My Tryst with Chowra

the blue sea and the floating canoes. picture by : Nishant Bodh, DANICS

(This article has been written by Nishant Bodh, DANICS, the new Assistant Commissioner of Nancowry after his maiden visit to Chowra)

The beautiful island of Chowra is part of Nancowry Sub-division of Nicobar District in UT of Andaman & Nicobar.

Located in Bay of Bengal this island has some of the most beautiful beaches in India.With its colourful water of many shades of Blue and white soft sand , its humble and lovely native Nicobari people,  Chowra provides a unique opportunity of adventure to those lucky few who can visit this gem of Nicobar District.

Like the other Nicobarese islands, people of Chowra have a Tribal Council which looks after the welfare of locals. Chowra's Tribal Council consist of CTC i.e. Chairman Tribal Council, currently  Shri Jonathan Edmund, Vice- CTC Shri Leslie Menku and 1st captains of all the five villages, which are Kuitasuk, Raihoeon, Chongamong, Alheat & Taheela. Below CTC lies the Village Council, every village has such council, which is headed by 1st captain and is assisted by 2nd and 3rd captains, who are democratically elected for 4 year tenure. This throws a light on the egalitarian nature of the Chowrites.

The island of Chowra and its people once dominated the entire sea faring trade between the Nancowry group and other Nicobarese islands. Their canoes (ap) and pots were famous through out the Nicobarese archipelago. It is said that in olden days, the Chowrite shamans were greatly feared and respected, making Chowra dominate the other islands, despite not having much natural resources. Today, Chowra is one of the least developed of the islands, owing to the problem of non-availability of fresh water resources, save for what is collected through water harvesting, making it vulnerable and an extremely difficult place to live in. The administration has installed ROs to make potable water available, but due to long gestation period of any project in these remote islands, life at Chowra is gruelling. The problems of Chowra are compounded by the lack of communication system save the police radio due to delayed installation of bsnl mobile tower there.Currently Chowrites communicate either through Police radio signals or with the weak signal available from the tower situated at Alurong village in Teressa island. The island is served by 2 weekly pawan hans sorties and 3-5 inter-island monthly ship service provided by speed boat and ships.The island has a secondary school and 2 sub-centres , the latter have recently been installed with new air-to-water technology based water dispensers which harvest the moisture from air to take care of the drinking water needs of the patients in Chowra. This island with the strength of approx. 1200 people, also has a very special football team which was runner up in the prestigious 22nd Vice President Cup. their performance in sports elucidates the fact that despite all hardships, the Chowrites love and know how to celebrate life. This is also beautifully demonstrated through the famous Canoe Racing. Most of the “Tuhets” or extended joint families which own and maintain beautiful Canoes with interesting names like “OFFICER-3”!

The cuisine consists mainly of sea food including variety of fishes, lobsters and crabs etc and Pigs, fouls and locally grown organic fruits such a delicious Pineapple, papaya, banana, jackfruit and guavas.

The Chowrites, though living in this difficult and far flung area, possess a spirit towards pursuing the excellence in them. The future of these islanders looks bright as the new generation is moving towards modernization while preserving their age old traditions. 

"stand up india" in nicobar

(written by Shekhar Rai, Extension officer, RD, district: nicobar)

STANDUP INDIA: EXPANDING HORIZONS OF NICOBAR

About Nicobar!

The Nicobar group of Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean, located 1,300 km southeast of the Indian subcontinent, across the Bay of Bengal, forming the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The district is constituted of Car Nicobar (HQ), Nancowry and Campbell Bay Blocks/ Tehsils all of which are tribal regions except Campbell Bay with three Gram Panchayats and therefore entry of non-tribal into tribal area is subject to Protection of Aboriginal Tribes Regulation 1956.

The district is at a distance of approx. 250km from Port Blair. Furthermore, due to difficulties in transportation and connectivity within these islands, implementation of centrally sponsored schemes to provide assistance to various beneficiaries residing in far flung islands is very difficult.

