This was going to be my second stay in Assam after I
spent my childhood at the Airforce station at the beautiful city of Tezpur with
my parents. I still remember the small
flowering garden my Maa had created in front of our balcony. Snowy mountains,
in the horizon were lit in golden twilight every morning by the Sun. Snakes and Leeches were abundant during
monsoon but more abundant was the freshness in the air and in the heart, before
the land started wearing red again…now with human Teza. I went to Dibrugarh
in 2003 and was soon in love with it for the snowy white Arunachal Mountains in
the horizon, the green tea gardens and the mighty Brahmaputra, much young and
aggressive than the same at Guwahati. But the most important was to find my
best friend Pranjal, a doctor with anesthetic charm. Our run-away nature
expeditions are the best memories of my life.
After a months driving lesson from Pranjal we started a five
hour long drive to Kaziranga on a Sunny day with occasional characteristic
rain. The whisky drive that we shared was tiring but enjoyable with the latest
hit of Enrique, Addicted. The escape will be short but hard earned one due to
Holi (6/3/2004 & 7/3/2004). After having lunch at the Numaligarh Dhaba,
famous for serving delicacies of fresh fish we reached at Bonani, the forest
department lodge at Kohra opposite central gate of Kaziranga NP with the old
style of raj era as silence of darkness was covering the surrounding. Both
Aranya & Rhino Rica restaurants offered good food but the later with more
homely & cordial service. While the elephant ride which starts at 5:15 am is
awesome as it also shows the scenic beauty of the sunrise in grassland with the
playful fog at the back drop of hills, the afternoon jeep ride from Bageri is
exciting as it ensures close encounters with the wildlife. We saw the following
birds at the park: Darter, Indian Cormorant, Spot-billed Pelican, Red Jungle
Fowl, Lesser Adjutant, Indian Pond Heron, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Red
Breasted Parakeet, Rose-ringed parakeet, Grey Headed Parakeet, Stork-billed
Kingfisher, Hoopoe, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Common Stone Chat, Grey Bush Chat
and an Eagle.
The sudden chase by a mother Rhino was the most exciting moment which unsettled
us and I got my camera broken but the American tourist in our jeep was a real professional
holding to his nerve and capturing a life-time video. Our driver cum guide, a
poacher turned conservationist shouted some special tones to divert the
invading Rhino’s attention but had to quick start the jeep for an honorable emergency retreat. The Greater One-horned
Rhinoceros have withstood five million years of evolution but were defeated to
human superstitions nearing extinction. The success of conservation is evident
at Kaziranga with its growing numbers. We observed the single track for
movement & a particular place they use as toilet for their lifetime. An SOS
call for medical help was made after we informed the authority about a male
Rhino seen injured and bleeding probably from last night’s territorial fight. It
is interesting to know that Rhinos don’t use their horn to harm an intruder but
actually bite flesh off with their sharp teeth. While African & Sumatran
Rhino have 2 horns, the Indian & Java Rhino have only one. We also saw
Asian Elephant which is different from its African counter part by shapes of
Ear, hump and trunk, Swamp Deer which we called Barasingha for the 12-tined
antler, Sambar which is India’s largest deer and Wild Pig which is ancestor of
the common pig. We also saw the Asiatic Wild Buffalo with flat sweeping horns.
In Assam inter breeding with domestic buffalo has made purity of its population
vulnerable.
We reached hotel just before sunset touching upon the 500 years old stone village
of Monpas and after a short chat with the Buddhist nun about her big musical
instrument unknown to us. We had a bonfire to celebrate New Year with the
cheerful Nepali & Assamese hotel staffs singing & dancing their hearts
out with us.
Other interesting areas are Kakochang Waterfalls which
is 13 kms from eastern enrty point near Bokaghat, Numaligarh Archeological
Ruins and tea gardens. At the tea gardens here you can see the long trees around
giving shadow & pepper vines ornamenting their body. But we preferred a
walk behind our hotel where starts the Karbi-Anglong Autonomous Council
Territory. The picturesque landscape will invite you with mind blowing smell of
white coffee flowers, not to mention the voices from various feather friends. You
can cross a small stream trickling down the green hills through a wooden bridge
to access a tourist lodge, green valleys of paddy fields surrounded by dark
green forests on hill and a century old Ganesha Temple to bless you with one of
the most memorable nature encounters. We could closely observe a beautiful red
& yellow Scarlet Minivet Couple, a White Capped Water Redstart competing with
a male Plumbeous Water Redstart, noisy flocks of Great Tit, Red-whiskered
Bulbul, Rose-ringed Parakeet & Red Breasted Parakeet, a common Kingfisher
in & out of its home in a hole at the bank of the stream.
