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    The Maldives in happier times

    •January 1, 1970
    • It wasn’t just the wild birds that made for interesting watching. I was walking around the back of the resort when this colorful chap squawked amiably from a casuarina tree in what sounded like Dutch or German, swooped down and perched on my shoulder. He nibbled gently at my ear, then not so gently at my finger, and scolded me for carrying no tidbits for him. I couldn’t help feeling like Long John Silver.
    • More than the island, the ocean was fascinating. I’d wade fearlessly into the water at dawn, walking as far as I could (for one who cannot swim). Then I’d stay put, allowing the gentle waves to rock me in their rhythmic caress. Often, the water was so clear that I could see the seaweed meadows at the bottom. One morning, I had company. A squadron of seven Black-tipped Reef Sharks swam with me. They were each not more than two feet long but I froze -- in amazement, tinged with a smidgen of fear. I couldn’t help thinking they were extraordinarily beautiful, and I envied my scuba-diving friend for the treasures that had been revealed to her 20 meters underwater just the previous afternoon.
    • Equally fascinating but slightly more suspect were Stingrays. Like underwater bats, these relatives of sharks with their flat, fan-shaped bodies, slithered silently and gracefully on the ocean floor. Stingrays, true to their name, have venomous Y-shaped barbs at the end of their whip-like tails, and I couldn’t help remembering that the TV presenter Steve Irwin had met his end at the wrong end of one. Yet, from a distance, I felt safe watching them. A scuba-diver later reassured me that these fascinating creatures are quite harmless if left alone.
    • <strong>Enjoy more <a href="http://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com/travelphotoarchive/">travel slideshows </a><a>>></a></strong><br>-----------------------------------------------------------<br>After seven days and nights of sun, sand and seafood, I bade farewell to the Maldives. We headed for the island of Hulhule, adjoining Male, where the airport is located. Today, my thoughts go back to the islanders, those proud and hospitable Maldivian people dependent on their tourism and their fish, now troubled at the uncertainty of their country’s political future. My thoughts also went to a book I'd read long ago, Paul Theroux’s travelogue of the South Pacific islands, which he aptly titled The Happy Isles of Oceania. I wish the people of the Maldives a quick and peaceful return to happiness.<br><br>Liked this slideshow
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    Maldives Travel

    Equally fascinating but slightly more suspect were Stingrays. Like underwater bats, these relatives of sharks with their flat, fan-shaped bodies, slithered silently and gracefully on the ocean floor. Stingrays, true to their name, have venomous Y-shaped barbs at the end of their whip-like tails, and I couldn’t help remembering that the TV presenter Steve Irwin had met his end at the wrong end of one. Yet, from a distance, I felt safe watching them. A scuba-diver later reassured me that these fascinating creatures are quite harmless if left alone.

    The Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago of 1,192 coral atolls (of which 200 are inhabited), is the smallest Asian nation. These islands, barely a few meters above sea level, are a magnet for wealthy tourists and scuba-divers: the former flock to their pristine beaches, the latter come to experience their wealth of stunningly beautiful coral reefs and marine wildlife. Over the last week, the Maldives, an Islamic nation, made international headlines for violent street protests culminating in a coup d’état that overthrew its elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, who has held office since 2008. The political situation is worrying for the Maldives’ economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism. Not long ago, the Maldives were the happy isles of the Indian Ocean. Reminiscing on a visit he made to the Maldives in 2010, Yahoo! India’s Travel Editor BIJOY VENUGOPAL presents a dramatic photo-essay of a happy-go-lucky yet strangely troubled island nation