Himalayan Adventurer

An Indian veteran recalls his Antarctic experiences

2011-12-17T11:43:00.001+05:30

THE HINDU 15 DECEMBER 2011
An Indian veteran recalls his Antarctic experiences
R. PRASAD
Dr. Ravindra can never forget his experience of surviving a seven-day blizzard with only a tent as shelter.

The first Indian expedition to the South Pole successfully reached the Pole last year, almost a century (99 years to be precise) after the Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first human to reach the southernmost point of the Earth.
The eight-member team left the Indian base station Maitri situated in an ice-free area known as the Schirmacher Oasis on November 13, 2010 and reached the South Pole in nine days on November 22, 2010.
No comparison
“We travelled the entire distance of nearly 2,500 km in special vehicles got from Iceland,” said Dr. Rasik Ravindra, who was the Leader of the team. “We can't compare our journey with Roald Amundsen's and Robert Scott's. Theirs was a heroic effort. They did a hundred years ago something that we can't even dream of.”
Dr. Ravindra is the Director of the Goa-based National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR).
Coming from a veteran like Dr. Ravindra, these words have greater significance and meaning. He has almost lost count of the number of trips made to the icy continent. “I think it is 7 or 8 times,” he said to this Correspondent over phone. There have been 30 Indian expeditions to Antarctica since the first one in 1981.
The journey
Even in the comfort of the special vehicle, the 2,500-long journey was not a joy ride. “The terrain makes it difficult to travel,” he said. After all, the base station is almost at sea level and the South Pole is at an elevation of nearly 2,500 metres. And on the way, one has to cross a plateau that is 3,600 metres above MSL.
But it is not the terrain alone that makes the journey or staying in the continent difficult. Temperatures can dip to a minimum of -55 degree C in summer and to -89 degree C in winter. Add to this the wind factor. If normal wind speed is 22-30 km per hour, it can go beyond 200 kmph as well.
And the result is a blizzard or snow storm, just like sand storms in deserts. “It's due to surface drift,” he stated. A combination of both high wind speed and increase in temperature (warmer temperature) is needed for blizzards.”
Blizzards
Extra-tropical low-pressure systems always move from west to east in the coastal region. The warm and moist air from lower latitudes mixes with dry, cold wind in the higher latitudes. When this happens the temperature increases gradually. When the wind speed goes beyond 40 kmph loose snow gets lifted. The end result is a blizzard.
Blizzards are restricted to coastal regions in the lower latitudes (60 to 70 degree South) and are not seen in higher latitudes (near the Pole).
“It's dangerous and people can get lost in the blizzard,” he said. “We are either in the camp or inside the vehicle [during blizzards], or else… Sometimes yes, we do get trapped… we can't always predict.”
When the temperature increases they know a storm is building up, but are not always lucky to have a good shelter. Being geologists, they are out in the field conducting experiments, collecting data and samples. Mountains are where they work and since these places are 80 km away from the base camps, they are air dropped by helicopters.
Dr. Ravindra can never forget his experience in January 1987. The 5-member team had camped on Humboldt Mountain for field work. And then suddenly the blizzard set in and sustained for seven long days. The four-layered tent was their only shelter.
But three layers of the tent soon got ripped off. And they were left with a single-layered tent! Though the sleeping bags came to their rescue to keep them warm, they could not sleep for 3 to 4 days. “There was so much noise,” he recalled.
“We kept Campa Cola bottles inside our sleeping bags to prevent them from freezing. The Cola and biscuits were our only food,” he said. “But we survived.” The helicopter returned when the blizzard stopped, and to everyone's surprise found them in good health.
Things have changed. “We can now predict blizzards with high levels of certainty,” said E. Kulandaivelu, Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai. “We use satellite images, satellite wind data, real-time observation from different observatories located in Antarctica to predict blizzards.” Mr. Kulandaivelu has been to the Antarctic twice (December 1989 to March 1991, and December 1999 to March 2001).
But not every trip ends on a happy note, though. The November 1989-April 1991 expedition was very different. The Indian team lost a couple of lives due to carbon monoxide poisoning in the shelter tent.
Other challenges
But you don't need blizzards to make your trip to Antarctica unique and unforgettable. When temperatures drop below -50 degree C a facemask is used. It has an opening for the eyes and two small holes for the nose. While goggles protect the eyes, there is no such protection for the nostrils.
The air they breathe out is warmer and moisture tends to come out of the nose. “Must wipe the moisture constantly,” he warned. “Else you would have ice crystals hanging from the nose!”
When it is not so cold, and when the facemask is not worn, snow and ice can settle on the nose and even eyelids!
If conducting experiments and collecting data are part of a daily routine, can taking notes be far behind? Unfortunately, taking notes or drawing some features is not possible with a gloved hand. “You have to remove the gloves for a few minutes…and your fingers get numb. You soon wear the gloves and keep your palm under the armpit to warm them,” said Dr. Ravindra.
How does it feel when there is just white all around? “It's like seeing blue all around when you in open sea,” he says. But his memory quickly rewinds and he says, “you can't see any bird, tree or building... you see nothing. There is vastness and emptiness all time around you. The vastness makes you realise how small you are… a speck of dust on Earth.”
The feeling of emptiness is particularly heightened during winter when it is dark 24 hours a day for six months at a stretch. Little wonder that it is mandatory for all participants staying back for the winter session to undergo psychological tests which check for ability to withstand isolation.

100 years — Amundsen's dash to immortality

2011-12-17T11:39:00.001+05:30

THE HINDU 14 DECEMBER 2011
R PRASAD
100 years — Amundsen's dash to immortality

This day (December 14) 100 years ago, Norwegian Roald Amundsen became the first explorer to reach the geographical South Pole — the southernmost tip of the Earth. If his ambition to be the first man to ever set foot on the North Pole was scorched by Robert Peary in 1909, he immortalised himself by being the first to arrive at the South Pole.
“So we arrived and were able to plant our flag at the geographical South Pole. God be thanked!” wrote Amundsen in his diary soon after reaching the Pole.
The British team led by Robert Scott managed to arrive at the South Pole only on January 17, 1912, 33 days after Amundsen had hoisted the Norwegian flag.
DISAPPOINTMENT
Scott's entry in the diary reveals his great disappointment. “The worst has happened… All the daydreams must go…Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority,” the diary entry reads.
While Amundsen and his men safely and victoriously returned to civilisation, Scott and his team, caught in a terrible blizzard — which lasted for five days — were unable to reach even their base camp.
“There has been nothing to eat for the past three days. Now, I am not even able to write. End is not far. For God's sake, take care of our families.” This was Scott's diary entry on March 29, 1912. Their bodies were discovered eight months later.
The reason why Amundsen reached the Pole earlier than Scott is not difficult to figure out. Their goal was the same, but their priorities were vastly different.
Amundsen was focussed, planned meticulously, and was fully geared for the challenge. Unlike Scott, the Norwegian had a team that had no scientists. Instead there were two expert dog-handlers — Helmer Hanssen and Sverre hassel, and one skiing expert (Olav Bjaaland) in his team.
He did not indulge in any scientific work and wasted no time taking a detour to studying Antarctic animals or collecting samples.
SPECIAL DOGS
Even the choice of animals was strikingly different. Scott took more ponies than dogs, Amundsen had special dogs to pull the sledges.
Worse, Scott sent his dog teams back to the base camps and men pulled their heavy sledges. If Amundsen had no hesitation killing the dogs that had weakened, and eat their meat, Scott believed that using man-harnesses was less cruel than using dogs!
The Norwegians used hermetically sealed cans to store fuel. The British team used washers, which failed in extreme cold. Similarly, Scott's motor sledges failed in the weather.
Even the choice of clothing was different. Living with the Inuits in the Arctic, the Norwegian learnt a great deal on how to handle all kinds of contingencies.
He had seen them eat meat diet. Unaware to themselves, the fresh seal and penguin meat that they ate helped keep vitamin C deficiency at bay.
In the end, the focus and clear priorities meant that Amundsen reached the coveted place weeks before the British team.

ROOPKUND TREK : SLIDE SHOW

2011-11-30T18:11:00.008+05:30

Please click the following link for a slide show :

https://picasaweb.google.com/102505415752479852948/RoopkundTrek

TREKKING TO ROOPKUND - the mysterious lake

2011-11-22T18:50:00.007+05:30

I heard of Roopkund in 2002, when, after having returned from the US, I wanted to accompany Vasu for some trekking trip in Himalayas. Since time was short and I doubted my physical preparation for a trekking trip, we decided to go for a driving trip to Himalayas up to Dharchula. Pithoragarh and Dharchula had been in my mind ever since I found out that Kailash Manasarovar yatra passed through these towns. It was also reinforced by many patients who came to AIIMS for their health concerns, and talked about trekking opportunities in those areas. Motor Mama (see my post on Pindari Glacier) and Prakhar also joined us, and we started in our old but faithful Maruti 800. We had reached Gwaldam, a small sleepy town, late in night after leaving Rishikesh early morning and driving through Rudra prayag, Dev Prayag, and Shri Nagar (see post on Hemkund Sahib and Valley of Flowers). Next morning, the caretaker of GMVN guest house told us about the importance of this town as a kind of base for expedition for Roopkund, and the mysterious lake that was full of human skeletons. I had vaguely then thought of doing this trek, but the idea got reinforced after I saw a full documentary on BBC or Discovery channel some time later.
Roopkund (Skeleton Lake), as described by Wikipedia, is a mysterious glacial lake in Uttarakhand state of India famous due to more than five hundred human skeletons found at its edge. The location is uninhabited and is located in Himalaya at an altitude of about 5,029 metres (16,499 feet). In 2004, a team of Indian and European scientists visited the location to gain more information on the skeletons. The team uncovered vital clues including jewellery, skulls, bones and preserved tissue of bodies. Radiocarbon dating of the bones at Oxford University Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit determined the time period to be AD 850 ±30 years. (Ref.: Wikipedia)
Last few years, I thought of trekking to Roopkund seriously; however, found that the usual trekking groups based in Delhi did not organize Roopkund trek routinely. They were willing to customize a group for some of us, but then it would prove to be very costly. It was almost like serendipity, when early this year I googled Roopkund and it gave Roopkund.com as the first link! I was surprised that Indiahikes, the organizing group, was based in Bangalore and was arranging many batches every year. Vasu and I booked a date with Indiahikes, www.indiahikes.in, June this year; though I could not go for some personal reasons, Vasu found the trek pretty exciting, and arrangements and team put together by Indiahikes amply satisfactory.
I shifted my booking for October, and also persuaded my colleagues, Dr Shariff and Dr Malini Shariff, also to join. They trek regularly, but we together had not trekked since our Nepal days.
I started physically preparing for the trek seriously two months in advance, knowing well that we would be touching 5,029 metres (16,499 feet). I was not too much bothered about the altitude sickness, as much as about my own strength and stamina. On advice and persuasion of Kush, I joined a gym, and went regularly for 6 weeks for doing cardio and muscle strengthening exercises. But, then Buenos Aires visit was also planned for quite some time just before our trek, and there was a breach in my preparation for 2 weeks.
I started on the night of 30th September by Ranikhet Express for Kathgodam, from where we were to go to Lohajung by SUV, a ride of 10-12 hours. Vasu was a sport to drop me to the station, but the last stretch of station was so crowded that I had to get down before reaching the entrance to station. In hindsight, it appeared a good idea if I had travelled by metro. The station was unusually crowded; everywhere there were groups with backpacks; it looked like all were bent upon going to Uttarakhand for spending their Dussehra vacation. October is a good month to go to hills; by that time there are no clouds or rains, winter has not set in, and peaks offer an amazing view in clear blue sky. The train started late by 1 hour, and at 6 am next morning, we found to our dismay that it was already late by 4 hours due to its preceding train meeting with some accident. After that, the journey was agonizingly slow and painful; I was worried about reaching Lohajung same evening; that would have involved jeep ride during the night, which is not a very good idea considering the shape of roads in higher reaches of Himalayas. After reaching Kathgodam at 11 am, we were further delayed by 1:30 hours because of 3 guys who unnecessarily occupied our cabs and would not budge; their agent had goofed up, and no cab was waiting for them. When they found 5 cabs (organized by Indiahikes for us) waiting to go to Lohajung, they quietly sat inside. It took a bit of argument and some phone calls to and fro Indiahikes that we managed to get them vacate our cabs.
Half of the journey from Kathgodam to Lohajung was on a familiar route. We passed through Bhimtal, Bhowali, Kainchidham (where we stopped for lunch), Almorah, Kausani and Garud. From Garud, we took the diversion to Gwaldam; beyond it was unfamiliar route where I had not ventured before. Our cab driver, Ramesh, was driving non-stop since our lunch at Kainchidham, and politely declined all our suggestions for a tea-stop. Though he was driving skilfully, I was a bit apprehensive about fatigue setting in, and day light fading out. He wanted to reach Deval (18 km before Lohajung, our today’s destination) on time to pick up a group of Nepali workers who were impatiently waiting for him for a ride back to Kathgodam. Dussehra is the biggest festival for Nepali people. As Ramesh would explain later, it happened not very frequently to have return passengers waiting for him ; that would mean a continuous drive of almost 20 hours.
Reaching Lohajung at about 10 pm and dumping our bags at Patwal lodge, we straight away went for dinner as we all were quite famished. Being tired now, I hit the bed soon after. Next morning, I got to meet my group members and staff of Indiahikes. Other than we three senior citizens, all were young guys below 35 years of age. They were all IT professionals, and most of them, expectedly, were from Bangalore. It was not difficult to establish rapport with them, and as I would gradually realize it was the best group I have enjoyed so far in so many of my group treks. They never made me aware of my age, except when they were curious to know it. They would happily include us three in their chit-chat, gossip, antics etc.

