 1903 from the government – His intention was to develop this habitat suitable for Adivasi. For this Sir Hamilton and his people dared struggle against nature as well as predators that lived here like– tigers, crocodiles, sharks, and lizards. His initiatives also helped in decreasing the human casualty rate of Tiger attacks in this region. After 30 years of effort, he invited Sir Rabindranath Tagore to visit his creation. Sir Rabindranath Tagore loved this place so much that he stayed here for months to meditate in the blessing beauty and simplicity of Sunderban. He also created a small cottage for himself where he would stay for months and a private pond to dissolve himself in his thoughts while reading a book "as the statue depicts".

I must say, I loved the pond by his cottage.

Besides Tiger, the next beautiful thing to spot in Sunderban would be Kingfishers. You could spot about 11 different varieties of Kingfishers here. It’s one heck of a scene to witness a Lesser Pied Kingfisher fishing. The bird hovers 12ft above the river for minutes before making her straight dive into the water and emerging victorious. It's an astonishing incident to observe, Please pardon me for not being able to record the moment on my camera. But for collection, I spotted 4 types of Kingfishers. Lesser Pied Kingfisher, Black-capped Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher & Collared Kingfisher.

I also spotted some Sand Martins and Ioras but the show stopper was the 4 feet long Lesser Adjutant Stork. Longs beak, half covered in mud, ugly-looking legs but yet beautiful. This stork is one of the best traveler birds in the world.

The locals here are very optimistic about education, but because of long travel by boat and frequent tiger attacks along the way, Adivasis have to restrict themself to reach good education centers. But still, the community delivers rich art and culture. The place connects you with your own thoughts and helps you merge with its natural beauty, the Bhajangs at night from the nearby temple echoes through the whole bay and converge with the sound of water to create a perfect meditating atmosphere for you to relax. Who says, you need luxury to relax? The simplicity this place offers is incomparable with any luxury in the world.

Creative structures of the boats easily display the efforts and talent of the craftsmen. Watching them carve these beauties in the hot burning sun by the shore will show you the dedication and hard work required in making these boats, Also do visit the Gosaba Bazar (biggest bazaar in this region) to observe more about the local’s creative art at their local museum or the ashram near Sir Rabindranath Tagore’s cottage. Thanks to our captain Mr. Rana, we got lucky to attend one cultural function organized by the local Adivasi. We had lots of fun in the evening with locals while singing and dancing to handmade instrumental music. Although the beats were from old Hindi songs, the native words surely depicted the grace and thrill these people live in.

Besides agriculture, these places need a strong means of income to develop. Tourism could prove vital in helping to reform this region for good. But the corporate banks in the region do not consider the tourist houseboat as a asset to sanction loans because of which the locals have to wait their turn to finance their project by gram panchayat funds loans. It often takes 6-7 years for one to start building his boat, and 2-3 years to operate considering the few craftsmen in the region. It takes a way long time for one to make and depend on his lively hood. Still, with a good number of 2000 tourist boats and a couple of resorts in this region, the place could perform exceptionally well with tourism. Cheap and best hospitality, good food, good music, wild natural beauty, exotic birds, and a little thrill to spot wildlife while patiently waving the passing by time is what every traveler wishes from his vacation.

But now this holiday is about to get over, I didn’t wish the journey to end so fast but I know every trip should end for a new trip to shape. I take calmness from here and would urge every traveler to spend at least one of their holiday in a lifetime with this place because this place definitely gives stability to control thoughts and progress ideas.

Do tell me if you make your next trip to this beautiful wonderland of floating vessels and mangrove forest – “Sundarban”. Also, If you like my experience of the perspective hunt from Sundarban, Please do like and share this article with your friends and family to help them make their travel plan to this Natural Creativity.