Folk dance at Wild Grass resort nearby in the evening is
a calming experience after the day long adventure. You can enjoy it even if you
are not staying at that resort. An early dinner made us retiring to an early sleep
as we planed for our return next day after breakfast.
During our return we made a small stop-over at little known Nimati Bird Sanctuary, her heart being pierced by a steel road with bus & auto communication to Nimatighat, gateway to Majuli, the largest river island and principal place of pilgrimage for Vaishnavites of Assam since the Ahom days. My heart broke to see people taking out water through Shallow Machines from the wetland, a locked Forest Office, unresponsive police station and use of Aldrin, a poisonous pesticide banned in `70s to kill Purple Swamp Hen for meat. Locals complained that those events are regular. My camera filmed the young boy of about 8 with 27 Swamp Hens in his hand still alive but intoxicated before being dumped in a hole. I saw a Ruddy Shelduck stranded by the toxic effects unable to respond to the calls from its group circling overhead before returning `home`. I also saw the following birds other than numerous ducks in the wetland: Little Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Purple Heron, Great Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Indian Pond Heron, Asian Open Bill, Lesser Adjutant, Lesser Whistling Ducks, Bronze-winged Jacana, Wood Sandpiper, Jack Snipe, Pied Kingfisher, Paddy Field Pipit and Yellow Wagtail.
We missed touching upon another bird sanctuary at Panidihing near Sibsagar on our way back to Dibrugarh as our car broke down to have its own rest. We stopped at the Out Town Dhaba, where our favorite Bittu served us tea and snacks. On return we shared our photograph to local authorities to complain but no one listened to us as I understood my Assam then had more intense issues to address than this one. We only prayed that man ends its conflicts so that the nature can breathe again.
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The dike on the bank of Brahmaputra was only about 100mts from the A.T.Road where Hanuman Singhania Road ended. It was effective enough to stop the flooding water of the river to enter the city during monsoon though wiping the poor slum dwellers away. Economy creates options and the indigenous poor are every where deprived of both. Now being winter the mighty river was dry to the level where a new jeep route finds way to Dhimaji district and subsequently to Arunachal Pradesh. As usual there are lot of stories to be heard of the ‘violent Assam’ relating to this part of ‘river handsome’, readily offered by many who found those as an excuse to be ignorant of the natural wonder around them. I am no reformer and followed my system spending six tiring days of the week for business away from the loved ones and alone. Sundays are to rejuvenate and the river can do wonder to the soul.
Convincing
Titu was tough but we ended up walking on the silver sands of Brahmaputra soon
thanks to my selling skills which were developing fast in this highly
competitive territory. Wagtails were every where: white-browed, white, yellow,
citrine and the grey-backed race of white. The wagtails breed in Himalayas so
we in the plain don’t see the colors of a breeding male who can be
differentiated easily .The ‘did you do it’ sound attracted us to a flock of Red
Wattled Lapwing. The government initiative to plant ‘Sishu’ trees (Dalbergia sissoo) on the bank to contain
the land hungry river are home to Long-tailed Shrike, Grey-backed Shrike,
Rufous Treepie, Great Tit and a desperate pair of Pariah Kite building nest, landing
even on the ground to collect ‘materials’. A Bank Myna on the back of an Asiatic
Wild Buffalo made splendid scenery.
Sometime on
a holiday after breakfast with Pranjal, we may go to the tea gardens. We saw
Hoary-bellied Himalayan Squirrel without the stripes on the back. Assam Macaque
is abundant fighting with common Rhesus Macaque near the tea-worker colony. On
the fences common bird to be seen is the active but lonely Indian Robin, Black
Redstart, elusive Lineated Barbet mobbed by Red-vented Bulbul, very rare Black-rumped
Flameback, Green Bee-eater, Indian Roller, Eurasian Collared Dove, Spotted
Dove, Jerdon’s Baza, Black Kite, rarely White-rumped Vulture, Asian Palm Swift
and the beautiful Fairytale Bird.