Our itinerary over next 5 days would take us to Didina, Bedni Bugyal, Patal Nachauni, Bhagwabassa, and finally to Roopkund, taking us from 8000 ft to 16000 ft. The trek is of moderate difficulty, and needs physical preparation before one undertakes it. But the difficulty is duly compensated by the beautiful and varied landscape throughout the trek: dense forests, waterfalls, hurtling water-streams, vast expanse of undulating meadows (bugyal), the kind you would rarely find elsewhere, and snow covered famous mountains and peaks.
I was expecting a clear sky in the first week of October, and was eagerly looking forward to seeing the majestic mountain range during our trek and stay. Weather gods did not disappoint us. During the entire trek, we had clear blue sky, fantastic view of the mountain range, a night sky that was star-gazer’s delight; had not seen so many stars in the sky since my days in Dharan (Nepal); those who were keen students of stars and planets were thrilled to view milky way through naked eyes. And we were not troubled by rains, hail-storm, (un)welcome snow fall, or extremely cold nights. Vasu had gone there in the month of June this year, and the group encountered all of the above making trek a bit, I should say (tongue in cheek) more exciting; the entire stretch from Patar Nachauni to the Roopkund was covered with snow in the month of June.
After Didina, we passed all the way up through a dense forest of pines, oaks, and rhododendrons. There must be many more kinds of trees, I am sure, but I did not recognize them. Many of the trees were afflicted with parasitic growth and were dying. There were birds chirping all the way, but were difficult to sight. It required patience to spot them. Since I was anxious to make to Bedni Bugyal on time, so did not break my walking rhythm. The dense forest opened suddenly to a vast meadow, the kind you do not see very often.

The first section of meadow was Ali Bugyal followed by Bedni Bugyal. On all sides, it was like a never ending meadow. We were fortunate to have clear visibility to have a fantastic view of mountains all the time till we left for our next camp following day. Group members were clicking shots all the time, and had photo-shoots of themselves against the backdrop of every peak. Theirs will be a portfolio worth admiration against backdrop of picturesque peaks. The peaks visible were: Bunder Punchh, Hathi parvat, Chaukhmaba, Neelkanth, Nanda ghumati, and Trishuli.

If one wishes to camp in upper Himalayas for a longer period doing nothing but just soaking oneself in nature’s bountiful sunshine and unpolluted air under starlit night sky, then, Bedni Bugyal would stand out to be one such great site.
At every camp, we were treated with fresh and hot meals, and in the morning before our departure we were given a small packet for replenishing our energies during the gruelling trek. The cooks and the supporting staff were very courteous and polite, and would insist that we ate properly. If for some reason, we could not get out of our tents, they would serve food inside our tents too, never resenting any of our demands. Group members too made no fuss about the food. But I found our fellow trekkers from Bangalore particularly allergic to potato; they would just not eat it. They said potato was not a part of their usual diet; they found it causing ‘gastric’. But what I found amusing was their relishing packaged potato chips, and ignoring that it was deep fried and laced with hot spices. We in north India can’t imagine our lives without potato. In fact I am a big fan of potato; it contains many essential micronutrients and is an easy source of energy; the only catch is that you should not fry or peel it.
After Bedni Bugyal (11,500 ft), the trek went up and up; the tree line had finished before Ali Bugyal, so the air was thin and low in oxygen making walking up a bit more strenuous than what it had been so far. The landscape had too changed. The chirping of birds had also ceased, but one could see hill crows and soaring birds of prey and vultures in the sky.
The trail to Patal Nachauni (or Ghora Lotani; Ghora is horse, and Lotani is to rest or lie down) passes through a temple and a kund (water pond). As we went up, it became cold and chilly. The camp site, though was secure in fibre huts, was not very exciting; plastic was everywhere. We had retired early in our huts, when to our utmost surprise, the kitchen staff brought food inside the huts. It was a heavenly gesture, as the chilly winds had almost killed the appetite. The sleep and appetite were slowly becoming a problem for many of the group members as we were gaining height; we were already at 12,500 ft.
Our next camp was Bagwabassa at 14,500 ft. One could call it base camp for the Roopkund. The air got thinner, and temperatures really low. Vasu tells me that in the month of June (when Delhi was scorching), the entire trail from Patal Nachauni to Bagwabassa, and Bagwabassa itself were covered with snow. One has to believe since it is so evident from the photographs. When we started from Patal Nachauni, it was foggy and misty; fortunately, there were no rains or any hailstorm. But the mist was giving quite a mystifying look to the entire area, almost making a perfect setting for shooting a suspense thriller. Though the trail to Kalu Vinayak temple is described to be an easy ascent, but each step would make me breathless. And negotiating path with stones and small boulders would leave all joints of lower limb tense and tired. As the name suggests, Kalu Vinayak is Ganesh temple with a black stone idol. Besides being a site for offering prayer for success of the group, the site also offers an ideal place for rest and photographic opportunity. Descent from here to Bagwabassa is gradual, but not easy, since you have to be careful all the time on the stony trail. But the feeling on sighting the camp site is euphoric; you almost feel you would make it now to the top. Just before the green fibre huts for our stay, there were a few stone huts made by locals for the tourists. We did not stay there, but I am sure staying there must be giving a feeling of living in stone age, or being a cave man. With each passing hour, mercury was dropping and we were told it would be sub-zero during the night; but then we would be in comfort of our huts and sleeping bags. Despite being warm inside the hut, it was difficult to have a long stretch of nap; whether it was the excitement and nervousness for next day’s trek or thin air, is difficult to say. In the evening we were fortunate to spot a group of about 7 'bharel' (mountain goats); it is an extremely shy animal and you would see it only from a distance, as we did it in some of our earlier treks.
I had started early for getting to Roopkund; I knew I would be slow and need to stop more often. And in reality, it turned out to be a slower progress. Each step was an effort and would leave me breathless. Dinesh, our ever-smiling and ever-helping trek leader, was constantly guiding me to move forward, and was a constant source of inspiration. I would say he literally held my hand to take me to last stretch of trail. On our way up, we saw Brahm kamal and Neel Kamal in plenty. We also saw a group of partridges (or was it quail). How did I feel on reaching the top? To be honest, it was a sense of relief of having finished climbing. The sense of accomplishment came later, and sank in much later. I was happy that I could do it, and fulfil a long cherished desire.

It is said that it is meaningless if you do not climb up to Junargali, which is the end of the pass, and from there you get unobtrusive view of the peaks. But I was satisfied with whatever I could achieve. I did not forget that climbing up is only half the trek; one also needs to get down safely and reach the camp on time. We were to head to Bedni Bugyal, a trek of more than 15 km on a zigzag stone and boulder trail.
I was helped immensely by the team of Indiahikes. It has put up a great team at Lohajung, and each member of the team helps to get you to finish the trek successfully. I was also fortunate to be part of a group where each member clicked well with other members. I would love to do another trek with Indiahike and the same group members.
Going to mountains has always been a humbling experience for me. We are always talking about the fragile eco-system and environment, but when you see nature at close quarters, you realize the might of nature too. One feels so small and insignificant before the hurtling and gurgling rivers and huge waterfalls, and mighty and grand mountains. I always believe in and owe our existence to the benevolence of nature; and would dread its fury. Going to mountains is to express my reverence to the omnipotent nature.
Right now, my Mama, 82 (Motor Mama, as we address him), is raring to go all the way up to Lohajung in his Nano car to camp at Bedni Bugyal. Don’t be surprised; he has already been up to Badrinath shrine twice in last two years in his Nano.

SARDAR FAUZA SINGH

2011-10-23T18:34:00.001+05:30

I first came to know of Sardar Fauza Singh in June of 2004 while I had just begun my job in the National Health Services as consultant in Leicester, England in 2004, while watching a BBC programme. I wrote the following piece then to share with my friends. I thought to share it with the web community now.

