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| A Trip Through The Everglades: Forget
the drab present, Sahara's exotic blueprint for river cruises
in the Sunderbans promises to bring tourist dollars back to
Bengal. |
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As
our surely-it-must-belong-in-a-museum motor boat chugs its way through
the sluggish Matla river early one winter morning, there's nothing
in the air to suggest that things will change in the largest natural
estuarine delta in the world, the Sunderbans (Bengali for beautiful
forests). The stillness, accentuated by towering Sundari (Heritiera
fames) and Arjun (Terminalia arjuna) trees, throbs with a queer
mixture of fear and anticipation. The 2,500 square kilometre mangrove
forest is home of the Royal Bengal Tiger. Names such as Basanti,
Gosaba, Sanjnekhali and Fraser Point-villages in the mangroves-may
be nothing more than points in a map today, but not too long ago
they were part of every big game hunter's dictionary, places where
it was possible for these men to pit their wits and weapons against
the tiger.
The long arm of change and progress is
catching up with Sunderbans. Subrata Roy Sahara, who takes his surname
from the company, nay family, he runs is the man driving that change.
During a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya
in October, he promised to make the delta a ''world class tourist
destination''. Bhattacharya, reports go, was thrilled at the offer:
with Darjeeling losing lustre as a tourist hotspot West Bengal had
reconciled itself to losing prized tourist dollars. Sahara's blueprint
is impressive: an investment of over Rs 2,000 crore; exotic river
cruises; and a promise of a holiday in the wilderness. ''We will
make Sunderbans an example of what wildlife tourism can be-comparable
to (Africa's) Serengeti National Park or the Masai Mara Reserves,''
gushes Debu Ghosh, the man in charge of Sahara's business interests
in the eastern part of the country.
Not everyone is as upbeat. In 1995, unesco
declared Sunderbans a World Heritage Site, and any change that alters
the natural balance of the mangroves could, detractors point out,
lead to a loss of that status. And alter the natural balance, argues
Kaushik Majumdar of Maitryee, a non-governmental organisation that
works with locals, is just what Sahara will do. ''The rivers Matla,
Bidya, Haribhanga, and Raimangal that feed the entire 1,33,010 hectares
of mangroves are just not right for heavy-duty cruises.'' Majumdar
has support from an unlikely source, a minister in Bhattacharya's
government. Dinesh Dakua, West Bengal's minister for tourism does
not seem completely convinced by Sahara's plans. ''We will have
to examine the proposal in detail,'' he stalls.
Sahara maintains that its great tourism initiative poses no threat
to Sunderbans. ''We will ensure that the natural structure of Sunderbans
is not altered,'' stresses Ghosh. And West Bengal Industrial Development
Corporation Executive Director Atri Bhattacharya is certain that
the Sahara effort can only help, not hurt. ''It has been the global
experience that global tourism and world class (tourist) facilities
enhance the conversation aspect of natural resorts.'' Indeed, statistics
available at the office of the District Magistrate, 24 Parganas
(Sunderbans falls under his jurisdiction) show that the felling
of trees has doubled over the past four years. ''Development,''
says Jawahar Sircar, the state's Commerce Secretary, ''may well
hold the key to conservation.''
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| The Royal Bengal Tiger: The Sunderbans'
#1 lure |
The locals, like our boatman Idris Ali, are
excited at the prospect of jobs the Sahara plan holds. The NGO lobby
worries Ali. ''Social workers come in the way (of progress),'' he
mutters. Ali's fears aren't misplaced. NGOs have already shot off
letters to other NGOs and initiated a media campaign against the
Sahara project.
With 80 per cent of its populace living below the poverty line,
Sunderbans ranks among the poorest regions of West Bengal. Jobs
are scarce and few, apart from intrepid toddy- and honey-trappers,
dare venture into the realm of the tiger. The felling of trees has
shrunk the natural habitat of the Royal Bengal Tiger, forcing it
to venture into villages in search of food. Gosaba, one such village,
has been pillaged by the regal felines-the exodus of its tiger widows
to nearby Canning, from where they catch the train to Kolkata in
search of a living, continues.
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TREADMILL
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| Resting On Shoulders
 Building
powerful shoulders is a key to achieving a great physique,
as any serious gym rat will tell you. But very few people
seem to focus on that. The bunch of muscles that make up your
shoulders (the deltoid group) consist of three heads-front,
middle and rear. And their functions are simple. Together
they help in lifting your arms to the level of the shoulders
and beyond. In any exercise that involves bringing your arms
from the sides to shoulder level or higher, the delts are
the key muscles involved. But the shoulder muscles are also
the ones that are probably most vulnerable to injury. Hence,
the importance of strong deltoids.
Presses and raises are basic building blocks for strengthening
your deltoids. You'll never meet a gym instructor who doesn't
wax eloquent on the Arnold press. Named after Schwarzenegger,
the Arnie press is the probably the most basic shoulder exercise
you could do. But here are some others that could make a combo
you could go for. The idea is to target different sections
of the delts in a focused manner. Begin with barbell front
raises while seated on an incline bench-your front delts are
worked by this exercise. The incline bench helps 'focus' the
move and does not let you cheat the weight up. Do a warm-up
set with light dumbells before three workout sets of 10-12
reps each.
Use a Smith machine for the second exercise. A Smith machine
is basically a barbell on supports and helps you focus the
exercises you do on the muscles targeted, minimising dissipation
of effort. For targeting the middle head of the shoulder muscles,
use a shoulder-width underhand grip on the bar and do presses.
Follow the same routine: a warm-up set followed by three working
sets.
The third exercise is a bent-over lateral raise with relatively
light weights. Bend over at the waist so that your torso is
parallel to the floor. Hold dumb-bells in each hand and slightly
bend your arms. Do lateral raises but don't bring your arms
back against your legs on the downward movement. Instead,
end the movement earlier; say a quarter of the distance before
that. Again, follow a warm-up set with three working ones.
Oh, and remember, because the deltoids are the most mobile
muscles-capable of a 360-degree movement-they are also one
of the most delicate. Incorrect form during exercises can
cause debilitating injuries. So apart from maintaining form
(engage a spotter's attention at the gym, always), try not
to overdo on what weights you lug for the shoulder exercises.
Go light on load and heavy on form.
-MUSCLES MANI
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