Andamans - Comfortably Numb

Book review: Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup

Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup (HarperCollins Books). What an assured debut! Shubhangi Swarup`s Latitudes of Longing is in one short succinct word, astonishing. Writing like a geologist with a magic pen, Swarup spins a story that at its core, is a love story to the mountains, to the sea, to the earth and the…

Book review: The Last Wave by Pankaj Sekhsaria

The Last Wave: An Island Novel by Pankaj Sekhsaria (HarperCollins Books). This book meticulously lists the many woes that assail the Andaman Islands, and sadly enough, the list is a long one. Harish Kumar comes to the Andaman Islands to … well, it’s not clear what his purpose is. What he sees, who he meets…

Travel: Andaman Islands

Paradise islands More than a year after the tsunami, the Andaman and Nicobar islands are seeing a new rush of visitors. Sheila Kumar is among them The tsunami of December 2004 savaged the Nicobar Islands, and did not spare the Andamans either. A series of unrelenting tremblers inflicted damage on roads and buildings, submerged lighthouses and…

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…

Travel: Andamans after the tsunami

Just ten days before the sea surged over the Andamans, I was holidaying on its white-sanded beaches… Christmas time is when people flock to the Andamans. That is also when the tidal waves hit in 2004, marauding the Andaman and savaging the Nicobar islands. Since D-day which was Christmas day, over 70 tremors have rocked…