WHAT IS COMMON BETWEEN MR GEORGE CHAMBERS AND SARDAR FAUZA SINGH

June 2004

What is common between Mr George Chambers and Sardar Fauza Singh, well, both are nonagenarians.
As you are probably aware, I have been appointed as Consultant in Adult Psychiatry at the NHS. That effectively means that I should normally be seeing people between the ages of 16-65 years, though, sometimes I may continue to see a patient beyond 65 too if he/she were receiving care from our services earlier also, and the reasons of consultations have not changed. I have enjoyed looking after elderly people at AIIMS, New Delhi. They have many interesting stories to tell and enrich you with their vast experiences. And they come with less complicated personal problems. Looking after them would have been ideal here, as adult psychiatry at general hospital setting is much different here as compared to India. You are saddled with so much personality disorder patients, and you keep on struggling with their unchanging life styles, and recurrent problems at all the fronts, personal, social, relationships, and repeated suicidal attempts and drug and alcohol problems. And if it is anti-social personality, then it is icing on the cake. Most of the times they are unemployed, but are well looked after by the government-provided monetary benefits.
A few days ago, I was on emergency call duty. I was assured by my other colleagues and friends that there was nothing to worry about this since as a consultant, one hardly gets a call to see the patients in emergency. Mostly, junior doctors are able to handle it, or may take your advice on the phone. Well, true to Murphy’s law, call came in the afternoon from the Surgery ward of this hospital asking me to see a 92-year old patient who was threatening to commit suicide. I wondered why this call came to me, should have gone to the Old-age Psychiatric Unit. I did not know where to protest, so I went. I went to the surgical ward, and found Mr Chambers sitting on a chair chatting with his friend. He appeared to be not more than 70-75, had full growth of white hair, erect spine, and shook hands with a firm grip, and greeted me with a smile and clear loud voice. He had survived surgeries for prostate cancer, colon cancer and a few others. Lately he had had a few fainting episodes which resulted into his current admission, and that was worrying him. Surgery team had not taken this into account while drafting after-discharge care plan. He had lost his wife a few years ago, and was leaving alone in his bungalow with part-time support from the social worker. His concern was that if he fainted at home, and no medical help was available on time, he would die unattended. It was a reasonable concern. So when surgery team asked him casually in the morning if he was looking forward to going home, he replied he would shoot himself after reaching home. Then the surgery team decided to send for a psychiatrist. I found him a very reasonable person, full in command and well articulate. I assured him that I would recommend his case for him to shift to an old age home with all the facilities. When I was about to leave, he asked me if I was from India, and on my affirmative reply, he told me that he spent 4 years in India during the WW II. I had stood up to leave, but I sat down again. And he narrated some of his experiences while living in Lutyen’s Delhi. His memory was sharp, and he could remember the ‘Viceroy’s Palace, Queens way and Kings way, Jahanpanabad, Tughalak Fort, ChandniChowk, Delhi summer with mosquitoes and malaria, and of course delicious mangoes. His journeyes to Shimla, Dehradun, Massourie, etc etc. Lastly he said that the biggest mistake British did was to segregate India into two. I had come to see him quite reluctantly, but I left very satisfied.

Sardar Fauza Singh is a 93-year old gentleman living in England for last 50 years. He too served in Royal Army. I saw him only on the BBC, being interviewed before his participation in the London marathon. Participating in marathons is his way of life. Has gone all over the world for such meets. His bone scanning was done some time earlier, the age of his right leg came to be 35 years, and that of left 50 years.

CENTENARIAN Fauza Singh does it once again : with a marathan

2011-10-18T18:45:00.002+05:30

(Pictures and text from the Toronto Star)

TORONTO—Fauja Singh secured a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records on Sunday at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. The 100-year-old accomplished an amazing feat, becoming the oldest person ever to complete a full-distance 42-kilometre marathon. It took Singh over eight hours to cross the finish line — more than six hours after Kenya’s Kenneth Mungara won the event for the fourth straight year — and he was the last competitor to complete the course. But his time wasn’t nearly remarkable as the accomplishment itself. “Beating his original prediction, he’s overjoyed,” said coach and translator Harmander Singh. “Earlier, just before we came around the (final) corner, he said, ‘Achieving this will be like getting married again.’ “He’s absolutely overjoyed, he’s achieved his life-long wish.” Although event workers dismantled the barricades along the finish line and took down sponsor banners even as Singh made his way up the final few hundred metres of the race, a throng of media, family, friends and supporters were there when Singh made marathon history. And Singh, who only speaks Punjabi, also surprised himself. Through his interpreter, he said he had set a goal of finishing the race in about nine hours. “He said he achieved this through the help of God but even God must be getting fed up of helping him,” Harmander Singh said, drawing chuckles from assembled media after the race. Sunday’s run was Fauja Singh’s eighth marathon — he ran his first at the tender age of 89 — and wasn’t the first time he set a record. In the 2003 Toronto event, he set the mark in the 90-plus category, finishing the race in five hours 40 minutes and one second. And on Thursday in Toronto, Singh — whose first name means soldier — broke world records for runners older than 100 in eight different distances ranging from 100 metres to 5,000 metres. Singh, a five-foot-eight, 115-pound British citizen and vegetarian, looked tired and spent following the race and organizers gingerly assisted him to the post-event news conference. After receiving gentle massages to his legs and calf muscles as well as cups of water from members of his entourage, Singh leaned back on a couch and spoke little to start the news conference. But a short time into it, he began looking remarkably relaxed and fresh with his hands clasped behind his head. Then, he abruptly sat up straight and with a smile, motioned for the microphone, obviously getting his second wind.
“He says he’s recovered now so he’s going to talk,” his translator said, again drawing laughter.
Affectionately dubbed the Turbaned Tornado, Singh began running roughly 20 years ago after losing his wife and child. The five-foot-eight centenarian said he’s happy to see more minorities taking part in such marathon events and is hopeful his next project will be participating in the torch relay for the 2012 London Summer Games.
Singh carried the torch during the relay for the 2004 Athens Games.
Race director Alan Brookes struggled to find the right words to describe Singh’s remarkable accomplishment. “I’m speechless,” he said. “Fauja Singh is a remarkable human being.”
A 100-year-old man began Thursday with a sprint and ended with eight world records.
Fauja Singh ran through eight track events in succession at Birchmount Stadium in Scarborough as part of a charity event, Sikhs in the City.
Running — and smashing records — gave Singh some focus following the death of his wife and son. He became suicidal after watching a piece of sheet metal decapitate his son. Then he moved to England to be near his other son.
And then he just felt like running and setting records.
“I am but a simple man,” Singh the competitor, a Sikh with a long white beard who only speaks Punjabi, said in a translated statement. “I give it my best shot and it happens that the results are better than others.”
He’s already set three records for men over 90 — one for 10,000 metres, which he completed in 64 minutes in the Lahore Marathon in 2005; and two in Toronto, for a half-marathon in 2004 (2 hours 29 minutes 59 seconds) and a full marathon in 2003 (5 hours 40 minutes 1 second).
“I always wanted to be the oldest marathon runner and said to myself that if an opportunity presented itself, I will not turn it down,” said Singh.
He chose Toronto because it is where he had his best showings before. Plus, the people “seem more accommodating of other cultures than some other parts of the world where the Sikh appearance is wrongly prejudged.”
Singh wants to raise money for local charities, including Guru Gobind Singh Children’s Foundation, which is run by children and youth to help other kids meet basic needs.
But still. 100.
“In the Punjabi language, there is no such word as impossible,” said Singh the trainer.
At an age where having a healthy mind is itself a feat of strength, Singh the competitor is in remarkable — borderline miraculous — physical shape.
His trainer points to a bone density test done last year when the runner was 99. Singh’s left leg was found to have a density of a 35-year-old; his right leg had that of a 25-year-old.
Times to beat

INDIAN ARMY EXPEDITION SKIIS ALL THE WAY TO SOUTH POLE

2011-03-02T22:06:00.004+05:30

Double click on the image to have a larger view.

INDIAN EXPEDITION TO SOUTH POLE

2011-01-12T14:37:00.004+05:30

(photo courtesy: Ashit Swain)
(Group photo and text from The Hindu dt 12/11/2010)

Cooking was toughest: Indian South Pole expedition team

The Hindu Rasik Ravindra, Director, National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (third left) along with team members of the first Indian Scientific Expedition. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
It was not the bone-chilling minus 54 degrees Celsius, the difficult terrain or even the cold gusts blowing at 150 km/hour, but lighting a stove and cooking that posed the biggest challenge to the eight-member team of India’s maiden expedition to the South Pole.

The team led by National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research director Rasik Ravindra traversed the shortest path to reach the southernmost tip in just eight days.

Speaking about his experiences during the expedition, Mr. Ravindra said: “The toughest challenge was to cook, as in temperatures as low as minus 50 degrees Celsius it was difficult to light the stove.”

“We were carrying ready-to-eat meals with us but we had to put them in boiling water for cooking, and boiling water in this temperature was tough,” the 62-year-old Ravindra said.

The team said there were some depressing moments during the expedition but their determination and team spirit carried them through successfully.

“When we started, we were worried about the low temperature, high altitude and shortage of oxygen at that altitude. Many times our vehicles developed some problems, we faced a lot of problem melting ice into water and cooking,” said Pradip Malhotra, expedition doctor.

The team, consisting of a geologist, glaciologist, geophysicist and a meteorologist as well as vehicle engineers, had left Maitri, India’s second permanent research station on the Antarctica, on Nov 13.

“It was a gratifying experience and a lifetime opportunity. Once you reach there, you will realise the importance of basic things like fire, water and warmth. Despite making so much advancement in technology, you still have to depend on nature so much,” said M. Javed Beg, in-charge of logistics during the expedition.

The expedition travelled on four specialised Arctic trucks and each of these vehicles, besides its human baggage, carried special gears, emergency medical kit, frozen food, and navigational and scientific instruments.

The scientists conducted five experiments during the journey.

VALLEY OF FLOWERS : slide show

2010-10-06T17:39:00.002+05:30

SLIDE SHOW : Valley of Flowers - Hemkund Sahib

2010-10-06T17:37:00.001+05:30

TREK TO VALLEY OF FLOWERS AND HEMKUND SAHIB

2010-09-30T09:55:00.005+05:30

When I told my family and friends that I wanted to trek to Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sahib this August, everyone thought I was just crazy. Besides Delhi, the rain gods had been relentless over Uttarakhand too causing road breaches at multiple sites in various hill towns. There were landslides everywhere and traffic to all the well known pilgrimage centres of Badri Nath, Kedar Nath, Gangotri and Yamunotri were getting cut off from rest of the country every now and then. The group I was trying to assemble had fallen through. But to do justice to the Valley of Flowers, one has to trek there in the month of August only when the entire valley is at its best bloom. So finally, I enquired at the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd (www.gmvnl.com) if they had any vacancy for its weekly tour to Valley of Flowers – Hemkund Sahib – Badri Nath. Of course, they did not have any for the month of August. However, I was banking on some cancellations hoping some people might not like to venture on this trek in view of not a very comfortable situation of roads etc. I checked practically everyday with gmvn’s offices in Rishikesh, Dehradun and Delhi to enquire about the status of roads. Finally my luck struck gold; there were indeed some cancellations and Rishikesh office booked me and Rajesh for the group leaving from Rishikesh on the 25th August, and assured me that GMVN would look after our safety with utmost care.
Valley of flowers was another trek that I heard first from Motor Mama (see my post on Pindari trek for more on him). He had done it in 1970s, and had talked very often about it.
Day 1: we left Delhi in afternoon by Jan Shatabdi Express going to Dehradun, and got off at Haridwar, and took a bus to Rishikesh. From bus stand, the gmvn’s rest house, Bharat Bhumi, was not too far and there were many auto-rickshaws waiting to take us there.
Day 2: After a light breakfast we left Rishikesh by bus for our night halt at Joshimath, which normally one should cover in about 10 hours. But the sky was already overcast and one could not anticipate when a landslide or roadblock would greet us. Our group of 25 mostly had people above 50. Half of the group was of people above 65 years of age. It was nice to see old people venturing out for some adventure. Just two hours later, we hit our first of the roadblocks due to landslide. Mercifully, the staff of BRO (Border Roads Organization) was already at work with a bulldozer when it was still drizzling. It is to the credit of BRO that the roads in Himalayas remain travel worthy inspite of inclement weather; due to better communication facilities, the help arrives on time with efficient equipment. We passed through Devprayag which has confluence of Alaknanda (coming down from Badri Nath) and Bhagirathi (coming down from Gaumukh and Gangotri). These two sacred rivers join to form the mighty Ganga river; so it is from Devprayag only that river is called Ganga.
We also passed through Rudraprayag which has confluence of Alaknanda with Mandakini coming from Kedar Nath.

