“The World is a book and those who do not travel read only one page”– St. Augustine
Boy Oh Boy ! this quote hits me real deep every time I begin to question my existence. Being a travel enthusiast, the very idea of traveling the world sends shivers down my spine. Since time immemorial I have been creating and editing my secret Bucket List, hoping someday I will get a chance to tick them right off. I believe there is a lot more to living than merely just existing. Everybody is living but not everybody lives. The thought of exploring the world is what brings my heart and soul alive. Imagine what would happen if I would physically be traveling the world. Self-exploration on an adventure is what I like doing best. It gives me the utmost joy and pleasure to discover something new. The thrill and happiness that follows remain memorable forever. There are innumerable places to explore in the world. For that I #SayYesToTheWorld.
At times, I just wished that traveling the world was as mandatory as breathing, as easy as pie or as cheap as chips. But then reality hits me hard and I just read a book instead.
Recently while at my ‘Me’ time on YouTube, I came across a lovely video by Lufthansa. You could check it down below. It reminded me of all the times I #SayYesToTheWorld and fantasize of my worldly adventures. After watching the video, my hidden #BlindList was out of the drawer. I relived the memories of the times I spent penning each point down. The only reason why my bucket list stays hidden is that it has a list of adventurously thrilling places. An example of these thrilling places would be something like Mount Everest ( Shh, let’s just keep it a secret for now and pretend you never read that ). Another example of a place that I wish to travel would be to North Sentinel Island. But while I travel to this place I also want to be in my astronaut suit and an invisibility cloak (of Harry Potter fame :P).
You may be wondering why the hell do I want to go there invisible in a suit? Just read on and you will understand. After all, the humanity in me wants to more be humane than ever when it comes to exploring this island.
It is a fact that there are hardly any unexplored places on the maps. Even any modern day adventurous Columbus won’t stumble on tribes untouched by the modern world. But if you choose to be in and around the Bay of Bengal, head over to the North Sentinel Island(only if you can produce magic spells like the Disillusionment Charm on yourself). The first time I read about the North Sentinel Island, I was thrilled with excitement to know that such a mysterious place still existed. The curiosity in me keeps building up to just get a glimpse of what the island actually looks like. However, I do not encourage or support the cause to explore this island. Research after research, I realized I can only wish to be there but not actually go there. Looking at how the selfish world would get, I feel its the best to leave the island as it is. It is clearly doing better without us outsiders.
If you guys have never heard of North Sentinel Island, then you must know that it is house to the last untouched people on Earth. These people are called the Sentinelese and have lived on this island for about 60000 years without contact to the world outside. It is estimated that the population is about 40 to 400. You may be wondering how can an entire island population living in the 21st century be untouched by the modern world. Well, they do that by keeping any would-be Vasco da Gama at bay with bows and arrows. These people are so hostile that they have a long history of violent contacts to outsiders. There have been reports of attacks initiated by these people on explorers and poachers. Now you know why I am talking about invisibility cloaks and magic spells. These people have been living without the influence of anything modern. They may or may not be aware of the existence of the outside world.
Today, the Indian government is doing the best it can to protect the island from any deliberate encounters with outside people. There is no way a common man can travel to this island on their own. You will immediately be hunted off by the Indian authorities. A big salute to the authorities for protecting these people. However, every three to four decades it is said that ships find itself on the island by accident or deliberately. There have been attempts to kidnap the Sentinelese people and ‘study’ them.
To make things worst there have been deaths reported by these ‘study’ attempts. Turns out that the Sentinelese people aren’t very immune to diseases like we are. The deaths were the number one reason why the Sentinelese are so hostile. Even a sprout of a common cold virus can endanger the entire population and wipe them from the face of the earth. Now you know why I would need the astronaut type of suit as well. Their only wish is to be left alone. I highly respect this choice of life as a fellow human.
Since my childhood days, I have been an avid reader of books based on the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Mesolithic etc age periods. I have also been a fan of the Mayan tribe. The movie Apocalypto was the reason I fell in love with the Mayans. It’s amazing to know how our ancestors lived through times when there was no science or technology. Turns out they did pretty well! Coming back to the modern day tribe like the Sentinelese turns out they too are doing pretty well. No science or technology. I could only imagine myself living in a world like theirs. In fact, at times I wished there wasn’t any science or technology. Since not a lot is known about Sentinel Island, one can only imagine what it must be like. The fantasy of exploring a life like theirs can only stay a fantasy.
My wish to travel to North Sentinel Island with my astronaut type suit and invisibility cloak is out of sheer curiosity. Not to exploit, Not to harm, Not to abuse. Us humans are evolved only because of our curiosity. Imagine being invisible and witnessing a tribe of people who have been happily living on their own. What it will be like to witness them smile, laugh, talk, eat, sleep, hunt…… what it must be like to watch them pray to their Gods(having read many books on other tribes, I am guessing they have their Gods). Watching them would be such a joy. I am also guessing they may be one of the happiest people on earth.
Surrounded by all things natural, the Sentinelese have barely upgraded like other people. They may not even have a currency system. Having a world with no currency sounds super cool, doesn’t it? I wonder what the rains mean to them? What does the sunlight mean to them? The experiences could be endless. These people don’t even know what a mobile could be and here we people are worried about our daily posts on Instagram. Wow, it indeed must be a peaceful life there.
Reports of accidental shipwrecks where there were air rescue must have been a sight for the Sentinelese people. I wish I could have experienced the very moment they saw a helicopter or an airplane. Watching people genuinely happy and curious about life could be such a sight for anyone. After experiencing their life, I wonder how it would affect my life. If all these thoughts about the Sentinelese don’t make you happy for them, then I don’t know what will.
Lastly, Since this is just my travel fantasy, I do not wish to actually travel there. I would vouch for Sentinelese people to be left alone in their world. In the past, there have been instances of tribes being exploited. Similar to the Sentinelese tribe are the Jarawa tribe which has already been exploited. They have been exploited by tourists and many so-called ‘researchers’. There have been videos made about the study as well. You could check them out on YouTube. Watching those videos, I was left speechless at how Jarawa tribe has been forced to abandon their culture. You can now see them wearing clothing gifted by tourists and other people. Their cries to be left alone have been unheard for. They were better off on their own, hunting their food. In a few years, my only fear for them is that they will be exploited into cheap labor. I don’t wish for this to happen to the Sentinelese people too. I hope we other humans learn to respect and protect these tribes.
That is all for my post, Hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until next time, Bye 🙂 Have a great day ahead.
PS:- Most images used in this post are taken from the web. The credits to these images are mentioned down below. If you the owner of any image and don’t wish for it to appear here, do contact me(meli[email protected]). I will be happy to help you further. Cheers!
Hi Tamesha, thank you so much 🙂 Loads of love your way …..
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