Every year, thousands of Olive Ridley turtles return to Odisha’s shores, following a migration older than empires.
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00:00The Olive Ridley turtles have returned, in the thousands, in the tens of thousands, their
00:05flippers etching ancient patterns into the sands of Odisha, just as they have for millions
00:11of years.
00:12And yet, how many of us are paying attention?
00:15Across India, there is an obsession with reclaiming history, court battles over places of worship,
00:20fierce debates over monuments and what they mean to our past, people fighting over bricks
00:25and stones, iron age and bronze age, trying to rewrite history through human conflict.
00:31But history is also alive, moving, breathing, returning, and few moments capture the truth
00:37more powerfully than this, the arrival of the Olive Ridleys, a migration so ancient
00:43that it predates not just our temples and mosques, but the very idea of civilization
00:47itself.
00:48These creatures are ancient travellers, far older than any kingdom, older than our civilizations,
00:54older than the very idea of India itself.
00:57They swarmed in these waters when the Mauryan Empire flourished, when Emperor Shoka inscribed
01:01his edicts on rock, speaking of compassion for all life.
01:05They were here when the Kalinga navy sailed the seas, their fleets touching distant shores,
01:10carrying with them the spirit of trade, art and Buddhism.
01:13They have seen Kola rise, its magnificent sun-kissed chariot carved from stone, and
01:19they have seen it swallowed by time and the sea.
01:21They were here when Orissa resisted the British, when heroes like Bakshi Jagabandhu led the
01:26fight in India's first war of independence, 40 years before 1857.
01:31And today, as India steps into a new age, forging ahead in science and technology, these
01:35turtles return, reminding us that some journeys, no matter how far, always lead home.
01:42Yet for all their endurance, for all their age-old wisdom, these turtles met their greatest
01:46challenge not in the open ocean, but on land, where humans reshaped their world.
01:52For centuries, the olive ridleys arrived without fear, their rhythms in sync with the tides.
01:57Then came the modern age, beachfront development erasing their nesting sites, artificial lights
02:02confusing the hatchlings, plastic choking their waters, and fishing trawlers turning
02:07migration routes into death traps.
02:09In the 1990s, the bodies washed ashore in horrifying numbers, casualties of unregulated
02:15fishing and human neglect.
02:17There was a time when it seemed this sacred migration, this timeless return, might end
02:21forever.
02:22But Orissa refused to let that happen.
02:25This is one of the rare stories where humanity, recognizing the damage it had done, chose
02:29to correct its course.
02:31The people of Orissa, the government and conservationists stepped up.
02:34Strict fishing bans were enforced during nesting season.
02:37The Indian Coast Guard and forest officials patrolled the waters.
02:41They were encouraged to use turtle-excluded devices, simple innovations that allow trapped
02:45turtles to escape.
02:47And because of these efforts, the olive ridleys continue to return, proof that when humans
02:52and nature find a way to coexist, life prevails.
02:55Yet, even as we celebrate, a tragedy unfolds down south.
02:59In Tamil Nadu, the same species faces a brutal fate.
03:02Just weeks ago, over 500 olive ridleys were found dead on the Chennai coast.
03:07Most bore deep injuries, fractured shells, severed flippers, the unmistakable marks of
03:12entanglement in fishing nets or collision with mechanised trawlers.
03:16Unlike Orissa, where seasonal fishing restrictions have protected these turtles, Tamil Nadu's
03:21fishing industry remains largely unregulated in key nesting zones.
03:25The result?
03:26A massacre in the water.
03:28A migration interrupted.
03:29A species struggling to survive against the weight of human indifference.
03:33This is why Orissa's success is more than just a conservation story.
03:37It is a civilizational moment.
03:39One that proves that progress does not have to come at the cost of nature.
03:43These turtles do not just return to the sands of Orissa.
03:45They return to an India that is learning, that is listening, that is making choices
03:49today that will echo across centuries.
03:52And as the waves roll in, and the turtles march ashore under the watchful moon, they
03:57remind us of something profound.
03:59This land has always been a sanctuary for life, for history, for the ancient rhythms
04:04of nature that have outlasted empires.
04:07May it always remain so.
04:09I am Manisha Dikari.
04:10Thank you for watching The Culture Project on MOA.