The Sundarbans

As the launch sallies into the dark, deceptively silent waters and woodlet of Sundari trees ... you can experience time coming to standstill. Nature unfurls her wilderness in full tempo at Sundarbans and you can feel the hypnotic ease as you leave Kolkata far behind on your launch, a kind of serenity creeps in.

The Sundarbans are the single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world. As the name implies, Sundarbans (shomudraban in Bengali) are named after the Sundari Trees that dot the area in copiousness and stand as eponym for the jungles of Sundarban. The Sundarbans delta are formed at the confluence of the mighty trio of river Ganges, Meghna and Bramhaputra. The impenetrable mangroves of the delta spills into the Bangladesh borders and beyond., and as a result of which the evergaldes are owned by Bangladesh too. Sundarbans are the largest reserve for Bengal Tigers and many other species of birds, reptiles and salt-water crocodiles that inhabit the area. A huge muckle of birds species like kingfisher, lapwing, stork, egret and eagles and whistlers are seen chirping in the delta zone. The canopy of Sundarbans is densely shared by Hetal, Gewa, Keora, Garan and Dhundul Trees besides the Sundari Trees.



As suggested by the locals there, we took the waterway jaunt to Sunderbans. The 5-6 hours journey to Sundarbans is thrilling refreshing, where the jaunt itself is the part of the Sundarban experience. 160-miles of Sundarbans is interweaved with plenitudes of estuaries, rivulets like Harinbhanga, Matla, Gosaba, Muriganga, Thakuran and Vidya. They weave enchantingly through the Sundarbans Biosphere comprising of the villages like Sajnekhali, Sagar et al. Sundarban waters are spellbinding.Life and locals in the adjoining villages are the upshot of biosphere that seeps deep down the lifestyle and culture of the people. The food that binged on had exceptional variation of crab delicacies due to the absolute freshness, of course!

Nights brings in extra degree of tenebrousity and wilderness at the evergaldes. We watched the day evanescing while the night takes over with lilting sounds of crickets and other insects. A phantasmagorical trip begun on the night launch trip on the Sundarban waters where the boat skirted the jungle border; we were yet to chance upon a Royal Bengal.

Next morning, we were woken by the chorus of the bird songs and watched the waters turning orange to green as the sun upped in the sky. A walk around this green biosphere upgrades you all on the impending devastation, with versions from the locals that keep you engaged with the Hurricane Alia incidents & stories. We spent hours getting engaged with the villagers being dependent on woods and also got an insight into one their primary occupation for generations: honey collecting. A mind blowing number of 1400 honey collectors reside in Sundarbans. An interesting and adventurous occupation the honey gatherers estimate their collection of sweet stuff to 125 tonnes. Talking to members of this unique profession educated one about the honey gathering modus operandi. These people work in groups with an experienced leaders and associates. The whole expedition takes months where the collectors live on boat with a good stock of food and daily items. While on expedition they stay close to each other for safety purpose. The sight of honeycomb excites the collectors and they promptly act before the bees sense their intruders. A target of three honeycombs in a day is what they aim for.

We stuffed out journey bags with few kilos of `pure` honey and sailed our way out .... back to busy lifestyle leaving behind the scent of soil and sound if silence.

Health Tourism

Last when I came across the word, I reluctantly brushed it aside! But after the phrase is consistently coming into the court, and at the time when we are readily embracing the concept, ``health tourism`` is fast hiving up in India. Lets down pat the concept of health tourism.

Health Tourism entails traveling to other cities and countries in order to avail better treatment facilities and privileges. As health care is increasingly becoming expensive and tiresome with involvement of insurance, long ques and so forth, India is picking up fast on the medical/ health care tourism. Identifying the lacuna in the medical processes of the west and reinstating the procedures with corrective measures and easy medical access, India is fast emerging as a thriving destination on the global map. Right from the pharmaceutical industry to hospitals, from alternative therapies like Ayurveda and acupuncture to loosely structured health program, from doctors to nurses to more easily affordable medical services, the health industry is a flourishing and, more significantly, represents a part of national economy. Today, a country like India is caching up fast, and also ideally poised to benefit greatly from the health related tourism. Reportedly, every year, India receives 1,50,000 medical tourists who avail world class heath care at a fraction of cost.

While health is billion buck industry in India, the good news is that it is also leading from front in the medical tourism. According to the recent research data, India is giving tough competition to Thailand, a once close competitor to India, in the . There are various reasons that add up to India's being the most-preferred choice of health tourism. First and foremost is that India's a anglophone country and English is a standard, widely spoken language, which implies no language bar for the outpatients. Second, the medical infrastructure and technology is at par with those in the USA, UK and European nations. At present time and age, India owns some of the worlds largest and sophisticated chain of hospitals, such as Fortis, Apollo Group of Hospitals, Vellore CMC et al. India offers a wide range of elective procedures as well as complex services such as joint replacement, cardiac surgery, dental surgery and cosmetic surgeries at a minimal cost as compared to the lead drawers of the medical tourism such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico and Turkey.

Besides, one of the major proponents of medical tourism in India is Yoga and Ayurveda – the holistic healer. Every year tourists flock to India to seek and benefit from this scientific discipline. Being one of the main features of tourist attraction down south, many Ayurvedic centers in Southern India cater to the global tourists through the senescent therapeutic discipline. Marketing Ayurveda as part of the 'health tourism' has brought a new definition to vacationing in India itself. Medical treatment combined with leisure activities, fun and fitness. India has originated as one of the most important hubs for medical tourism. The medical tourism market in India is expected to grow to $2 billion a year by 2012-13.