Footprints of Mr. Ahmed’s Success …

Shri Mohseen Ahmed, R/o village Kinyuka,Car Nicobar expresses his gratitude towards the District Administration Nicobar in bringing about such large scale awareness of the scheme and providing handholding support to potential entrepreneurs among the ST and women class of the Nicobarese society and for facilitating a loan of Rs. 53 lakhs which has definitely changed his life in a big way.

Prior to the benefits under the scheme, he had been a clothes, footwear and electronic shop owner. Before this huge change in his life, he owned a small shop and had to face many issues in successfully running his business.

Firstly, due to acute shortage of finance, he was forced to purchase his shop supplies from Port Blair which resulted in cost escalation and reduced profits. Due to subsequently lower profits, he was unable to import his supplies from mainland as was being done by the merchants of Port Blair and a hand few of well-established merchants of Car Nicobar.

Shri Mohseen is now able to import his shop supplies directly from Chennai/ mainland and is thus now able to sell the same at the rates equivalent to Port Blair and sometimes even cheaper. This has definitely improved the way of life of the tribal people of Car Nicobar. He confers that his earlier wastage of money on mediums and brokers has now been converted into merely profits... more profits.

Shri Mohseen, who was once a small shop owner, has now been able to open two shops by the names of M/s Sarhad Shopping Complex at village Kinyuka and M/s Mohseen Enterprises at village Perka in car Nicobar thereby becoming self-reliant and also has been in a position to provide employment to more than 10 persons in his two shops. He is also planning to expand his business to manufacturing processes.Truly, once a job seeker has become a job Provider.

He feels that drawing inspiration from the scheme and its influence on his business,more people, not only from his village, but from the whole of Nicobar District have begun to come forward to get assistance under the scheme. And since getting loans under the scheme comes without hassles, mortgage or surety, it is really pulling the people towards itself and encouraging them to get their share of fame under the scheme.

Shri Mohseen Ahmed is grateful to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi ji for bringing out such great opportunities for the common man to grow. He is now a true believer of ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikas”.

Death in Nicobar

Kakana village graveyard

4^th November 2016 was a sad day. The sky wept and cicadas sang a sad requiem for the death of village Kakana’s 1^st captain, Sh. Gabriel, a very noble soul and a very enterprising leader amongst his fellow villagers.  Having spent time in Nicobar, we have been witness to the fun and frolic during festive times, a very merry and dulcet Christmas season, the energy filled canoe races which are a sight to behold against the myriad blue-green hues, the alacrity to participate in song and dance events in even the other communities’ religious festivals, the slow pace of life which celebrates the rhythm of Nature,  but it is the poise and grace with which the Nicobarese deal with their grief that struck me so deeply. Unlike the noisy cacophony which we often find in certain parts of our country, these people internalize it and stand in silence, praying for the man’s last journey, paying floral tributes one by one without trying to assume unnecessary importance silently and in the most disciplined manner. Being close to Nature they understand the rhythm of life and understand the human seasons too which makes them seemingly stoic to the death. But they also remember their dead every day as their loved ones have become the part of the nature around them, every year on All Souls’ Day (2^nd November) they decorate the graveyard with ixoras, mussaendas and light candles and incense sticks on the graves. At tsunami memorial too, floral wreaths are laid down and candles and incense are lit in the memory of those who perished in the gigantic sweep of the cruel tsunami of 2004  on 1st november every year. 

decorating the graves. photo courtesy : greatheart nicobari

another view of the ritual on All Souls' Day on 2nd Nov

Flight of the sparrow : “beti bachao beti padhao” initiatives in nicobar

“he for God,

she for god in him”

-         John Milton in “paradise lost”

well!! Not quite!!! Nicobar presents itself as a perfect exception to a generally discriminatory World. It is a society where no gender discrimination takes place. There  is no fasting or praying for the birth of a male child. The birth of a girl child is as much a celebration as a boy child’s birth. Daughters are educated at par with their brothers.  There is no dowry and certainly no concept of the woman at the mercy of in-laws.  Yes!! this utopian arcadia does exist in the southern most district of India. It is a society where this half of the population is given the full sky to spread their wings and fly high. The apotheosis of this limitless flight can be seen in the case of Ms. Deborah Harold, the world No. 4 cyclist from our very own kakana village in Carnicobar, whose parents, tuhet and village didn’t see her being a girl as a hindrance but encouraged her at every step to reach the position she is in and are continuing to do so.

