The Crawling Guests Of - Rushikulya

The author realises a much-cherished dream as she witnesses one of the greatest natural events known – the arrival of the Olive Ridley Turtles – emerging like phantoms from the sea with phosphorus on their backs.

- Shreya Singha Ray

As far as I can remember, it was 8-10 years ago that a reputed Bengali newspaper Ananda Bazar Patrika published an article on Olive Ridley turtles and their fascinating story of egg laying and hatchlings. It had thoroughly amazed me and I had looked it up on the Internet back then but found very little information on how to get there. Secretly, I cherished the wish like a dormant volcano, hoping to one day witness this gala event of nature. This year, all of a sudden, that volcano got a chance to erupt when I met Mr Suraj Ranjan Prasanjit, a member of Open Wildlife Lounge (OWL), Odisha and a geologist by profession who himself has done some research on the subject. I tried at every chance to persuade him into helping me realise my dream.