Sun Kissed

Chapter 18: Stonefish

My friends and I were all now in our hotel rooms in Port Blair. We had taken the Catamaran from Havelock and were going to stay in Port Blair for a day before taking a flight back.

I had realised that I had not been able to spend a proper day with my friends so we decided to look around and see what the city had to offer.

We were first going to go to Cellular Jail, a colonial prison during the British Raj. And then we would go to an aquarium-cum-museum.

I was now wearing a pair of capris and a light summer t-shirt. We were going out all afternoon and I had no intention of bathing in my own sweat. So, I tied my hair up in a moderately messy-looking bun and put on my sunglasses. I took one final glance of myself in the mirror and left the room.

Fifteen minutes later we were all ready to leave. We reached Cellular Jail taking two autorickshaws. Saahil and I decided to stand in line for the tickets. Since high school, Saahil has been our 'money guy'. Either we all give him the money first and then he pays or he pays first and then we pay him later. And even after so many years, nothing's changed.

We buy our tickets and even hire a guide to show us around and we enter.

If you close your eyes, Cellular jail feels like it has always known peace. You could hear the birds chirping, leaves rustling, the crashing of waves against the outer wall. But when you open your eyes where you see the torture. The nightmares. The sufferings. You can hear the screams behind the silence.

How can humans inflict so much pain on another human?

Once upon a time, Cellular Jail was a rebel's worst nightmare. The position of the Jail, one side bordering the sea and side being the forest, made escape impossible. Thus, this infamous place is called Kala Pani. Even if they were could escape, they were caught and ordered to be hanged.

The rebels were made to wear clothes made of jute so that they would be uncomfortable. The British Raj sent them here in an 'experiment' that involved torture, medical tests, forced labour and, for many, death. They were stripped off their dignity along with their spirit.

How could a place so beautiful now be such a cruel place?

We all went around with solemn looks on our faces as the guide showed and talked about the place. We talked very little throughout the tour. We had always read about the tortures but looking up close was a different feeling altogether. One of those feelings was anger and that was for sure.

Once the tour finished, we came out immediately not wanting to spend any more time where every wall told a story of inhumanity.

All that emotional stuff made us hungry so we stopped at the same shack where we had eaten our lunch the first day. We again ate the crab curry. This time we also ordered a bottle of beer each. We were pretty content. We decided not to talk about Cellular Jail because it was a quick way to dampen the mood.

Apparently, I had missed out on some fun when I was on my rendezvous with Chris. Saahil lost his glasses on the beach that to in the waves and he got so upset that he told the other three to look for his glasses... in the waves! And one more time, Divisha and Varun were making some kind of video, and Varun fell flat face into the water. The three boys also went cliff jumping and I so wanted to go. We all together were a partially drunk group of happy friends.

Our next stop was the museum. It was a small one, focused on the cultures and history of the archipelago. India's only active volcano is part of the archipelago. And did you know that if someone had to travel at a consistent speed of 50km per hour from Andaman, they could reach Thailand in approximately 18 hours?

The museum was attached to an even smaller aquarium. The aquarium was small but had an unbelievable variety of fishes. One of them was the deadliest fish in the world, the Stonefish. And I call it the ugliest fish in the world. It apparently looked so ugly because it was supposed to camouflage and look like a rock. This fish came second in my 'most hated animals' list, right after hyenas that topped the list. I'll talk about my hate for hyenas another day. today is 'hate stonefish day'. They are found in the shallow waters and disguise themselves as rocks and corals. They can inject a venom that is capable of killing an adult in less than an hour. It kills and it's ugly, therefore deserves my hate.

The first thing we did when we reached our hotel was go to the games room. Luckily, the pool table was free and we could play. Saahil and I quickly picked each as partners as we had won the previous time. This time there were no bets and we switched partners in the next games. Varun was always placed in the comparatively stronger team due to the lack of skills in this particular area. He had some lucky shots here and there. That's it. Divisha wasn't the best either so either Kaushal, Saahil or I were stuck with one of them. So it was always Varun and Divisha in the same team with one of us three against the other two.

We played for two hours and now my back was aching because of bending too much. I even saw Kaushal and Saahil stretching.

I had a fun time. Thought about Chris a little but tried focusing more on our senseless talks that I knew I would miss.