By evening we reached our third prayag of the day, Karanprayag which has confluence of Alaknanda with Pindar river, coming from Pindari glacier. The great warrior Karna of Mahabharat fame was supposed to have worshipped Sun god here to get the impregnable shield.
All the rivers which we saw were swollen with huge flow of water. By this time we had hit a number of roadblocks, but were fortunate not to have been delayed for too long. We reached Joshimath at about 9 pm and were lodged in the gmvn guest house in the main bazaar. It was poorly maintained and bed linen was damp and dirty. We made noise but could not do much.
3Day: We left Joshimath (I was happy leaving this guest house) early in the morning soon after our cup of tea to reach Govind Ghat from where we were to start our trek to Gangharia. It looked like a small town developed on both side of a narrow road on either side of which there were shops selling religious artifacts with equal number of small eating houses. Govind Ghat, as the name suggests, is surrounded on all sides by hills; it has a Gurudwara which has plenty of accommodation for pilgrims on their way to Shri Hemkund Sahib. We did not stay here for long, and as soon as we could hire a porter to carry our bags, we started on our trek. There were too many porters and far too many ponywallahs. Since tourists were less than expected this time owing to news of incessant rains splashed over all print and electronic media, we were pestered all the way by these pony-owners. Traditionally, all the pony-owners are local Garhwalis, while porters come from Nepal. These porters are reliable and sturdier.

The landscape was quite scenic with hills all around and river Bhyundar gushing down noisily hitting boulders all along its course. Because of cloud cover, we could not see snow clad peaks.

There were far too many eating places with ubiquitous paranthas, maggi, packaged snacks. There were shops for fresh fruit juice as well as for dry fruits too. The ponies had killed the joy of a leisurely trek; one had to make room for them to pass by, the entire stretch was littered with their solid waste; mercifully, the rains were washing it away too, but at many places it had created slush making that stretch stink. I reached Gangharia after 6 hrs of trek covering 14 km, and had come to an altitude of 3048 m (10,000 ft). To cater to the ever increasing number of pilgrims to Hemkund Sahib and trekkers to the Valley of Flowers, this ‘once upon a time a tiny high altitude village’ has developed into a noisy, thriving market place with dhabas and guest houses everywhere. There is a gurdwara, Gobind Dham, which gives to shelter to pilgrims on their way to Hemkund Sahib; langar and hot tea is available throughout the day. Since no traveler is allowed to stay overnight at either Valley of Flowers or Hemkund Sahib, everyone has to stay here in transit. Gangharia does not have a resident population; the whole area comes to life during 4-month period when visitors start pouring in during June to September.
Day 4: We were to trek to the Valley of Flowers, 3352–3658 m (11060-12070 ft). Its entry is ticketed and, mercifully, not open to ponies. We trekked 4 km uphill through a forest to reach an open expanse of valley. One could trek for another 3 km. From the beginning of forest, flowers of all colour and hue were scattered here and there – what a beautiful treat.

The birch trees were in abundance; at this height that is one of the trees that thrives. The beauty of Valley of Flowers can only be appreciated by visiting it. It is said that nearly 80 varieties of flowers are found here. There are many kinds of birds, and this area is home to brown bear, black bear, snow leopard, and blue sheep (bharel). Since inside the forest and valley area, no eating places are allowed, we had carried packed lunch for ourselves. It was a bright sunny day, and having aloo-paratha in the Sun, surrounded by flowering shrubs in the backdrop of Gauri parbat was heavenly. The whole area is much sought after by botanists, photographers and nature lovers. Some of the well known flowers are Brahm-kamal, blue poppy, cobra lily, anemones, geranium, delphinium, bell flowers, etc. The rhododendron flowering season was already over in August.
Day 5: I woke up early in the morning with some trepidation. We were to trek uphill for 7 km and attain an altitude of 4329 m (nearly 14,500 ft; some estimate its height to be more than 15,000 ft). It was overcast and had started drizzling. No high altitude peaks were visible. We started our upward journey with loud cries of ‘jo bole so nihaal, Sat Sri Akal’. The trek to the Gurudwara is steep all the way, with no flat section. I managed 4 km not with much difficulty; there were pilgrims of all ages; a few young couple were walking carrying their tiny tots in their arms. After 4 km, progress became a bit difficult, I had to stop after every few steps to catch my breath. People coming down would encourage by saying it was not too far any longer; offerings of biscuits, candy, and even glucose, and constant chant of ‘Wahe Guru’ kept me going. When the shrine was just one km away, some outer structure became visible. I got a fresh lease of life; how easily I covered that last kilometer, I could not have imagined a little while ago. I was just in time for the ‘Ardas’ beginning at 12 noon. I decided to have dip at the holy sarovar; the water was icy cold, but I did not waste time, I just went in and quickly immersed myself in the water, and before my head could become numb, I was out in a jiffy. I could persuade Rajesh and another fellow traveler to do the same. After having had dips in some high altitude lakes, including Manasarovar, I had figured out that the key to having a dip here was speed: just go in, immerse yourself completely and immediately and come out, before the body gets a chance to be affected by extremely low temperatures; don’t wait for body to get acclimatized, since it won’t ever. After Ardas, I went around; there is a ‘Lakshman temple also here, it needs maintenance and renovation. Around the glacier lake, ‘Brahm-kamal’ was flowering in abundance. The lake is supposed to be surrounded by 7 Himalayan peaks, but none was visible due to cloud cover.

The Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara is the highest Gurudwara in the world. Its history makes an interesting read and is available in many books and websites. Its location was rediscovered only in 1932, and the structure was built subsequently.
Day 6: We started our march downhill. It had been raining since early morning. The progress was slow, however, midway the rain stopped and bright sunshine was most welcome. Bus was waiting for us to take us to Badri Nath shrine where we were to spend one night. The GMVN guest house at Badri Nath was a welcome change after our stay in dirty lodging at Gangharia. We came across two more confluences, Nandprayag (Alaknanda joined by Nandakini coming from Nanda Devi, and Vishnuprayag (Alaknanda joined by Dhauli Ganga coming from Niti pass). At Badri Nath, besides having a darshan at the shrine, we went to the last Indian village, Mana, on this side of Himalaya. It was all very nostalgic, since I had spent some very good time here in 2007 for my induction training for Antarctica expedition.
Day 7: We turned back towards Delhi now, and stayed at Peepal Koti.
Day 8: We reached Rishikesh on time, and left by bus for Hardwar from where we were to board our train for Delhi.

Inspite of all the torrential rains, landslides at multiple sites, and many road blocks, we managed this trek well on time and without any hazard. Gods had been very kind. It is a common knowledge that the Himalayas, 20 million years old, is still the youngest mountain; is still growing, and is geologically active. Since it consists of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, it is porous and very light and prone to landslides. In the Indian Himalayas, the situation has been made worse by indiscriminate deforestation. I have been to Himalayas many times, but never saw how ‘kachcha’ these mountains are. This season, the upper layer of the mountains has just been washed away, and what you see is just loose rocks, boulders, and soil. It was quite scary, more than the swollen rivers or landslides. If we do not do something seriously with honesty and sincerity, we shall stand doomed.

MUKTESHWAR

2010-09-11T23:29:00.004+05:30

I should have written this post quite some time ago, but sheer inertia got better of me. This summer we spent a leisurely holiday in a small sleepy town in Kumaon called Mukteshwar in Nainital district. It is about 400 km from Delhi via Haldwani and Kathgodam. We are practically driving every season on this road; last year we did the same route upto Bhowali, and then had taken road to Almorah to reach Bageshwar for our Pindari glacier. Compared to last year, the roads were in better shape, but the bridge at Bilaspur, about which I mentioned last year too in my Pindari glacier post (http://himalayanadventurer.blogspot.com/2009/07/trek-to-pindari-glacier_05.html) being incomplete, was still awaiting completion and had again caused a traffic jam.
We reached Mukteshwar well in time and checked into our holiday resort for which we had made booking in advance.

Mukteshwar is situated at about 7500 ft and is fast becoming a favourite tourist destination, esp for the ones who wish to avoid Delhi crowd at Shimla or Nainital. Consequently, several guest houses and tourist resorts have come up. The town gets it name from Lord Shiva and has a temple dedicated to Shiva (Mukteshwar Dham) situated atop the highest point of the town giving a panoramic view of the entire valley. It also houses the well known Indian Veterinary Research Institute.

We spent our days at Mukteshwar by just relaxing and reading our books or going for long walks amidst rich pine forest. Mukteshwar is also known to offer some great view of the Himalayan range (the most famous being Trishuli), and we went up to the PWD guest house, but could not see any due to cloud cover. October onwards is a great period for good view of peaks.

This is the period for swallows to migrate to this part of Himalayas for nesting, and one pair had already built its nest right outside our room in the corner of verandah. It seems to be made up of stones, and gave an appearance of small tunnel opening inside into a big chamber. Morning time was the period of hectic activity for the parents who would perhaps bring food for the young ones inside. Around our guest house, were plenty of orchards of plum, peaches, pears, apricot, and apples.
After a few days, on our return we decided to come via Nainital which was within an hour drive. It was early morning yet the Mall road was full of people and vehicles. However, the local people said the town did not receive even its 50 percent of quota of tourists. We wanted to have ‘jalebi’ in Nainital, but a half an hour search did not yield any result. All the ‘halwai wallahs’ had turned into fast food or chow-mein centres. I was visiting Nainital after more than 30 years and it seemed so different. Just to complete a ritual, we too went for a boat ride.

We had to stop at Haldwani for our jalebi and samosa. On our way back to Delhi from Haldwani, we took a smaller and less frequented road via Kaladhungi and periphery of Corbett National Park, which was a nice drive.

BONSAI...

2010-05-28T16:55:00.003+05:30

Recently, there was a Bonsai show in the Lodhi Gardens of Delhi. Enjoy the slide show. Double click the photo for a larger picture.

CACTUS FLOWER

2010-04-07T17:04:00.003+05:30

This is the cactus flower that has bloomed this season here. It is Adrenium.

In 1960s, a simple and delightful romantic movie 'Cactus Flower' was quite a hit. I saw it on a Sunday morning show during our courtship days when it came a few years later for a re-run. It was fun seeing Sunday morning shows as tickets were available at reduced rates. Problem was to find a library that was open on a Sunday morning, or to warn a friend not to visit home as I would be ‘visiting’ his home on that Sunday morning. Cactus Flower starred Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman, both of them playing a middle aged couple. Walter Matthau, even in his youth, had always looked middle aged and haggard, and Ingrid Bergman even in her past-prime looked ever beautiful and charming. This movie also starred Goldie Hawn in her debut.

To know more about our cactus, the Adrenium, I had just googled it, when I found there was a page on Cactus Flower film in Wikipedia. Some experts from there:

Walter Matthau plays a dentist with a roving eye who had a serious problem with commitment issues. Whenever a girl wanted a commitment, he would pretend to be a married man with three children. However, when his young girl friend, Goldie Hawn, attempts suicide, he decides to marry her. But then he needs a wife to divorce! He pleads his secretary, Ingrid Bergman, to pose as his wife. She accepts it reluctantly, but ends up having a crush on him. With all the hilarious twists and turns, Walter Matthau, too falls in love with her. Goldie Hawn gets fed up with all the lies and drama, and leaves the dentist for one of his own friends.
The namesake of the film is a prickly cactus that Ingrid keeps on her desk at the dentist's office. Similar to her, the cactus is cold and inhospitable. However, by the end, both the cactus and Ingrid Bergman have bloomed.
The movie was based on a successful Broadway play, but ended up being better than the play in critical acclaim and box office earning. Goldie Hawn got several awards for her role, including her only Oscar as the Best Supporting Actress.

SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES ON POLAR REGIONS

2010-02-02T18:23:00.002+05:30

Before going to my own Antarctic expedition, I thought that I knew a little bit about the global warming and its impact on climate change. However, after my stay there, and reading and discussing more on this subject, I came back more chastened. I understood that climate change is a very complex and multifactorial issue and spans not a few years or decades but may be centuries.
Recent controversy regarding the melting of Himalayan glaciers has raised a very interesting debate. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change is in soup over prematurely and erroneously making a claim that the Himalayan glaciers were melting at such a rapid rate that they would disappear by the year 2035. This statement by the IPCC was made, as it turned out, on unsubstantiated claims.

This year two major conferences are being held on Polar sciences to discuss a plethora of subjects including climate change. The International Polar Year Science Conference at Oslo will demonstrate, strengthen, and extend the International Polar Year’s accomplishments in sciences and outreach. The conference is an essential opportunity to display and explore the full breadth and implications of IPY activities. The international and interdisciplinary science conference will in particular highlight the global impact of the changes that have been observed in the Polar Regions. (www.ipy.org) 8 – 12 June, 2010, Oslo (Norway)

The International Polar Year is a large scientific programme focused on the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009. IPY, organized through the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is actually the fourth polar year, following those in 1882-3, 1932-3, and 1957-8. In order to have full and equal coverage of both the Arctic and the Antarctic, IPY 2007-8 covered two full annual cycles from March 2007 to March 2009 and involved over 200 projects, with thousands of scientists from over 60 nations examining a wide range of physical, biological and social research topics. It was also an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate, follow, and get involved with, cutting edge science in real-time.
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (www.scar.org) is organizing its 31st Open Science Meeting in Buenos Aires, August 3 – 6, 2010. The SCAR is an inter-disciplinary body of the International Council for Science, and is charged with initiating, developing, and coordinating high quality international scientific research in the Antarctica and providing independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty System. SCAR was established in 1958 to coordinate the Antarctic data from the International Geophysical Year 1957-58. SCAR has grown over 40 members and new applications are received every year. India became a member of the SCAR in 1983 once it established a permanent station, Dakshin Gangotri, in Antarctica.

INDIAN WOMEN ON TOP OF THE CONTINENT, AND AT THE BOTTOM OF PLANET

2010-01-27T16:06:00.005+05:30

INDIAN WOMEN AT THE TOP OF CONTINENT, AND AT THE BOTTOM OF PLANET
The ending of the year 2009 has been amazing for the Indian women, especially for those with adventurous bent of mind. Krushnaa Patil is the first Indian women (or may be the first Indian) to scale the highest peak in the continent of Antarctica. Reena Kaushal Dharmashaktu became the first Indian woman to ski all the way to the South Pole, the deepest point of the planet Earth.

Krushnaa, only 20 years of age, achieved the distinction on 22nd December when she scaled the highest peak in Antarctica, Mount Vinson Massif at 4897m (16077 ft), with the Antarctic Logistics and Expedition team. This feat has come close on the heel of her climbing the highest peak on the planet Earth, the Mount Everest, in May, 2009 when she was just 19!(see the pic).Not only that, she has already done the highest peak in Africa, Kilimanjaro, and aims to do all the seven summits in all the continents. The others are: Mt Eldrus in Europe (5642 m), Mt Kosciuszko in Australia (2228 m), and Mt Aconcagua in South America, and Mt Mckinley in Alaska (6194 m).
Krushnaa joined her team in Punta Arenas in Chile and then flew all the way to Antarctica to reach Patriot Hills. Another short flight of 1 hour took her to the base camp. Her team established another 2-3 base camps to reach the summit with arduous snow and ice climbing and braving extreme climatic conditions of very low temperatures (minus 50 C) and piercing chilly wind.
Vinson Massif is about 1200 km from the South Pole at coordinates of 78°31´31˝ South and 85° 37´ 73˝ West. The massif lies in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains which stand above the Ronne Ice Shelf near the base of the Antarctic Peninsula.

Reena Kaushal Dharmshaktu a mountaineer from Delhi, ended the year 2009 on a high note as she became the first Indian woman to ski to the bottom of planet i.e. South Pole. The Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition saw 8 women from the Commonwealth countries of Cyprus, Ghana, India, Singapore, Brunei, New Zealand, Jamaica and the United Kingdom brave blizzards, crevasses and temperature below -30C as they skied over 900 km across Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole. Marking the 60th anniversary of the Commonwealth, the expedition aimed to demonstrate the potential and achievements of women across the world. Reena got selected amidst a tough competition among more than 100 short-listed aspirants to become part of an all-women expedition that skied for eight to ten hours days for 40 days traversing a 915km path, braving chilly winds, sub-zero temperatures, the vast emptiness of Antarctica, and carried 80 kg of load on their backs through one of the coldest and most desolate regions of the world. Close to midnight of 30th December, Reena reached the trademark mirror ball (ceremonial South Pole) in the middle of nowhere of white continent that marks the geographic South Pole.

The expedition saw use of high-tech communication equipment when they could update the world on their progress and also send their voice message through podcast. Some of the interesting comments written by the team members are:
‘Although I have not really skied before, I felt it very much in my element, totally happy’ Reen from India
‘It is difficult to get my legs to do what I want them to do, especially when there are so many different kinds of snow out there. But I'm not cold and I'm not scared of the snow.'
Kim from Jamaica on skiing for the first time.
'It felt like I was kayaking back home, gliding rhythmically over the calm waters as the sun rises - absolute peace and quiet joy. Although the snow was blowing relentlessly into my face when I was skiing, once you focus and get that rhythm going, you just shut everything off, it felt so......... free. Of course those moments lasted only momentarily before I stumbled, being totally new to skiing, but I am marking an increase in the frequency and length of those amazing moments. It's going to be even more magical on our way to the South Pole!'
Lina from Singapore on skiing for the first time.
'We had an experience with the loo. If someone had asked me a week ago if I would be doing something like this I'd have said, 'Are you nuts?''
Athina from Cyprus on sub-zero camping.
'Unpredictable weather ; hate it, love it, cherish it. Just like you would on the mountain, a rough uphill climb, then comes the summit, then the adrenaline rush down the steep slope. Absolutely Fantastic. We ended our nights to a hot cup of soup, creamy pasta, and a nice hot drink, and bonding around the hot stove. Skiing past beautiful views of the icy plateau, you can't help but request breaks to take (TONS of) pictures of the view. Aniza from Brunei on the mini-expedition
"I thought the hardest thing would be the skiing but actually the hardest thing was keeping track of three layers of clothing. I'm used to wearing one layer of clothing and I can't loose that because I'm wearing it. This was something totally new."
Kim from Jamaica.
‘Today I realized that there is one reason why you should not be happy about not having too much body fat: because in this environment for this number of days you will realize that the body uses every part of it.’ Sophia
‘It is not like old days; now we have dehydrated meals and protein shakes where once they relied on seal blubber and eating dogs.’ For Christmas celebrations, the girls had, what else, but freeze dried chicken tikka masala!
‘I think a highlight for a bunch of us 7 women that have been depreived of shopping a long time was going to the small South Pole shop and being able to buy some little souvenirs.’ Amazingly, the Amundsen-Scott station of the US has a small shop there. At McMurdo, another US station, the expeditioners can even buy condoms.
‘It is very exciting here because obviously it is the lead up to New Year. We have already celebrated one new year which is South Pole time new year but we are looking forward to celebrating new year at least 7 times over the next 24 hour period. One for each time zone that we belong to so there is a lot of celebrating to be done.’
Not only her family and friends but whole India too becomes proud of her achievement.
For 38 year old Reena this achieving this feat was no simple. There were several barricades on her mission like first she has to arrange huge loan to fund her and then she had to compete with all top mountaineers of world as by the time she was finally selected she had edged out 116 aspirants to get the right to represent India in the eight-women Commonwealth team expedition. Similarly getting sponsors was no simple as everyone including government & private companies has shown no interest. Finally her family had to take loan from bank. This has now marked her achievement more unique.
Her husband who is also a classic mountaineer himself has incidentally climbed Mt Everest thrice and has congratulated her on successfully completing such an arduous journey. Reena is based in Delhi and is a freelance outdoor and mountaineering instructor.
Hats off to the spirits of Indian women!
(photos credits: IANS and www.kasperskycommonwealthexpedition.com)

RANTHAMBORE FORT

2010-01-07T22:45:00.004+05:30

We had an interesting trip one afternoon to the Ranthambore Fort. From outside itself it comes across as an imposing structure. And within the fort too, there are many interesting places each with its own intriguing story. By the way, Ranthambore, is the place where the confluence of two hill ranges, Aravalli and Vindhyachal, takes place. As soon as we got down from our jeep, we were surrounded by a group of local guides offering to give us a guided trip to the fort at a very reasonable price. Since we were not interested, we politely refused. And to our surprise, they went away also. It was very much in contrast to what we had earlier experienced at places like the Taj Mahal or Fatehpur Sikri; their persistence had almost made us exasperated. One person at Ranthambore, however, continued to follow us. We realized he was a young boy, and asked him what was he looking for. We were taken for a surprise when he offered his services as a guide. He had an innocent face and sweet voice. We were charmed by him. We negotiated with him his rates. He seemed a seasoned bargainer, but finally we settled for a price to each other’s satisfaction. He was a 12-year old boy, student of class 7. He started with giving us a brief history of the fort; to our amazement, he was right about the dates and names connected with the fort.

He told that the word, Ranthambore, is made from 3 peaks which are seen here: Ran, Tham, and Bore. What we learnt from him was that the fort was more than 1000 years old and many dynasties ruled over it depending upon who was ruling Delhi at that time. But most of the time, it remained with the local kings and was their favourite ground for tiger hunting. But some of them were great conservationists, and laid down rules for conserving the nature. He took us to all the three temple seen during visit to the forest, one of these was an old Jain temple. Whenever, out attention wavered, he would lose no time in asking us to listen to him. To make his narrative interesting, he also told us what VIPs had visited this fort and what movies were shot there. He aimed to study at least till graduation and get a job in the secretariat. His father, though with limited means, was also keen that his two children should study. That the family did not have an idiot box at home was proof that he was serious.
Our guide took us to all the important sites and we returned very satified. We thanked him and wished him well in his life.

