Travel: Ross Island, Andamans

Where time stands still

Ross Island is a jaw-dropping walk down the Raj lane. 

The Andaman group of islands has a lot to offer the visitor, from the Cellular Jail, where sadness seeps from the stones like something out of a Marquez novel, and coves and beaches where you find shells of rare and luminous beauty, to sun-soaked islands and coral reefs.

However, if I were to choose just one among the many attractions, my pick would undoubtedly be Ross Island.

Named after the marine surveyor Sir Daniel Ross, the island sits just a mile from Port Blair’s picturesque Aberdeen Jetty. Ferry services take you many times a day to the Indian Navy-controlled island, where, after you pass the checkpoint, you are on your own, to explore the verdant, compact isle that stands as a solid reminder of times past but not lamented.

Just ten minutes into your walk along shale-laden paths, past banyan trees and swaying palms, you run smack into a ghost civilisation.

Relics of the Raj

It’s the Raj, of course. Ross Island was the administrative seat of the British in this penal colony, till a massive earthquake hit the place in 1941, bringing down virtually everything.

However, traces of a bygone era are all around, and it takes just a little imagination to visualise the glory of the time. The Officers’ Mess, the enlisted Men’s Mess, the bakery, the ballroom, the bazaar, even an opera house.

Then there’s a lovely church that in its heyday had windows of etched Italian glass. A clubhouse,
granaries, hospital, the library, tennis and squash courts, a swimming pool, even a desalination
plant. The quarters of the officers stationed in the Andamans, the Chief Commissioner’s
Bungalow with 12 bedrooms, an aviary and a palm house.

And then, the cemetery, a sad record of lives lived here on the island.  It’s a whole lifestyle captured and lovingly held up  by giant banyan vines. Because, you see, what remains of the British HQ is just relics in bricks and stone.

That it hasn’t been all reduced to rubble is because of the embrace of the vines that support and give constructive shape to the ruins of a once bustling cantonment.

Here and there, one glimpses the brilliant blue sea through the silhouette of palm trees. Deer crash about in the undergrowth while birds call jeeringly at you. The wind whistles through tree-tops, the water laps on the white sands on the edge of the island. Talk of an idyll.

 

Trapped memories

Idyll, Ross Island was not, of course. The mainland, just a mile away, was where hundreds of thousands of Indians were incarcerated, their lives slipping away from them in measured amounts.

Meanwhile, their rulers lived carefully transplanted lives on Ross Island, complete with formal functions, croquet games, leisurely laps in the pool and much social interaction; can one wonder that Ross Island was actually called the Paris of the East in the early 20th century?

The remains-of-the-day atmosphere suffers something of a jolt when you come across cement bunkers, strategically placed facing Port Blair. Rather like zits on a face of a beautiful woman. These were placed by the Japanese, who conquered the Andaman Islands from the British during World
War II, and ruled the place with a ruthlessness that had touches of cruelty.

Ghostly images
Ross Island has a museum, with a pictorial representation of all it has seen, all it has gone through. And when night falls, with all the suddenness of a blanket thrown over the sky, as it does here on the Andamans, the lights on Ross Island come alive.

Brilliantly lit, it’s as if some long-gone Commanding Officer is hosting a ball; if you peer hard enough, you just might be able to spot elegant ladies in silk and crinoline bustle skirts walking to the clubhouse on the arm of smart, uniformed officers.

Ross Island withstood the tsunami last year, but just barely. Go see it before the remains of the Raj
disappear from this spot.

How to get there:

There are regular Indian Airlines and Jet Airways flights from Chennai. Ships also make the
journey in season.

The temperature stays even for most part of the year, between 22ºC and 33ºC. The best time to visit is between November and April. December and January is the busiest season, so expect heavy crowds.

Port Blair has a reasonable taxi service. Inter-island travel is on motorised boats. Avoid country boats
for the Bay can get wild and currents are strong.

For details, contact, The Directorate of Tourism
Offices of the Andamans, North Main Road Extension,
Anna Nagar West Extension, Chennai, Ph: 26549295.

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/12/24/stories/2005122402340200.htm

This appeared in DECCAN HERALD of 24 Dec 2005.

All photos by Sheila Kumar and subject to copyright.

You might like to read my other Andaman stories:

Travel: Andaman Islands

Book review: The Last Wave by Pankaj Sekhsaria

Book review: Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup