Gypsy at Large

Along with its crystal clear blue water, long white sand beaches, mangrove-lined creeks and diverse marine life, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands also provide the visitor with vital insights into Indian history. The infamous Cellular Jail here -- now a museum -- stands mute witness to the torture of incarcerated freedom fighters. Completed in 1906, the jail has a seven-pronged, puce-coloured building with a central tower acting as its fulcrum and a massive structure comprising honeycomb like corridors. It acquired the name cellular because it is entirely made up of individual cells for the solitary confinement of the prisoners. "The light and sound show at the Cellular Jail was very good and aptly covered this vital part of Indian history," said Akash Jain, a 15-year-old who came to the islands with his family. The next stop in the history tour is Ross Island, now effectively a suburb of Port Blair and the place where the British had the headquart...

As we drove from this capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands towards the Mayabandar forest reserve, four Jarawa children blocked the road with bamboo poles and demanded 'paan' (betel leaf) and 'biscut' (biscuits) in broken Hindi. The tribe with its population now down to 260 is getting dangerously dependent on handouts.  Aged 12-15, the boys with paan-stained teeth let us move only when we promised to bring them paan and biscuits the next time. They refused to be photographed. One said: 'The flash will harm us.' Inhabitants of a dense rainforest in the Andaman Islands, the Jarawas have been living for thousands of years as isolated hunter-gatherers. Anthropologists everywhere were excited when they first made contact with the outside world in October 1997. Still, very little is known about the Jarawas -- one of the four Negrito tribes of the Andamans archipelago -- apart from the fact that they use rafts, live in oval huts and are excel...