Once during
our long drive towards Doomdooma near the Hansara railway station we stopped
near a big and old Peepal tree (Ficus
religiosa) where Yellow-footed Pigeons were fighting with Chestnut-tailed
Starting for fruit. A family from Bordungang village of Changlang district,
Arunachal Pradesh have opened a traditional eatery on NH37 named Singpho Villa
Restaurant offering food like Nga Sausi (fish curry), Wa Sansi (Pork curry),
Pungkhon Sat (steamed rice) on Kapot Lepho (Kalabati in Bengali). As I am a
vegetarian, they had to try their hands on some alien items on my request. I had
just learned cooking over phone from Paa & Maa so suggestions were plenty
from my side. The tea garden near the hospital at Chabua run by the Tata’s is
great birding place too. Many times we had to endure the grueling humiliation of
Army check who will force everyone to come out of the vehicle, make us stand in
queue with our hands over the head while searching for hint of terrorist
characteristics. Another place for rich birding is the Jokai Forest where
Pranjal taught me driving which I started with a full speed back-gear. Here the
sparrow is different from the House Sparrow of the plain. They are, without the
black spot on the ear covert, named Eurasian Tree Sparrow.
The
Stork-billed Kingfishers and Pied Kingfishers are as common as the common &
white-throated ones near the Bogibeel where a railway bridge work is going on.
Once we observed how locals made hand-woven Mekhela, a traditional sari near
this place. We also saw Common Sandpiper and Olive-backed Pipit. The paddy
fields nearby are feeding paradise for the camouflaged Paddy Field Pipit who
may surprise you with their sudden flight on invasion. The bridge was
inaugurated twice by two respective PM and committed to be completed by 2007 as
a national project, is still nowhere near completion. Patients from Lakhimpur,
Dhimaji & Arunachal still don’t have easy access to the only Medical
College at Dibrugarh. The Assam Medical College and Hospital at Dibrugarh with
its huge campus and surrounding tea gardens is another extended place for
birding. Parakeets both Alexander & Rose-ringed were abundant there.
I had been
to the seven storey structure, ‘Talatal’, the ruins of Ahom Kingdom at Sibsagar
in February where I observed the beautiful Blue Rock Thrush. Sibsagar was the
capital of erstwhile Ahom Kings. The rulers of Assam for 500 years were
descendents of the Tai race once based in China and thereafter to Thailand,
Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and India’s North-eastern states before the British
usurped their land in 1886 through the treaty of Yandaboo. December 2nd
is still observed in pockets as the birth anniversary of the first Ahom
monarch, Sukaphi. Behind the Lord Shiva Temple is a lake where you will see
White-breasted Water Hen, Bronzed-winged Jacana and Common Coot. The strong
cultural history of Assam will surely draw respect for Assam in you. My
experience otherwise at Sibsagar was not so welcome as I was asked to learn to
speak Assamese first & then come to discuss business as they branded me as
one of the ‘dogmatic Bengali’ they are
‘handling’ from ‘ages’ , intentionally not speaking the language of the land. It
was my third month there.
The train
route from Howrah to Dibrugarh itself is a great experience as you can see lot
of birds on the wires, wetlands and places not accessible otherwise, like most
train routes in India. You just need to be lucky so that the window glass in
your AC compartment is clean or a general compartment is better bet for birding
on the wheel. To mention a few, I had seen Common Starling once at one of the
halts near NJP and a Cinnamon Bittern near the wetland of Guwahati. Even today
whenever I visit Guwahati by air, the road toward city during monsoon is a
pleasure to the eyes with flocks of Asian Open-bill on the green fields with
hills in the distance making the boundary for the dark sky before rain.
Guwahati have changed with overgrowing construction everywhere but a group of
Lesser Adjutant still held their last home on top of a multistoried building
fighting with the Ad agencies that didn’t even leave a sky view. News of
Leopard entering human habitat is increasing or we have encroached so much into
their land that such encounters are now inevitable. Guwahati zoo is another
place where you can study some birds like Spot-billed Pelican etc. very
closely.
We went to
Dibru-Saikhowa NP during monsoon but had to cancel the trip as the river, Dibru
was flooding dangerously. A few years later covering from Kolkata, I had once
forced Somnath to divert from our business route to Panidihing Bird Sanctuary
during an exceedingly boring hot summer afternoon. Expectedly, we saw only a
few grassland birds, a Striated Grassbird, the largest warbler of our region, gasping
in heat among them along with a Greater Adjutant laughing at my choice of time
to visit. For the first time I also saw
real Bihu by the village children as they surrounded our vehicle for a very
small donation. It was mesmerizing to see the passion they generated while
performing the traditional dance & song. They are indeed the true flag
bearer of my Assam, which was rich, beautiful and still bleeding.
