Calcutta 4
We
were in Kolkata for the 23rd NDA Reunion, and it was the day
before the ‘others’ came in and this was the only time we had to
take in small indelible experiences as they came, spontaneous
and simple. We were on The Strand River Front, close around Princep Ghats and
the ‘Surya Devta’ had imbued the ambiance with his colours.
Hogla to Hooghly
Hooghly River or the Bhagirathi-Hooghly or Ganga as some may call was as
liquid gold with Vidya Sagar Setu span across
it on our left and the iconic Howrah Bridge on our right. We knew that Hooghly
splits from the Ganges at the Farakka Barrage and flows by the town town
called Hooghly on the river. The origins of the name of Hooghly River are
still up for debate, whether the name of city came first or the river.
It
is also said that the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan had given rights to
the Portuguese to trade in Bengal and they built a Church in Bengal for the
merchant expats in 1590.
The grass that grew around the Church was Hogla,
and from this came the name given to nearby river became Ogolin. With the
passage of time, it became Oglee and eventually Hooghly. Sounds
credible.
 |
| Hogla Grass |
But for now, the earliest Calcutta Port was
on this Strand Bank and we were standing on this bank watching
with fascination the drama of the setting sun …A slight movement catches my
eye. Could it be flotsam or a carcass and the movement could be the river
currents.
But then i think I the saw the hump of the Dolphin and then another
illusive creature did a half manoeuvre and both disappeared.
Why I say ‘I think’, is because at the time of the visual
sighting I was totally unaware of the presence of Gangetic Dolphins on this
stretch of Hooghly. Therefore I was rather
pragmatic on the sighting for many days …..
Susu it was!
Later back in Delhi Google search
revealed many newspaper clippings from 2013 to 2017 on sightings at Strand
Waterfront .They are generally found alone or in pairs, or occasionally in
small groups. Its
numbers have dwindled dramatically over the last 30 years from 6000 to a mere
1800 or so, making it an endangered species.
So could say that it was
providential that we saw a pair of dolphins when we least expected.
It enforces my point in of time in life that time
spent on little things that give joy is time well
spent. To really feel, absorb and appreciate the energies of
the ecosystem around us is worth living.
The Gangetic river dolphin is sometimes
called Ganga with reverence by the fish folks living on the banks—Ganga dolphins can live only in Fresh water can
be seen in of some parts of Ganges, Meghna, and Brahmaputra
river systems in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Locally they are also known
as Susu or Shushuk linked to the sounds of
the dolphin makes when it breathes. Gangetic Dolphins are essentially blind and as their eyes have no
lens they can detect only the direction of light.
There are four species
of freshwater dolphins that are on the brink of becoming extinct.
o The Susu –
Gangetic River Dolphin
o The Baiji -Yangtze River in China,
o The Bhulan-Indus River in Pakistan and
o The Boto- Amazon River in Latin America.
Platanista Gangetica Dolphin has been recognised as our National Aquatic animal by the
Government and they are an endangered species. It is the greed of man that is
destroying our planet and the ecosystem. The ecosystem is a delicate balance of
nature, the environment and the living organisms. Irresponsible fishing, City
pollutants. Farm pesticides damming of Rivers, sand Mining, tourist
influx, you name it and we have their killer ready.
The Wolves of the Yellow Stone Park.
For a moment I
would like to digress from the Dolphins and talk about the wolves of
Yellowstone Park US. Going back to the 1930s, when the wolf was
killed off in Yellowstone to protect the Elk. The Elk population grew beyond
sustainability, reducing ground cover, vegetation and disturbing the flora
.This set a catastrophic destruction of an ecosystem.
Biologists were faced
with the grim task to document the cascade effects of what happens when a
species is removed from an ecosystem. This is what happened when the wolves
were culled as In Yellowstone. It can happen even through extinction.
The Grey Wolf was
reintroduced to save the Park in 1995.And said Doug Smith of The YS Wolf
project , ‘"It is like kicking a pebble down a mountain slope where
conditions were just right that a falling pebble could trigger an avalanche of
change."
Can we let these playful River Dolphin the Die out.
So coming back to
river Dolphins who are an endangered species now on the way to
extinction. Their numbers are falling rapidly, so do we take it as
is a wakeup call to save to this endearing playful creature. They’re one of the only animals
that appear to play, leaping out of the water and doing tricks. The
bottlenose dolphin even seems to grin widely at everything.
Legends
and Myths surround Dolphins
Dolphins have always been seen as
somehow charmed creatures for times immemorial. It was inevitable
that such a remarkable animal also generated fantastic mythology that extends
through to today. They were very special in
Greek, Roman and Minoan mythology. They appear in many stories not
only across civilizations but across the continents.
Apollo
and Delphi
There goes a story In the Homeric
Hymn to Apollo….the God is in search of a place to erect a temple. Feeling
languid, he takes the form of a dolphin and leaps about a ship travelling the
Greek seas. It then he perceives the haven for anchorage beneath Crisa that
would become his great temple at Delphi
After Apollo had
established his sanctuary, he needed to recruit attendants. He spotted a ship
sailing from Crete and he sprang aboard in the form of a dolphin. The crew was
awed into submission and followed a course that led the ship to Crisa. Here
Apollo revealed himself as a god and initiated them to his service, with
directions to pray to him as Apollo DELPHINIUS, or DELPHINOS, a word meaning
“dolphin,” from which came new name of Delphi.
Perhaps we should be cautioned that we
do not do to a dolphin what we do, as it might just be a God staring back at
you with those almost human eyes.
The most famous Dolphin of the
seafarers - Pelorus Jack
Seafarer’s
Guide- Pelorus Jack
There are many famous stories about
dolphins, the myths and legends somehow evolved around them. How
they rescued people from the dangers of the sea or how they helped
sailors. Byzantine sailors, Arab sailors, Chinese and European explorers,
all had tales of dolphins rescuing sailors or ships in trouble. A ship
accompanied by dolphins was sure to find safe harbour, fair weather, and
following seas
Jack would appear as ships neared the
canal, and guide them through the safe parts of the water, leaving the ship
once it was safely through. One day, a drunken passenger on one ship shot Jack,
and of course, he fled. Weeks later, he reappeared to guide ships again, but
would never guide that particular ship again. And ultimately, that ship did
wreck on the rocks of the strait.
Today, in movies and literature, we
have modern legends about dolphins. Almost any website or book about dolphins
will speak of their incredible intelligence.
Winter
the movie star. Dolphin Tale
There is very popular movie Dolphin Tale about, a young dolphin that was caught in a crab trap, rescued by a young boy Sawyer and a doctor. It was transported to Clearwater Marine Hospital, where she was named Winter. Damage from the crab trap rope causes her tail to degrade and, without a tail, Winter’s prognosis was not too good. It took the expertise of a dedicated marine biologist, the ingenuity of a brilliant prosthetics doctor and the unwavering devotion of a young boy to bring about a ground breaking miracle – a miracle that might not only save Winter but also help scores of people around the world.
When we think of
dolphins and porpoises, we often don’t think of fresh water. But in parts of
South America and Asia, several rivers are home to these charismatic
species. Dolphins are among the world’s oldest creatures and they are
dying.
Please Read. Please
share. Save the River Dolphins
“The rising pollution in
the waters. Unchecked dumping of toxic waste and untreated industrial water has
also been causing acidification of water”. Say experts .
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