By D N Singh
Celebrating the newyear dates back centuries. People leave the places they live in for new destinations and the mode of celebration always varies. It all depends of the choice of people.
Let’s have our spotlights on some locations in Odisha those offer some spectacular departure from the overpowering elements of cities or even towns where we usually remain entangles in a circuitous glitter that is over powered by a toxic reign.
It was as usual a trip through the meandering tidal creeks that join the Bay of Bengal near Gahirmatha sanctuary falling within the Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapada district.
The boat moves on against the headwinds from the sea as we can always feel the turbulence more as we get closer to the sea. Only except the fear of a blitzkrieg from the ocean rest was a moment to cherish.
We were nearing the Gahirmatha sanctuary, one of the world’s largest rookery for the Olive Ridley turtles who reach here every winter lay eggs from as far as the Caspian sea.
There we were on Babubali Island, a huge ephemeral sand dune where lakhs of Olive Ridley turtles come to lay eggs.
Where to stay?
Although ephemeral in nature, but Babubali is also a favoured location for the fishermen who come here and build small huts for stay and fish.
Visitors from outside those who come here for a stay for  a night or two to see the spectacle when lakhs of turtles sit on their pits to lay eggs, those huts are the only shelter on this island. Not one but many huts dot the landscape overseeing the huge rookery barely a five minutes sail.
There we made our arrangements for the adventure of a day and night. The hearths left abandoned by the fishers helped us to prepare the lunch with whatever were ferried along.
The rookery till then was sparsely dotted by some hundreds of turtles but just around 2.30 pm the scene transformed into a splendor as the man there signaled about the arrival of turtles just uncountable; in lakhs almost. The entire beach wore the divine manifestation of nature by the guests from the sea.
One can only see to believe that vista of nature and the turtles laying eggs unperturbed by our presence.
It continued and the evening sun was down at the horizon and the sound of tides  as if serenading to the crawling guests those who are believed to be million years old specie only after the Dinosaurs who have suffered extinction long,long back.
We chose to come back to Babubali island for the night and got our dinner prepared in a very make-shift manner with our grocery.
The Bay of Bengal was roaring but the island for rookery was calm as the turtles harbored there were busy in laying eggs.
The straw left by the fishers served as our bed with bed sheets sprayed on them. The oceanic breeze made the expected invasion into our huts.
We could not realize when the rays from the rising Sun entered the tattered walls of the huts and the crimson Sun God bounced up slowly almost teasing us to wake up to a new morning and new phase of life that would bring a New Year few hours from then.