We used to
visit an island near Brahmaputra where a recreation point was coming-up fast. I
don’t know if it is still there or not, but then we used to go there and just
sit there, listening to the tickling blue water with only the birds around as
translators. I was going to leave everything soon… I was going to miss
everything soon……… as always……………………………whatever I liked the most. I was talking
to home about an appointment letter that the courier service had delivered when
the glasses of the telephone booth in which I was in, shattered with an
ear-deafening sound. A grenade blast at Rang Ghar, the Cinema Hall showing some
low grade Hindi movie sealed my future. An immediate return was negotiated and
the term was marriage.
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We planned to run away again to put an end to the ever delaying honeymoon owing to our pathetic time management. Sikkim matched our need for a memorable experience of adventure and beyond. We started from Kolkata and Pranjals from Dibrugarh, meeting us at NJP. But that was a different heavenly experience. That will make an
unforgettable photo journey as was my recent Madhya Pradesh tour with my wife
& my three years old son. Those are planned tours not as adventurous as the one
that I am going to share now.
As usual it was an escape that had endless justification
but very less planning. After a hectic tender submission process at Guwahati
and a few customer sales calls, suddenly I had 3 days (29/12/2006 to
01/01/2007) holiday to kill all by myself as my family was also away. What I
needed was to book an Indica from local agent and make a call to Pranjal to
join. He immediately agreed as if grabbing the long waited opportunity to get a
first-hand long drive experience from Dibrugarh to Tezpur on his new car. I
crossed the Kaliabhomora Bridge, named after the great Ahom General Kalia
Bhomora Phukan who planned to construct a bridge over the mighty Brahmaputra
about two centuries ago. This road bridge connecting Sonitpur and Nagaon as an
exception was constructed by the railways in 1987 because of their experience. Tezpur,
known as Sonitpur (city of blood) of Puranic fame, is associated with the
legend of princess Usha, the daughter of King Bana and prince Anirudha, the
grandson of Lord Krishna for their eternal love and romance. The great
mythological war believed to have been fought between Lord Krishna and Lord
Shiva and as a result the whole city was said to have been drenched in blood,
hence the name. Situated on the north bank of the majestic river Brahmaputra,
Tezpur town is of magnificent scenic beauty and exquisite archaeological ruins.
It is the headquarters of Sonitpur district and to me is the most beautiful
towns of India. Undulated green valleys surrounded by the hills of Arunachal
Pradesh, with snowcapped peaks of the Himalayas as the northern backdrop, lush
green tea gardens and magnificent archaeological ruins have all contributed to
make Tezpur a tourist's delight. But what made me nostalgic was the AF campus
where I spent my childhood. I called up Bapi to inform my where about to his
disbelief & relief. My school at Tezpur had an abandoned aircraft where we
fought for the pilot’s seat (or skeleton that was left), I would go to the
Hanuman Mandir on Bapi's cycle, the occasional picnic on the bank of
Brahmaputra, the decorated fighter tank in front of AF offices, the Phantom
mint toffee at the cinema hall that attracted me to accompany my parents, the
shadow of a Shimul Tree (Silk Cotton- Bombax
malabaricum) with bats hanging on it, Tony & his pet ghost that
compelled me to share my food with him without the knowledge of my Maa and many
more, all came suddenly as visions. Tony had promised to meet me to bid adieu before
the posting truck took us away after my father’s retirement. He didn’t or
couldn’t and we never met again. It was 1984 when we left Assam for West Bengal.
Pranjal met me at Tezpur and we were meeting after one
year reassured that we still were the inseparable friends forever. A quick
break at KF ensured we are reenergized and started together towards Bhalukpong.
The small hamlet about 60 kms away is surrounded by mystic blue hills and
evergreen forests on the bank of the river Jia Bharali. Eco tourism is fast
growing here with tourist attractions like angling, rafting and the unique
natural beauty. After completing formality of Inner Line Permit mandatory to enter
Arunachal Pradesh we started our ascent to the hilly road. The river Kameng
started accompanying us. This was previously named Bhareli River & now called Kameng in
Arunachal Pradesh and Jia Bhoreli in Assam. Kameng originates
in Tawang district from the glacial lake below snowcapped Gori Chen
mountain on the India-Tibet border
in South Tibet
and flows through Bhalukpong circle of West Kameng District, Arunachal Pradesh
and Sonitpur District of Assam.
