LAKSHADWEEP


 (A picture I had taken from there)



It was 11 years ago that I had a chance to visit Lakshadweep islands. My husband had a posting  in a hospital there for 3 months and so we decided to go. We travelled there by plane, I wanted to go by ship but we were advised not to because most people get sea sickness and sometimes the weather becomes rough. We left Cochin in the morning and reached Agatti Island by noon. Lakshadweep is an Union Territory with around 36 Islands, out of which only 10 are inhabited. Kavaratti is the capital of Lakshadweep.

We were allocated a room in a Villa. There were other doctors there too.

Agatti is a very picturesque Island with few resorts. The whole Island is only around 8kms. The roads are very narrow and hence the main mode of transport is Cycle. When I first saw the place I felt like I had travelled back in time. Houses there were old fashioned, except for the new ones of course. They had all basic amenities. Since they have a lot of free seats in colleges and minimal fees in schools, most of the younger generation is educated. The inhabitants there speak Malayalam (quite different from the original language). There are many mosques there with ablution tanks. Most people have goats and hens. Many coconut trees are found there. Their main income is through fishing and selling coir products.

The people there lead a very simple lifestyle and are very hospitable and loving. They follow the matrilineal system( Veet Puthiyappla) system, where the groom stays in the bride's house after marriage.

After my wedding, both of us were busy with our studies and hence we couldn't  attend many parties in relatives houses, but from there we had a feast everyday from the inhabitants. They serve a sweet thin pancake with coconut milk and plantain bananas first and then later the main course Biryani.

The food there is otherwise similar to Malabar cuisine. They have fresh fish everyday.

My daughter was only 2 at the time and we used to go to the beach and collect lots of shells. It was a very relaxing trip for us since before that both of us were busy with studies. 

The atmosphere there is very serene, the sea very beautiful and the sand in the beaches is of a very light brown .There is a lagoon beach resort there. My husband got a chance to go for fishing and scuba diving from there. We went for glass boating and saw a lot of beautiful corals, turtles and fishes. We got to see many Octopuses and Jelly fish too. We went for speed boating.



We made many friends from there.

 A sad incident happened-One of the doctors and another staff in our group lost  their lives, when they tried to cross the sea between 2 Islands during a high tide time.

It was heartbreaking for us to witness that incident.

The food speciality over there is Dweep halwa, Dried fish mass and fish pickles.



Given a chance, we would love to visit Lakshadweep again. I would recommend everyone to.

Dahlia Mohammed Ali

Comments

  1. Jamsheeda ManhanpallyMay 25, 2022 at 7:18 AM

    Well written...I could feel the atmosphere with your narration.

    ReplyDelete

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