My plans of spending this New Year’s eve on the beaches of the Andaman Islands have been squashed. As it is I am frightened of floating on my back in the sea. To top that, a friend who sails with the Indian Navy, tells me that a tourist swimming off the Radhanagar Beach on Havelock Island, in the area locally-known as the “Aquarium”, was attacked and killed by a Ghariyal or probably a saltwater crocodile.

And here I was thinking sharks were bad. I nicked my knee once – on Elephant Beach on the Havelock Island – and scrambled out of the water for fear that I might be attacked by sharks who would obviously be attracted by the blood.

The only marine animal / thing that has given me any pain was this jellyfish that caressed my ankle in the waters off Anjuna Beach in Goa. It was excruciating. I was limping. Someone peed on the burn as well.

Come to think of it, there’s also something off the Radhanagar Beach – but only in one section of the water – very small stings, like pin-pricks, all over my skin. I remember that from my first trip to the Andaman Islands. Never found out what it was. Invisible to the naked eye.

Wrote this after seeing this during my bi-monthly visit to Boston Big Picture.