It is one of the major tributaries of the Brahmaputra River,
joining it at Tezpur,
just right of the Kolia Bhomora bridge. Our final destination was
Tawang. During our honeymoon at Sikkim about a year back just like the same way
we ended up reaching Gurudongmar Lake, a source stream to the river Teesta
which actually originated from Tso Lhsmo Lake. Teesta meets Brahmaputra near Rangpur
district of Bangladesh.
The Kameng forms the boundary between East
Kamemg District and West Kameng Districts and is also the boundary between the
Sessa Orchid Sanctuary and Eaglenest sanctuary to its west and the Pakke tiger reserve to the east. The forest
across the river continues to be in a healthy state along the Bhalukpong-Bomdila
highway on the left bank of the river. We saw flocks of Oriental Hornbill
roaming around the hills & their voice echoing over the thin mist chorusing
with the river itself. Exotic birds can be seen holidaying on the white sand
bank of the thin river down under mostly hidden by the evergreen forests. Construction
works along the road were going on with beautiful Arunachali women with their
children tied on back as workers ever smiling even while working on the hard stones.
Only early this year of 2006 a new bird species of liocichla species has been
discovered at Eaglenest by Mr. Raman Athreya & named Bugun liocichla
liocichla bugunorum species after the local Bugun tribe. I had planned
originally to visit the sanctuary after Mr. Raman encouraged me by responding
to my mail communication providing his permission to stay for volunteer service.
The tender ruined the option and now with Pranjal, we were heading towards
Tawang. After withdrawing cash from possibly the last & highest SBI ATM at
Tenga we headed for Bomdila. The town has a monastery & after late lunch
and refilling our car from KTCS Petrol Pump we continued towards our destined
night halt at Dirang. We missed the stay during a full moon night at Bomdila
famous among the rare adventurous honeymooners. The darkness of mist was fast
gripping the valley. Crossing the small local villages appearing only after
hours of drive we reached Dirang around 7pm, quite late as dinner was served
immediately at Hotel Pemaling. Both our hotel & Dirang Tourist Lodge
managed by Mr. Karchung were full of tourists. We spent the evening looking at
the twinkling town on the back drop of the dark valley preparing to welcome the
New Year. We were too tired & retired to sleep. A lonely Blue Chat or
Indian Blue Robin woke us early and after breakfast we go around for local sightseeing.
Dirang has hot water springs where people take bath for curing skin
ailments, Apple and Kiwi orchards are developed to add to local economy along
with the National Yak Research and Breeding Centre at Nigmadung and Sheep
Breeding Farms. The town itself is a good shopping place for local hand woven
winter wears. After purchasing two similar woolen head gears we headed for the
Sangti Valley famous for being only the 2nd place in
India after Ladakh & Leh where Siberian
black necked crane (Grus nigricollis) visit as
migratory birds. Black-necked
Crane is the last of the world's cranes to be discovered by the scientific
community, when it was first sighted by the Russian naturalist - Count
Przewalski near Lake Koko Nor in the North Eastern Tibet, in 1876. Now regarded as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species, it is listed on Appendix I and II of CITES. Locally called “Dhang
Dhang Karma”, we were lucky to glimpse a pair wintering at lower altitudes feeding on the leftover rice fields. The birds were extremely
protective to their young one. An adult was circling along the practicing
young, occasionally beating it with wings to keep it within the radius smaller
than what the young explored. The adult also stretched both the wings to cover
the young from running away when grounded. A subdued nasal “kurrr” call was
used by the family to keep the juvenile under control. Both of us were
overwhelmed by the scene before a few vehicles of picnickers blasting loud
music drove them away much to our disappointment. But our journey was
successful and the experience a lifetime one. The bird is revered in Buddhist traditions and
culturally protected across much of its range. A festival in Bhutan celebrates
the bird while Jammu and Kashmir considers it as the state bird. Populations here are also well protected both
culturally and legally although this type of disturbance from tourism continues.
Rain greeted us next day morning and the locals
swore that there will be snow fall at Sella Pass making our travel ahead
impossible. We ignored their suggestion expecting some miracle to happen which
did came as an Army Stallion Truck with chains tied on its wheels halted our skidding
Indica from falling to death. We thanked & saluted them before returning as
the road will be closed for indefinite days. We were too afraid to explore
further and agreed to end this journey on a living note. Sela
Pass, the world’s second highest motorable pass at 14000 ft. with a high
altitude serene crystal blue water natural lake as the surrounding landscape is
a dream come true feeling and we will see that in near future. It has been more
than 5 years since our visit and I have by this time helped many colleagues
& friends for a travel to Tawang. Ours is still pending. Now it is time to
run away again………………
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