MIRACLES OF NATURE

Our rowboat sails lazily through the narrow, meandering creeks and channels of the Sundarbans, maneuvering the low, jutting out branches of the coastal mangrove trees, with the mid-day sun playing hide and seek through the emerald forest, unfolding an astonishing world before me.

- Sreelekha Chatterjee

The boat rows on through the labyrinth of the channels, with dense foliage of the salt-tolerant mangrove forest spreading over miles—deep, almost impenetrable, secretive—and growing by the side of the coast and edges of the delta formed by the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. The Sundari tree (meaning “beautiful” in Bengali), after which the place gets its name, is the dominant mangrove tree species of the Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh. Sundarbans is a cluster of islands, constantly made and remade along the banks by the incoming and outgoing tides, forming the largest block of littoral forests.

Awe-struck, I stare at the tall, hardy Sundari trees, with elliptical leaves which form an unbroken canopy, while keora trees with long, cone-shaped aerial roots, line along one of the shores and their drooping branches lean over the calm water. A horizontal network of cable roots gives the trees support while the aerial roots take in oxygen and sustain entire underground ecosystems beneath them. Monkeys and deer eagerly consume the keora leaves and their sour fruits.

The peaceful, unique nature surrounding—divine and bright—helps me to relax and unwind and takes my mind off the hustle and bustle of my city life. My eyes feast on the magnificent scenic beauty—rich treasure of flora and fauna—that nature has bestowed.