BIRDS OF RANTHAMBORE: slide show

2009-12-29T21:49:00.002+05:30

Ranthambore Wild Life

2009-12-29T21:39:00.002+05:30

SLIDE SHOW

RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK: WILD LIFE

2009-12-29T21:32:00.002+05:30

Though for most of the visitors, the single most important sighting would be of a tiger, however, this park like most of the other wild life parks, has many other attractions in form of animals, birds, and many kinds of plants and trees. And then, Ranthambore Fort in itself demands an independent visit.
The other wild life that we could see during our visit were spotted deer, sambhar deer, neel gai, wild boar, monkeys and langurs, and crocodiles. The spotted deer are among the most beautiful deer in the wild. It is so graceful in its walk, and runs almost effortlessly. We could see many small and large herds of spotted deer, and each herd any many adult males and females. However, in case of sambhar, there was one adult male with many females in a single herd. Due to its antlers, it looks majestic and formidable, and walks upright showing off its antlers: it is for no small reason that it is popularly known as ‘ghamandi barasingha’. There were large number of monkeys and langurs all over the park; the antics of the young ones were a joy to watch. You could see them playing and making pranks on one another for hours.
We could also see a large number of birds. The most common, of course, were peacocks and tree pies. Peacocks at this time of the year were not in their full attire of colourful feathers after having shed their heavy plume around Diwali time. The males were not in their dancing mood also, this being not their mating and breeding season. The tree pies were everywhere and the boldest creatures in the park. It, being an opportunistic bird, would come very near visitors in hope of some food. Many people were feeding them nuts and bread from their hands. We also could spot brown fish owl, spotted owlets, black vulture, whitebacked vulture, sand pipers, snipes, quails and partridges, kingfishers, woodpeckers, lapwings, and many other water birds.
Thus, it was a very satisfying visit to Ranthambore, worth visiting again and again.

T - 17 : THE LORD OF THE JUNGLE

2009-12-29T00:27:00.001+05:30

SLIDE SHOW

RANTHAMBORE NATIONAL PARK

2009-12-29T00:14:00.001+05:30

Finally we made it to Ranthambore, the sanctuary we had been longing to visit for a long time. The sanctuary had its reputation for having the friendliest of tigers, and visitors had returned not disappointed. The Lord of the Jungle had been obliging visitors to its sanctuary by giving them an easy audience. May be, that has been the precise reason for its continuously dwindling numbers everywhere including Ranthambore. The greed of man had exploited the easy and friendly nature of tiger to kill it for flimsy reasons, the most laughable being that its mortal remains are potent aphrodisiacs. It should have preserved its savage nature to preserve itself and for preservation of its progeny in the country which prides itself in having tiger as its national animal.
We had seen tigers in our first visit to Kanha, but the Lord had eluded us in many other popular sanctuaries. Now we know why. The Lord was not acting ‘pricey’, but because it had ceased to exist in many of the sanctuaries. It is nothing less than a national shame that our National Animal is not spotted in the wild but is seen more frequently in the zoo. However, over the years I have come to realize that if you are visiting a forest, go for many things other than tigers; if you happen to chance upon a tiger, it is your bonus. Fortunately, many of the forests in India still have many other attractions left, though we made a total mess of Project Tiger and at the same time neglected everything else in the name of tiger. So when Kush last month suggested planning a visit to Ranthambore, we all jumped at the idea. Since time was short, we decided to go there by train rather than driving all the distance by car. There are a number of trains which go to Sawai Madhopur from Delhi, and the park is just 11 km away from the station. It is a small town and has many hotels and guest houses catering to all kind of pockets and taste.
We were lucky in our first ever visit to the Ranthambore National Park as within first 15 minutes of our entering the park we made a sighting of a tiger. It was a young but fully grown female tiger, which we would later find, called T-17. We saw it hidden behind a growth of bushes looking intently at a herd of spotted deer (chital) and ready to ambush it. And suddenly she stood up, came into open and charged towards the deer. Alas, it was unsuccessful, as tigers are successful in only 1 out of 5 chances. The herd of deer was successful in escaping to safety, and we were successful in sighting our first tiger at the Ranthambore National Park. T-17 is daughter of a world famous tigress, Machhli, who has been heroine in many stories on Ranthambore and also the leading actress in a number of documentaries. For next 45 minutes she played hide and seek with us, and then decided enough was enough, and disappeared into the river bed. What a majestic creature she was; I can not forget her carefree gait and attitude, and the total indifference and disdain she reserved for us. But even that was welcoming coming from the Lord of the Jungle.

ROSE FESTIVAL

2009-12-20T22:52:00.001+05:30

This Sunday the Rose Society of India organized its annual Rose Festival in Delhi. Enjoy the slide show. All photographs are courtesy Vasuman. Cheers

A SUMMER IN ANTARCTICA

2009-11-13T04:00:00.002+05:30

I am giving an illustrated talk

‘A SUMMER IN ANTARCTICA’

at

the India International Centre Annexe Auditorium
(40, Max Mueller Marg, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi)

on Thursday, 3rd December, 2009 at 6:30 pm

to share my experiences of Antarctic Expedition.

NIGHT FLYING INTO ANTARCTICA

2009-09-17T20:41:00.004+05:30

I wanted to post this as a "BREAKING NEWS", last month, but many things kept me away from doing it. Finally, I am able to post it.

It’s been nearly 80 years since Adm. Richard Byrd made his famous flight over the South Pole without landing there. Traditionally, the only mode of accessing Antarctica had been by ships that were especially designed and built for navigating the rough and turbulent Antarctic Ocean. However, these can also negotiate the Antarctic Ocean only during Antarctic summer, November to March, when the weather turns less hostile and the ocean which had frozen during the winter starts melting. These are custom-built ships, ice-class or ice-breakers. Kindly see the post: How to reach Antarctica.
History was made in the year when the first aeroplane made its landing on the Antarctic continent by landing on the frozen ice air strip. Since then, air flights have become a regular means of transport carrying Antarctic scientists and logistic experts, equipments, supplies, and tourists. However, these flights had remained limited again during the summer period when various flights operating companies would make 16-20 flights employing cargo aircrafts like Ilyushin or Hercules.
Aviation history was made once again on the night of September 11, 2008 when a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster, a huge military cargo and troop transport, touched down on Pegasus White Ice Runway at McMurdo Antarctic Base of the U.S.A. It was the first time such a landing had been done in Antarctica using night-vision goggles. It was a challenge that has been accomplished, making night landing a reality for the purpose of Science and medical evacuation. Previously that was not possible.

This year, flight since the summer of February, 2009 was scheduled to land at McMurdo Station on Aug. 20 (local time McMurdo) during a roughly weeklong period dubbed Winfly, for winter fly-in. However, two straight days of poor weather conditions at McMurdo delayed the arrival of the first flight. However, ppassengers disembarked from a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Pegasus airfield on Aug. 22, 2009 (McMurdo local time). The first flight of Winfly finally arrived on the continent after two days of weather delays, carrying 120 passengers. Three more passenger flights were planned over the next week.

India started using flights to Antarctica from Cape Town way back in 2002, when it initiated DROMLAN (The Dronning Maud Land Air Network) international cooperative project with other participating countries, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. ALCI, a Cape Town based South African polar shipping and air carrier company has been involved as logistic service provider. It operates approximately 16 flights during Antarctica summer, October to March.

I too flew all the way to Antarctica from Goa in November, 2007 covering the entire distance in approx 18 hours of flying time in 4 flights. The fourth flight was in IL-76 from Cape Town to Novo airbase lasting for 6 hours covering 4500 km, (http://himalayanadventurer.blogspot.com/2007/11/arrival.html)
(First 3 photos from US Antarctic website, the last one by the author)

SWIMMING TO ANTARCTICA

2009-08-30T14:05:00.002+05:30

Antarctica is fast developing into a land, or I should say, a continent for innumerable and diverse kind of adventures. However, Antarctica itself is not new to adventure. It has received adventurers and tested their stamina, strength, endurance and abilities for over a century. Even when commuting to Antarctica is becoming easier and faster each year, and man having almost colonized it for many decades now, Antarctica continues to offer challenges to never-say-die spirit of humans. Every year during summer season of Antarctica, adventurers attempt to negotiate Antarctic challenges in their own styles. Last year only, adventurers got together to organize first of its kind, South Pole Race 2008, to replicate historic race between two legends of Antarctic exploration, Robert Scott and Roald Amundsen to reach the South Pole. Though there were many records attempted and made, a unique feat of the race was that of a blind man completing the arduous journey of 483 nautical miles across some of the most inhospitable terrain and hostile environment on this earth. Women have been part of such adventures on Antarctica now for many years.
Recently I read the book, Swimming to Antarctica’ given to me by Kush (www.tantrikclimber.blogspot.com). This book is an autobiographical account by Lynne Cox. She is a remarkable athlete with incredible ability to swim long distances in freezing waters. Her accomplishments started at the age of 14, when Lynne swam across the a Channel of 43 km, with a group of teenagers in California, in 12 hours and 36 minutes. At age 15 Lynne swam across the English Channel and shattered the men’s and women’s world records with a time of 9 hours and 57 minutes. When that record was broken, she returned the next year and broke the world record for the English Channel a second time with a time of 9 hours and 36 minutes. She has not looked back since then, going for bigger and bigger adventures and breaking more swimming barriers. Lynne is perhaps best known for swimming the Bering Strait from the island of Little Diomede in Alaska to Big Diomede, then part of the Soviet Union, where the water temperature averaged around 4 °C. At that time people living on the Diomede Islands, only 3.7 km apart, were not permitted to see one another, although many had family members living on the other island. Looks so familiar at our Kashmir or Punjab! Whether her accomplishment eased Cold War tensions or not, as Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev both praised her success.

The last swim in the book, Swimming to Antarctica, gives the book its name when she swims 1.6 km from a ship to the Antarctic shore in 25 minutes in freezing water below zero degrees dodging icebergs. Such a cold water, would send even a hardy person into fatal hypothermia within 5 minutes.
Lynne has been helped in achieving her accomplishments by many people, and she is generous in acknowledging them in the book. I personally think she owes a great deal to her parents who made a crucial decision quite early in life to move to Los Angeles so that their children could get best of facilities and trainers in the sport of indoor and outdoor swimming.

Lynne makes this point very clear at many places in the book: she is not swimming to establish new world records. She swam across the Bering Strait, the Strait of Magellan, or around the Cape Town so that she could contribute to making some difference in the world. Her heroics as well as her magnanimous spirit and the ability to bring people together is simply commendable.
Lynne has put down her autobiography is quite simple and illustrative style giving quite graphically her preparations and ordeal in achieving her numerous feats. It is an awe inspiring book, and not only for the swimmers or adventurers, but for any person who wishes to appreciate the limits of human endurance and challenging spirit.