When district Nicobar was included in our National Government’s flagship programme “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” , we were surprised as Nicobar enjoys fairly good sex ratio and doesn’t practice discrimination. But then we saw it as a great opportunity to even further broaden the horizons for our girls and women.

We identified the areas where we thought more could be done:

Health, Hygiene and Nutrition : awareness camps with the help of  medical doctors were organized in which discussions were held about adolescent girls and women’s health, the problem of malnutrition, prevalence of anemia and the ways to control it, the menstrual and gynaecological health, upkeep of hygienic practices etc. Demonstrations were given to properly wash hands,  to clean teeth and tongue after each meal, to dispose of sanitary tissues etc. . Kits containing  hand towel, liquid hand wash, toothpaste, tooth brush, sanitary napkin, date and almonds were distributed.

Figure 1 distribution of health, hygiene and nutrition kits by Hon'ble LG Prof. Jagdish Mukhi ji on 27th Oct 2016

Child protection, awareness about “good touch, bad touch”, POCSO and prevention of teenage pregnancy: an extensive campaign was done to reach to every girl child and teach her the meaning of good touch and bad touch through a short film called “komal”. Nicobar Police joined hands with the district team in explaining POCSO and protection of children from physical or mental abuse. One matter of great concern in the district was and still remains, is the prevalence of teenage pregnancy which requires both tact and strategy. This year our target is to develop a full-fledged strategy to combat this problem that kills the adolescence of girls and pushes them in to an early womanhood. This year Police department also plans to impart a ten-days basic self-defense training to Nicobarese  girls.

Organizing competitions to enhance the academic excellence : various competitions like essay writing, quizzing, speech competitions along with poster making, slogan writing, craft making competitions are organized all over the district to bring out a competitive edge amongst the girls of Nicobar. Attractive prizes including bicycles were given to them which were appreciated in far flung islands of Chowra as well.

Zonal sports competitions: Nicobarese people do extremely well in sports. Various competitions including cycle race, 100m, 200m and 400m , sack race, needle race, 3 legged race, shot put, long jump, high jump etc are organized from time to time to further hone the inherent sports potential among girl children. The winners of the sports competition held in feburary 2016 were given very attractive cash prizes.

      Figure 2: picture of cycle race, held in feburary 2016.

Beti janmohatsav and post-natal maternal health: It was realized that apart from felicitating mothers and newly born girl children with baby bedding and bath kits, it was important to ensure that proper nutrition was being provided to mothers. For this post natal checkup, emphasis on mother’s milk and mother’s daily nutritional

requirements was made. New mothers were also given nutrition kits that included horlicks, dates, almonds and other dry fruits.

Figure 3: distribution of baby bedding and mothers' nutrition kit by perka village captain, Sh. Moses Reuben

Skill development by provision of training through other departments: other departments like agriculture, animal husbandry and industries are poised to organize a fortnight long training for 50 girls in each of the three sub-divisonal blocks, to enhance their capability and impart skills to make them employable or help them form self help groups to start small enterprises.

Awareness programmes: a plethora of programmes were done all over the district to bring out the best in girl children. A team called “dhoomketu group” sent by Ministry of broadcasting, Song and Drama Division was sent to organize puppet shows, magic shows and nukkad nataks all over the district. The team was accompanied by our CDPO, Smt Indira devi and performed at Chowra, Teressa, Katchal, Nancowry, Kamorta, Campbell bay and delighted. The district was dotted with Cycle rally, candle marches and media rallies which were great festivals witnessed by the islanders.

