This is a video story of last November when I was cheated during travel trip to Chilika lake in Orissa. It was a perfectly staged drama. I knew it was a drama yet I fell for it.
Sometimes, when you are enjoying a trip you don’t overthink and stay in the moment. Later to realize when back home that you paid 10 times more for the product you purchased as a trip souvenir. Well, it’s all in the game!
See this video where I capture one such moment of travel shopping. Cheated or not? That’s the question
Chilika lake near Puri in Orissa is a day trip that is famous for dolphin spotting. The only place in India where you can see dolphins, however; sighting them is no joke as you need oodles of patience and a keen eye. It is almost 3 hours boat ride on one side on a boat. The local boat machine makes so much noise that it goes ‘dhad-dhad’ in your head for hours to follow. By the time you reach the spot where elusive dolphins are supposed to exist you are extremely tired and sleepy. Then another staged drama begins when boatman will point towards one corner and say, “I sense a dolphin there. Concentrate. It might jump anytime. Hush, hush now. Look there.”
While you excitedly imagine a dolphin jumping high from water, making a somersault and diving back in all its glamour – as shown in Singapore and Dubai travel advertisements – in India and especially in Chilika lake – all you see is a fading line interpreted by boatman as the arch or fin of the dolphin. And, then after a few failed attempts you are so impatient,tired and hungry that you concede or make yourself believe (for you must get value for money and time spent) that you did see something of a dolphin.
Thus ends the elusive dolphin spotting exercise.
There were other things in this trip which was more more fun like the staged drama in an attempt to dupe you (see the above video), the sea food amidst the lake and migratory flock of birds.
Have you been cheated during travel and later pondered about it?
2 comments
You are right Anunoy. I should have written dhad-dhad.
I didn’t know about barkul. I used basic movie maker for this. My technical skills are limited. I am just a storyteller 🙂
Cute indeed 😀
“thud-thud” reminds me of nothing but Royal Enfield motorcycles :-)))
In Chilika, there’re many dolphins but they’re not trained like Singapore ones to somersault and charm its viewers. If you want to explore Chilika, Barkul should be the place!
How did you make this video photo-story?