SHIMLA – THE SUMMER CAPITAL OF BRITISH INDIA

2009-08-16T13:59:00.003+05:30

I had been to Shimla a few times earlier, however, when I went to Shimla (spelt ‘Simla’ then) with Chitra, Ishu and Vasu way back in 1987, I almost vowed to myself never to return to Shimla again as a tourist. Though I have been to Shimla many times since then, but always for work, and have stayed there just for a day overnight. At that time, we had stayed in the AIIMS guest house at Summer Hill. India’s first Health Minister, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur had a soft corner for the AIIMS, and had gifted her property at Summer Hill to AIIMS. Gandhi Ji is said to have enjoyed the hospitality of Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur at this house. It is beautifully located surrounded by tall pine and deodar trees, and is very close to the University.
What put me off in 1987? Climate wise, Shimla was not much different from Delhi in the month of June. The Mall Road was as crowded with tourists as Chandni Chowk or Karol Bagh. We ran into some of Delhi wallahs there whom we saw only infrequently back in Delhi. One could only have chhole-bhature at the Baljee’s; there was nothing like local food. But children had, perhaps, enjoyed their stay there, especially, the ride on Kalka-Shimla train, walks, pony-rides, and a reward of softy ice-cream after a long walk from Summer Hill to Mall Road. So, last month when I got a call to visit Shimla once again for a brief meeting, I was quite pleased. I would again be away from the oppressive heat of Delhi. I did not mind when I was advised to come a day earlier since the meeting would start early in the morning, and traveling by night train was not a feasible option. I would travel by Shatabdi Express till Kalka, and then take a taxi to reach Shimla. Travel time to Kalka from Delhi is 4.30 hours, and the track runs parallel to G.T. Road. Last time I traveled on this route was more than a year ago. May be, since I was traveling alone this time, I looked outside more often even when I had the company of an engrossing book. Very soon it dawned on me that all along there were houses on either side of the track and road. Big and small constructions had sprung all the way. There were no uninterrupted stretches of land or green fields. Previously during this time, one could see men and women busy working in the field, but now if you saw them, they were either traveling on tractor-trolley or working at construction site. The train reached Kalka on time. Kalka was hot, but I did not bother much since I was to travel uphill all the way to cold climes of Shimla. Since the tourist season was practically over, the taxi stand was deserted and I had no problem in hiring a taxi. The hills start even before you cross the town of Kalka. However, the drive which used to be so pleasurable and refreshing earlier was not the same anymore. The greenery on both sides of the road had thinned away. It had given way to mushrooming construction all along. There was not a single kilometer of stretch which did not have a house, office, dhaba, restaurant, hotel or a shop selling all kinds of goods. It was quite a sad picture.
At Shimla, my staying arrangement was made at Peterhof hotel. I was quite intrigued by this name having read, heard, and seen so much of Peterhof during our Russia visit. A quick search on the net brought out the following information, ‘Peterhof Hotel is located in the heart of Shimla city at Chaura Maidan offering panoramic view of Choorchandani on the front side, Dhauladhar ranges on western side and Kinner Kailash on the eastern side. It is also strategically situated with the State Museum on one side and famous Viceroy Legal Lodge on the other side, now housing the Institute of Advance Studies. The Peterhof, originally built in early 19th century, housed at least seven Viceroys and Governor Generals during the Raj. The first Viceroy to move into Peterhoff was the Earl of Elgin who arrived in Shimla on 4th April 1863. After independence the building served as Punjab High Court and it was here that the trial of Nathu Ram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, took place in 1948-49. When Himachal became full fledged state the building became the Raj Bhawan, Unfortunately it burnt down in 1981 but it was restructured in 1991 and designed to match the hill architecture palatial pattern and now is a heritage luxury hotel’. However, the net could not give me any information as to why it was named after Peterhof. I thought of finding more about it there itself. The hotel is situated at a quite strategic place, offering a very panoramic view of hills in front. Though it is supposed to be a heritage hotel, it could do well by paying more attention to its maintenance. I made enquiries from the staff there about the origin of this property’s name, but no body had a clue. There was not a single photograph of its original structure, or its earlier occupants from Raj era. Nor was there any photograph of the historic Nathuram Godse trial. May be, the State Museum next door has some of those historic photographs.

Since I had reached much earlier than the sun-set, I went for a walk towards Mall Road. It was terribly hot and humid in Shimla too, and did not look much different from Delhi’s weather. Locals told me that there was not much snow during the winter, and now the rains have also eluded Shimla, with the result the weather had turned too warm. The apple crop has been severely affected, as much as by half. It was evident in the market when I saw the size of apples; they were not bigger than an ordinary lemon.

At Mall Road, I found good old Indian Coffee House. I have so many good memories of Indian Coffee House which were many in Delhi previously, but now have disappeared. I went in to feel the aroma of filter coffee and taste its dosa dipped in sambhar. Being evening time, the coffee house was almost full to capacity, and did not mind sharing my table with an elderly couple. We immediately struck good rapport and talked politics, region, spirituality, and Shimla life. I will remember meeting them as one of the high points of my Shimla visit. I seemed to have brought some good cheers to Shimla; it started raining when I headed back to the hotel. I did not mind, only lucky ones get drenched in the rains.

NEVER CHALLENGE A LOVER

2009-07-27T22:45:00.002+05:30

This morning when I went to the back courtyard, I saw two monkeys climbing down the pipe, and then casually walking towards the kitchen garden. I realized they did not cross the boundary, but had settled comfortably in a corner. Not liking the idea of having two monkeys in the garden, I yelled at them to get lost. Instantaneously, the bigger monkey came charging towards me, showing his all incisors and canines and growling menacingly. I just stood frozen, not knowing how to react; but my dad who was enjoying his morning newspaper and cup of tea sitting on the swing, stood up charged and came forward making equally menacing sounds. The monkey had not seen him earlier, but was now taken aback and stopped in his track and retreated back to the company of his mate, nudged her, and both of them walked away, but showing no urgency to leave. I am sure he must have said to his mate that he spared this middle-aged man in consideration of his old father. Now I realized they were a young couple, and the male who came charging towards me, was a strong and handsome specimen. Obviously he did not like the idea of my trying to chase him away when he was wooing his love interest. We all know that the females in the whole animal kingdom get overprotective towards their newborns, and challenge even mightier enemies once they perceive any threats to their offspring. But the male pride could be so fragile, so sensitive, so easily provoked? Of course, he was on a trip; with all his pride and vanity he must be boasting to his love interest and showing off all his territory and empire. How could he tolerate any challenge to his authority! Proving his prowess, whatever may be the challenge, was an investment to his love life. He will make this investment again and again, whether to scare the human beings, or ward off a potential rival.
A popular blogger with a huge fan following, in one of her posts, posed this question to her readers: Is love a one-time-lump-sum investment that you make to go on enjoying its returns unlimited? Or is it a daily wage earning that you must work for each day? What is my take on this? I think investment is a continuous process, it has to become a habit. Whether it is to with our finances or with our body or mind, or with our interests or hobbies, all require regular investments. Investment is not limited to this. We have to regularly invest in our children; in our friends, relatives, and acquaintances; in our staff and students; in our domestic helps and maids; in our gadgets, and the list is endless.
So why not in our love interest!

PINDARI TREK - SLIDE SHOW

2009-07-09T04:04:00.001+05:30

DOUBLE CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO VIEW THE SLIDE SHOW IN LARGE SIZE

MOSCOW SLIDE SHOW

2009-07-06T22:26:00.003+05:30

ST PETERSBURG SLIDE SHOW

2009-07-05T15:36:00.001+05:30

TREK TO PINDARI GLACIER

2009-07-05T09:55:00.005+05:30

I had been thinking of trekking to Pindari for a long time. It had been a long cherished desire. I heard of Pindari glacier from Motor Mama who had done this trek in 1946 at a young age of 16-17. Motor Mama is my uncle, my mother’s brother (mamaji), from Indore and we have always addressed him like this since our childhood when we must have seen only him driving the family car. Motor Mama has never looked back since then, and must have measured the length and breadth of Uttarakhand many times over. Though I have trekked to some other glaciers, the Pindari eluded me even when that was the first glacier I had known, and is supposed to be one of the most accessible glaciers. But this year opportunity came almost knocking at the door. Vasu’s plans to trek to Sunder Dhunga glacier with a group had fallen through. I suggested to him Pindari for both of us, and planned an eco-trek, that is, we would travel by public transport, and stay and eat in road-side huts; the only luxury we would allow ourselves would be the services of a porter cum guide. However, Leena, Rajesh and Vinayak from Vasu’s original group joined us, and from an eco-trek it turned into a premier packaged tour of KMVN. Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (www.kmvn.org) organizes packaged tours to many of its popular treks and glaciers for all kinds of trekkers. Though it does take away some of the charm and thrill of adventure, yet, it provides a convenient way to explore the unexplored Himalayas, especially if time is short and one wishes to avoid all the hassles of bookings or uncertainty of adventure. Though originally we had planned a trip of 10-12 days, but in deference to wishes of the group, had cut it short to 8 days, from Sunday to Sunday. Vinayak at 12 was the youngest member of the group, while yours truly was the eldest; age proof not required.
1st Day: From Delhi to Bageshwar: 450 km
We left Delhi early morning to avoid the rush on NH 24 later in the day. NH 24 goes to Haldwani and Kathgodam via Garh Ganga, Gajraula, Moradabad, Rampur, and Bilas Pur and Pantnagar. NH 24 can be very trying due to its unpredictable (or predictably predictable) and long traffic jams. I had traveled or driven on this road a few times in last few years, and I was so frustrated in 2007 driving there that I had vowed to myself never to return to this highway until and unless I got confirmed news that it had become worthy of being called a road. One wondered how India could boast to fast-track its economy and development with such infrastructure. However, road had appeared much better in April this year when we had traveled to Bareilly. As on earlier occasions, this time too, we stopped at Gajraula for our breakfast of dry paratha (sans ghee or butter that you get separately) and lassi. After Ram Pur (town famous for its knives, and lately put on national map by Jaya Prada), the drive had become comfortable and pleasurable. But we got stuck at Bilas Pur to cross a small bride over a small river. The bridge was too narrow to handle two-lane traffic, and Vasu reminded us that the adjoining unfinished wider bridge was at the same stage of construction as we had seen in 2007. After passing Haldwani and Kathgodam, we stopped at Bhowali for lunch. Bhowali was known in earlier days for its sanatorium. The drive was becoming more and more scenic with mountains and tall coniferous trees in view all along. We crossed Almorah well in time and headed for Bageshwar. We chose to take shorter route via Binsar; however, it proved to be wrong choice as the road was under major repair all along and we reached Bageshwar only by 7:30 pm in the evening. In last few years, it was my third visit to Bageshwar.