Figure 4:  magic show by dhoomketu group in kinyuka village

 Apart from these a series of events like great women themed fancy dress competition, baby girl shows, distribution of sanitary napkins, cultural evenings, showcasing of women oriented movies like “chak de” etc took place, which were well appreciated by the people of Nicobar and especially among women of Nicobar. The greatest achievement this year had been an increase of 35% in this year’s class 12^th result while the class 10^th result increased by 1% to 97.9%. We also saw a decrease in cases of anaemia, skin diseases and viral hepatitis which has encouraged us.  This year too we intend to carry the previous year’s legacy even further link the programme with the improvement of  our district’s  IMR and MMR, prevention of teenage pregnancy, felicitation of academic excellence, skill development, capacity building and a overall holistic development of the girl children to help them become better humans, better citizens and the pride and glory of our great nation

BBBP poster designed by Dhruw Nath Singh, PGT

Töölöök Tövai Panam : a small step towards a more beautiful world

“Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds”

                                                             G B Hinckley

The sea flanking the Carnic island is in turn teal, aquamarine, azure, sapphire, lapis lazuli and grey and the sands silvery white . Beholding one such view, two eco friendly huts and  seven benches, made up of locally available material, completely in-sync with the island’s beauty have been constructed and dedicated to the people of Sansad Adarsh Gram Kinyuka, under the aegis of MGNREGA scheme of Government of India

.

The site known as “Töölöök Tövai Panam” (our beautiful world) is a charming little spot for recreation and picnic dedicated to the people of Carnic. The two eco-friendly huts are made up of locally available bamboo, cane and jungle post so magnanimously provided by the captains of Kimious and Aarong and are covered with thatched roofs. The craftsmanship displayed in the construction of these huts with delicate molding of cane is par excellence. The huts are painted in earthy browns and forest greens and are in complete harmony with the surroundings.

This project incurred an expenditure of a little above four lakh rupess, out of which more than 3.7 lakhs were given as wages to create 1554 mandays  and in this case “women-days” as more than 80% MGNREGA workers in this project were women, scripting a small but successful story of asset creation , with a very small carbon footprint (if at all), along with providing meaningful and satisfying employment to these very proficient craftsmen and women of Carnicobar.

The construction of these huts and benches along with cane garbage bins and planting of flowering plants like periwinkle and tecoma was completed in a record time by the MGNREGA team comprising of Block Development Officer, Programme Officer, Assistant Engineer and four extremely dedicated Gram Rozgar Sevaks . Three solar street lamps erected by the electricity department adds to the attraction and safety of this spot.

entry to the picnic spot

blessed by a priest before inauguration

The site was decorated with tender leaves of coconut and was inaugurated by S.P. Nicobar after a prayer was read out by the Kinyuka church priest on 15^th August 2016, to the loud cheer and exultation of everyone present. The inauguration function also saw the distribution of complete Soccer Kit and Yoga mats worth fifty thousand rupees by sports department to the sports loving people of Kinyuka under Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)..

The eco-huts constructed at Kinyuka have been widely appreciated for their recreational utility and environmental friendly construction. The district administration plans to construct  similar huts under MGNREGA not just in Carnicobar but also in other islands of the district as well. We firmly believe that it takes a small step to make a giant leap. Jai Hind

tsunami preparedness in nicobar : the initiatives by the district disaster preparedness creative team

Tsunami is one of the most dreaded words for any citizen of Nicobar district. One eighth of the population was swept away by the onslaught of these murderous waves of 2004 December Tsunami. No eye can remain dry if one hears these heart rending tales when hopes, dreams and families were sacrificed at the altar of Nature's demonic manifestation encountered by these people. One can hardly make up for this loss but together we can be better prepared to take on the future ones while obviously hoping that such calamity must never occur again.
The District Disaster Preparedness Creative Team after a month of deliberation has come out with a disaster management booklet on tsunami which can be seen by following the link below:
http://db.and.nic.in/nicobars/docs/DisasterPreparednessBookletOnTsunami.pdf
This booklet is a very short and simple guide for the citizens to follow. the Nicobarese version would be made available soon and would be uploaded as well.

