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.
