I have always been a fanatic when it comes to exploring different parts of the world. It has some sort of relationship with my personal pride. At 9 in the morning, I was informed of our trip to the Andamans. Two weeks later, we depart. As soon as we were about to land at Port Blair, I could only witness different shades of blue and a few green patches outside of the window. This airport was far better than Delhi, as we got into our respective taxis within a few minutes of landing. It was almost 5 in the evening when we were curious to know about our first tourist spot. When we actually reached there, we were not so delighted, as it didn't involve any water sports or beaches. Instead, it was a cellular jail. We were expecting even more boring lectures and a boring day. Quite honestly, it was. As the guide showed us the room, it was filled with history written on the walls. Soon after, we were roaming around empty prisons. Me and my cousin went inside each of those cells, started getting pictures clicked, and we kept calling each other "kedi no. 1" (a reference to a Bollywood movie). Soon we reached the last of it, which had Veer Savarkar Ji's picture, when I entered this cell, I'd completely gotten numb, and as a result, I could see the smoothness of the skin on my hand disappear and be replaced by goosebumps. It felt like the cell was trying to communicate with me. Sadly, those were the days when I really got scared of such situations. If I visited this place today, I would have asked everyone to leave immediately, while I would have chosen to sit there and close my eyes, trying to continue our conversation. Soon we reached the uppermost storey, which basically looks like a terrace. The view was absolutely ethereal. A jail surrounded by water. I could see different shades of blue with relative closeness. A change in directions failed to make any difference to the view. Sitting there, I listened to waves hitting the walls. It felt like I had been sitting there for at least a few hours. Unfortunately, we could hear as the guide continued to scream, "Kids, the light show is going to begin; come downstairs immediately." With frowning faces, one after the other, we reached and sat on our respective chairs. Again, it had blown our minds with interesting historical significance and facts about the place. It felt like Nobita was using a time machine. History is taking place right before my eyes. There stood a tree that had indisputably witnessed historical events. The show ended and gave birth to a feeling of familiarity with the place. I knew the twists and turns, the people around me, the trees, the mayhem that occurred in the past, and so much more. This was only day one in the Andamans, and it had nothing to do with water activities. After all, one can never truly make deductions about a place without tasting its significance and relevance.
