CHILIKA -BIRDS PARADISE

As a child in school, I read about  Chilika as a brackish water lagoon. Back then I had no idea what it would be, the little information I had about Chilika remain treasured with me as I grew up. Growing up I got the opportunity to visit Chilika when I went to Odisha-India's Best Kept Secret, for my higher education. Being in Odisha gave me immense opportunity to know Chilika better. My institute a constituent unit of NCERT, New Delhi took up many interventions program to improve the educational opportunities of the Chilika Development Block. Often we would get to hear that our teachers from the Regional Institute of Education had to rush to Chilika to see whether the programs as planned by NCERT are being carried out well. While in Odisha during the first year of my stay I heard day scholars -my batchmates discuss the beauty of Chilika-the home to many migratory birds-a rare sight for visitors more so during the winter season.

                                         Chilika has to its credit the tag of being listed as a tentative UNESCO World Heritage Site. The lake is spread over the Puri, Khurda, and Ganjam districts of Odisha at the mouth of the Daya river which flows into the Bay of Bengal. It is considered to be the largest wintering ground for migratory birds on the Indian subcontinent. The main attraction is the numerous threatened species of plants and animals. It is rich in terms of aquaculture. Fishermen residing in the neighboring villages around the lake depend upon these resources. It hosts over 160 species of birds in the peak migratory season. It has also been designated as the first Indian Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. The lake is home to the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin. In one year's time the more I got to hear about Chilika, the greater was my excitement to visit it. Being a vagabond helped a lot in exploring new places, trying mouth-watering delicacies, knowing tribal communities, and a lot more. At the start of the year, on one winter morning in the month of February, I along with my three friends set off to explore Chilika from our institute in Bhubaneswar. We started at about 10 a.m from BBSR and reached Chilika around the afternoon. Chilika is 127 km away from BBSR.

                                                  The road trip to Chilika offers one the perfect rusty ride where one gets to travel through winding roads that pass through villages. When we reached Chilika, getting down from our cab, the first thing we had was relishing ourselves with some fresh coconut juice. The best thing about Odisha being a coastal state is the presence of a large number of coconut trees. As one leaves the hurley- burly of daily life and moves away from the city, it's amazing the way vegetation changes. You travel to Puri by train from BBSR and see the vast expense of tall coconut trees till you reach Puri station. The ticket counter at Chilika offers visitors with price tags along different routes that take you to explore the Chilika lake. Looking around I could see the rows and rows of fishing boats that wait to set sail at the fall of twilight. For the fisherman in Chilika, the lake is their livelihood. Time and again their houses including fishing boats fail to fight against the savage of nature's fury. Yet they nestle around Chilika and treasure it dearly.

                                 I dared not waste a single minute and got into our boat with my life jacket. All total we were 4 passengers including the fisherman. The weather was clear. We hired the boat for 4 hours paying Rs 4000. My excitement knew no bounds. There were a lot of butterflies in my stomach. My friends were busy clicking pictures, taking selfies, talking while I put on my earphone enjoyed to the tune of Bollywood numbers. As the boat romped on my eyes tracked the mangroves along the side of the lake. Mangroves have always been my love. They are home to many aquatic species-crocodiles, birds, and other animals. Our boat took us to an island where we got to meet a person selling pearls. We purchased none though I wanted to have some, yet it was thrilling to see him break the shells and taking pearls out from them. As we moved further, I was eagerly waiting for my encounter with the Irrawaddy dolphin and have some rare sightings of the birds. Yet for a long time, we viewed none. Munching on our choco chips and biscuits while I was tapping my feet to the tune of the music, I became alerted on hearing the boatman shouting. They are here. So many of them. I was counting one, two, three, four, five......So many birds together, they came to our boat to have biscuits and every other thing we had to offer and flew away. It was my memory of a lifetime- a brief encounter with them. Traveling around then I got the first glance of the Irrawaddy Dolphin as it jumped up with its snorted nose out of the water. I was happy, my wishes got fulfilled. The weather changed on our return journey. There was a slight drizzle at the start and then it started raining heavily. Our boatman gave us the covers he had to save us from the rain. I was drenched and was shivering from head to toe, yet I wanted to sneak out from my cover and enjoy the beauty of the ambiance around. My friends warned and stopped me from doing any foolish act, though I rarely listen to them,  that day I had to. Many other boats with tourists were around us. When we reached the shore we could feel the cold wind blowing around. We got into our cab and reached BBSR around 8 p.m.Tired we were though, yet the beauty of Chilika enthralled me. Way back home there were many questions behind my mind. The lake is facing many threats in the form of fishing activities, plastic pollution, siltation, and many others. Government efforts cannot work in isolation unless we as citizens are ready to play our part to save Chilika for our future generation.