On a Silent Boat

On 11thMarch 2013,my first ever four hours journey was with a bus from old capital of Odisha,Cuttack to Bhitarkanika,a mangrove forest division(wildlife) Rajnagar,which has jurisdiction over part of two revenue districts i.e. Kendrapara & Jagatsinghpur.Soon I was at the bank of the river and my first view was the mud skippers and fiddler crabs,got their own habitat and peculiarities in nature.After one hour in boat I only saw the fishes,birds,spotted deer and hatchlings of crocodiles on the bank of the river.My face was like a face of an empty balloon.But finally estuarine crocodile of 12feet length and a little blood around its jaw and my wish was to take some more close-up pictures of that full tummy bloody faced crocodile.The other side of the river is the deep forest and the most importantly “the pure Oxygen.”On my way into the jungle I was startled by a wild boar with its two new born,just few steps ahead from me but they fled away.Soon I was at the top tower to view the whole area with groups of spotted deer in grazing fields,deep forest,home returning bird flocks and never the less dusk moment.It was brilliantly decorated by the Nature.On the way to camp in the boat I was wishing to come back again to see King cobra and another big water monster but until I reached the other side no one was there,just the silent nature.I thought gang of crocodiles must have said me“good night.”After dinner I was at backyard of the kitchen to see the wild boars and spotted deer as they usually come closer to the kitchen for greens,cabbages and papaya said the cook.Curry,an Indian dish with many vegetables but I didn’t find much.In real this place is far from market and they can’t cultivate in saline soil either.Whatever,that night was the most beautiful starry night with the presence of stars in sky and fireflies on earth and I realized how polluted our cities are.It’s really incredible to see 19feet crocodile’s skeleton in the museum,though my expectation was to see them alive.All together this place is incredible but the two captive breed crocodiles named as Hydrabadi and Gori beautify it more.Hydrabadi is from Hydrabad,India and other is Gori,a white crocodile for which Bhitarkanika is very popular.Once Bhitarkanika authorities tried to mate them with other crocodiles outside the enclosure but unfortunately Gori lost its one eye and it was a failed experiment for both.My last view was high hole nests on trees by wood peckers.I feel incredible for being there.