 Other important initiative was designing of two posters after much deliberation to explain the steps to be taken by the people in the easiest and shortest possible manner to take on the onslaught of any calamity. the creative team has also been given the responsibility to demonstrate through nukkad natak and other means in every school and village, the basic steps to brace oneself for any eventuality.

The survival kit and its contents. every family is being encouraged to prepare one

3 simple steps : what to do during tsunami??

Spectacular sunsets of nicobar

Talk about setting of our life-giving star, and the even the most taciturn and reticent speaker shall wax eloquent, ordinary mortals like me may even turn poetic. The tangerine sunsets washes the skies and earth in a golden hue so enchanting that not even a puritan can stay indifferent to it. The mysterious song of cicadas, the slow fading of deep orange, mixing with darker crimsons and finally disappearing into midnight blues, the darkening of coconut greens in to gaunt windblown silhouettes are priceless. The sea beaches apart from mountains are considered best for viewing these sunsets in their full glory and we have been fortunate to behold many of these mesmeric ones here in Nicobar islands and their more popular cousins in the andaman group and we thank the Almighty to bestow upon the opportunity to be a witness to these breath-takingly beautiful sunsets..

sunset at pilpillow beach, kamorta island
photo : Deepak Yadav, IPS

kimious beach, Carnicobar
photo : Deepak Yadav, IPS

sunset at macachua, little nicobar
photo : Jabestin Arulraj, IFoS

another shot of kimious beach
photo : Pandava Shreenu, NRHM

nicobar dotted with mussaenda trees

a mussaenda tree in its full peach and coral splendour,  Malacca village, carnicobar

Mussaenda Frondosa, another variety found in abundance in kamorta island, Nicobar district

Nicobar : my home, my islands

a view from the top of the light house, at Keating Point, Mus village,  Carnicobar

"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety"
                              - William Shakespeare, "Antony and Cleopatra"


India, with her infinite variety, is a land of myriad charms and beckons us to experience in all its grandeur and sumptuosity.
Nicobar district, the southern-most district is actually a group of 22 islands, situated in the south-east of the Bay of Bengal adds a distinct shade of its own to this multi-hued, myriad-faceted country. The emerald green isles with its luxuriant flora, its acres of coconut gardens, its flaming scarlet ixoras , stunningly crimson hibiscuses, peachy coral hued mussaendas, is surrounded by azure blue and turquoise green waters, enchant us as we approach the isles by Pawan Hans Helicopter services, once in a week chartered Air India Flight or by the various DSS Ships.
A home to Nicobarese and Shompen tribes, these islands are separated from the Andaman group of islands by the tempestuous and “menacing” ten degree channels giving these islands an aura of mystery and elusiveness, which is further heightened by the fact these islands with the exception of revenue area of Campbell bay in Great Nicobar islands is closed to tourists and outsiders.
Many pristine virginal beaches with silver sands sparkling in the sun surround these islands makes one remember how "A thing of beauty is a joy forever"
But these beautiful isles have also a heart breakingly sad tale to tell. Not a day passes, when the dreaded word "Tsunami" is not mentioned not a day passes when an eye doesn’t shed tears in the memory of their loved one taken so brutally away by the on-slaught of nature. The destruction of one’s home doesn’t ever rattle one when one has seen the families withering away.
But time heals everything and every dark cloud has a silver lining. The silver here lies in the renewed jest for life and the herculean efforts made by Nicobarese people and administration in not only re-constructing the shattered hopes but building new ones and we are poised to welcome changes that will bring about a paradigm shift. The slow but sure and steady steps would pave way for a Brave New World, unafraid of the furies of nature and being a part of India’s march to inclusive development and happiness for all.