Anyone from the Andaman Islands?

I want the MC in my new story to be from the Andaman Islands (Port Blair specifically), but information about what it's like to live there is really hard to find! I know I could just "write what I know" and make him from the United States, but that's boring to me and having him be from the islands just makes more sense for the story.

The story doesn't actually take place on the islands, but for the first chapter or two I'd like to get a glimpse of his regular life: family, job, etc. I know it's a long shot, but if anyone is from there or has spent some time there, I would really appreciate some little details that will help the story feel real. Some specific things I want to know:

- Do most people who are born there live there for their whole lives? How common is it for young people to move elsewhere for college/when they grow up?
- Are people generally friendly or indifferent? When you pass someone on the street, do you say hi?
- Are there a lot of tourists? How do the residents feel about all the tourists?
- These islands are a territory of India, so is the culture similar to that in India or different? How do islanders feel about mainlanders and vice versa?
- Do most people speak several languages?
- Can you describe the culture in general?
- How big is technology there? Do most people have cell phones? Internet access?
- What's something that you would only understand if you had lived there?

Thanks so much!

blacbird said:

You might also want to be aware that the Andaman Islands were one of the regions most devastated by the great 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The death toll there is likely unknown, because there are islands in the chain in which the exact population is unknown. But there were probably thousands of deaths.

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Yes, I was just reading about that today. My character would have been a kid or teenager when that happened so it will definitely be an important part of his backstory. Apparently thousands of people were killed or went missing. No one had time to get to safety because they were so close to the epicenter of the earthquake, and because there wasn't an adequate tsunami warning system in place. Such a tragedy.