2nd Day: Bageshwar to Lohar Khet
Bageshwar is a small sleepy town at 975 m (3217 ft) on the bank of confluence of Gomati and Saryu rivers, and hence is considered an important pilgrimage town. Though there are two rivers, but it was sad to see just a trickle of water, it looked more like a nallah. It has a 7th century Bagh Nath temple devoted to Lord Shiv, and has as its exhibits nearly thousand years old statues. Around temple, there are shops and eating places. During our last visit in June, 2007, we had settled down at an eating place, when Chitra asked for the fans to be switched on. To her amazement, the shopkeeper politely declined to switch on the fan. And the reason he gave us impressed us tremendously. The tiny migratory swallows had built their nests in his shop, and a revolving ceiling fan would have been a sure killer. He informed us that these birds come here every summer, and stay for 2-3 months till their young chicks grow enough to fly to reach their next destination. We were only a transient visitor, but the shopkeeper (and many others in this town), a true environmentalist, had been sweltering every year in the oppressive summer months for the sake of these birds. Swallows build their nests with mud etc which appears hard as concrete. This time too we witnessed these restless birds and their nests and young ones. From Bageshwar, we traveled 45 km by a jeep to reach Saung. The motorable road ends here. Here we met our guide and porter who would accompany us for next 6 days. We trekked uphill for 5 km to reach Lohar Khet at 1760 m (5800 ft). We had wonderful lunch at the kmvn rest house of ‘kadhi’ and ‘marhua ki roti’. The rest house was a hub of activity with a group of trekkers from Kolkata and another group from Michigan arriving there after completing their treks. There were a few brightly coloured scarlet minivets noisily chasing each other on tree tops. I rued my decision not to bring my zoom lens. A little rain had made the evening quite chilly. Our mobiles had stopped receiving signals here; and there was of course no radio or TV or newspaper. Within a day we were so far away from the civilization, and yet strangely, we did not miss any of those things.

3rd Day: Lohar Khet to Khati: 17 km
We were to trek 17 km on our 3rd day, so we left early soon after having our tea at 5 am. It was all the way uphill, and after 3 hours of walking we had our breakfast of, what else, aloo paratha, and resumed walking once again. The trek so far was not too spectacular, though all around it was green. One could see huge patches on the hills where soil erosion had taken its toll. We met a group of young boys coming down after completing trek to Sundar Dhunga. They were excited, yet disappointed in not having seen much of snow at the zero point. Global warming or whatever had taken its toll. We had trekked for 8 km to reach the pass, Dhakuri Khal, at 2940 m (9700 ft). From here, we descended 1 km to reach Dhakuri which has a KMVN tourist rest house. The place was so scenic that one could spend a few days here without going further. However, this was not our destination for the day; we were to trek downhill for another 8 km to reach Khati (2210m; 7300 ft). After lunch, we again pushed ourselves through a beautiful forest full of rhododendron trees. Though October is the usual month of bloom, yet a few flowers had bloomed over some trees. As we reached near the village of Khati, the fields had plants of cannabis scattered here and there. Khati village had about 300 houses, and had a post office with PCO and STD facility. There were some private guest houses as well where one could get a room for as much as 100-200 rupees. Many houses had solar panels and satellite dish over their roofs. At Khati, the trek bifurcates with one trek heading towards Sundar Dhunga. From village the kmvn rest house was at a steep climb of less than 1 km, but that seemed to be the most difficult part of the trek. It was after 4 pm when we reached the rest house, and were dead tired.

4th Day: Khati to Phurkiya: 18 km
Our destination was Phurkiya today at an altitude of 3250 m (10725 ft), which meant we were to climb uphill all the way. The trek passed through a dense forest where we could listen to chirping of birds continuously. I am not good in recognizing uncommon birds through their calls, but could not miss the piu-piu of handsome pied crested cuckoo. We also saw groups of monkeys and langurs too, but they kept their distance from us, unlike their urban brethren. Now Pindari River was giving us company. Across, there were frequent sighting of water falls. Drinking water from these falls was very refreshing and rejuvenating; no doubt we were able to go up and down long distances. We reached Dwali midway which too has a KMVN rest house, and had our lunch there, and resumed our walk soon after. From Dwali, one trek cuts off to Kafni glacier also. At a distant mountain, guide of another group pointed out to a pair of mountain goats (bharel). We were constantly gaining height with wind becoming chillier, and tree line gradually thinning away. From dense forest, we were entering dense mountains covered only with shrubs and small vegetation. We managed to reached Phurkiya quite on time and were in good shape, and comfortable mentally too having come so far. We were at 3250m (11,000ft)and ready to celebrate Vasu's birthday; Leena had brought a cake all the way from Delhi for the evening. Amazingly, Vasu has celebrated his birthday on quite a few such places. Now the zero point was only 5 km of comfortable walk. The sky was clear, and even with chill outside, we felt great sitting outside and looking at moon and snow covered peaks appearing so near. They were changing colour with each passing hour. After dinner we slept early, since we were supposed to start our onward march next morning at 5 am.

5th Day: Phurkiya to Zero Point, and back to Dwali: 21 km
Though zero point was only 5 km away, but it would certainly test us with thinning air and very bright sun on a clear sky. As we advanced, we began to see many peaks which surround Nanda Devi; though, you do not get to see Nanda Devi herself. I had seen Nanda Devi in her full glory a few years ago at Auli. The peaks visible were Baljuri, Pawali dwar, Nanda Khat, Chhangoj, and Nanda Kot. About 2 km before the zero point, the trek culminated into a huge meadow. It was covered with flowers of many colours, almost looking like valley of flowers. There was a hut of a Babaji who has been living there for last 15 years. He looks after the tired trekkers with tea and food, and tells them some interesting stories. It was a magnificent experience being surrounded by snow covered peaks all around. What would I not sacrifice to be able to spend a few days in this bliss! Zero point was still a kilometer away. Normally at zero point the usual trek ends at the glacier. However, here it is just a convenient point, though the glacier is still quite far, having receded by a few kilometers. We were now at nearly 12,500 ft. I reached zero point only to feel sad, the magnificent Pindari glacier about which I had heard and read so much, was now only a rudimentary thing. Instead of a frozen river, it appeared to be a frozen water fall hanging in air as if it had been amputated in between. I did not know whom to blame; global warming, but what is causing this global warming?
Return journey: on our way back we stayed overnight at Dwali and then Dhakuri. On reaching Bageshwar, we immediately left for Kausani to stay there overnight. We returned via Almorah where we stopped for ‘samosa’ and ‘jalebi’. Before we reached Delhi, we got stuck in massive traffic jams at two places delaying our return by at least 4 hours. But no complaints; we all were jubilant having done the trek successfully and as per our itinerary. Will I repeat the trek: perhaps, yes, for Kafni and Sunder Dhunga!

TRAGEDY STRIKES MAITRI

2009-06-20T23:40:00.001+05:30

Tragedy struck Maitri, the permanent Indian station at Antarctica when it lost its valued scientist, Mr Kuldeep Wali, on the 1st June 2009. Shri Kuldeep Wali a professional meteorologist with India Meteorological Department was deputed to Antarctica as a member of the winter over team of the 28th Indian Scientific Antarctic Expedition in November 2008 and was expected to return to India by November 2009. Born on 12th April 1952, Shri Kuldeep Wali passed way on Monday the 1st June 2009 at Indian Research Base Maitri, Antarctica in service to the nation. He suffered a massive acute myocardial infarction at 11:45 UTC (17:15 Hrs IST). Doctors struggled hard with all possible treatment but could not revive him and pronounced him dead at 12:20 UTC (17:50 Hrs IST). He is survived by his wife Smt. Rita Wali and daughter Ms. Ranshu Wali.
Shri Kuldeep Wali left National Centre of Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa on the 17th November 2008 along with the second contingent of the 28th ISEA. He reached Novo airbase in Antarctica in the early hours of 22nd June flying all the way to Antarctica via Cape Town. Ever since his arrival at Maitri, he was actively involved in research and other work related to the Maitri station until he breathed his last.
It has been the most unfortunate thing that could happen at Maitri. The family of Mr Wali back home was obviously in shock and disbelief. However, it courageously and respectfully accepted the fact of life and requested for an early cremation at Maitri itself. Otherwise the body would have been preserved there and flown to Delhi only in November later this year when the air-flights resume with start of the summer season. Though the winds are very strong and the temperatures very low during polar nights, the wintering members found a huge boulder about a km downwind of the station and carried out the cremation in stormy winds there on the 11th June. It must have been an unnerving experience for the whole wintering team stationed currently at Maitri.
Losing and cremating a team member after spending nearly 6-8 months with him must have needed volumes of mental strength on their part to go through the process of bereavement during the icy and frozen conditions of Polar nights of Antarctica at this time of the year.

Through this blog, I pay my humble homage to Mr Kuldeep Wali, and pay my sincere condolences to the family to bear this irreparable loss with courage and dignity.

MOSCOW DIARY

2009-06-14T00:11:00.002+05:30

To be honest, I did not know many of the amazing facts about Russia till we decided to visit it. Apart from my knowledge of Russian royalty of 19th and early 20th century, its architecture, its role in WW II, a little bit of Lenin, Stalin, and the communist era, my awareness of the current Russian nation was not too positive having been fed by the media of its mafia and crimes, and its stinking billionaires. I was a bit apprehensive: politically, India had always considered Russia as a staunch ally, but post-cold war scenario could be different; the generation which went berserk over Raj Kapoor in 50s and 60s would no longer be there; if there was no St Petersburg in the itinerary, I might not have considered visiting Russia
First some facts about Russia and Moscow: Russia, even after the disintegration of USSR into more than a dozen independent nations, is the largest country in the world extending over Europe and Asia covering more than 12 percent of Earth’s area and spanning 11 time zones. Russia has the world's greatest reserves of mineral and energy resources, and is considered an energy superpower and is world’s largest energy exporter. It has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's unfrozen fresh water.
It is world’s sixth largest economy, and has been averaging 7-8 percent growth in its GDP. The Russian Constitution guarantees free, universal health care for all citizens. Russia has more physicians, hospitals, and health care workers than almost any other country in the world on a per capita basis. As of 2007, the average life expectancy in Russia is 61.5 years for males and 73.9 years for females. The biggest factor contributing to this relatively low life expectancy for males is a high mortality rate among working-age males from preventable causes (e.g., alcoholism, smoking, traffic accidents, and violent crimes). As a result of the large difference in life expectancy between men and women and because of the lasting effect of World War II (Russia lost more men than any other nation in the world), the gender imbalance remains to this day and there are only 859 males to every 1000 females. Till recently, the Russian population was showing a declining trend. Since 2007, the Russian government has implemented a programme whereby women are paid around US$ 10,000 if they have a second child.

After having dealt with St Petersburg successfully and joyfully, we were better prepared to deal with Moscow, a large city by any standard. We knew by now that there were no meters in the taxis and you had to settle the fare in advance; an average citizen knew no or very little English; there was an excellent bus and metro service linking practically every nook and corner of the city and you could master it within a day or two; veg meals, veg pizza and burgers could be obtained and there were many Indian restaurants in Moscow. And what we were most assured of was the fact that crime and law and order was not a significant issue if you took some basic precautions, like, not getting out of a disco or night club at 2 am dead drunk.
Our flight landed at domestic terminal of Sheremetyevo airport and we had no difficulty in hiring a cab having earlier enquired the approximate fare. Our hotel was within the city and four metro-stops away from the Red Square. It was situated in an open area with lot of blooming trees around. There were 4-5 blocks of this hotel each having 1-2 restaurants. Our guess was that it must have served as a youth hostel or something in earlier days. The room was basic but had a fridge and TV, though the latter had no use for us as was airing only Russian channels. The Russian hotels, whether 3-star of 5-star, do not provide you with an electric kettle and tea-coffee bags in the rooms. But our plan included complimentary breakfast. The lady at the restaurant took special care of us when she found we were vegetarians. So if you are planning to visit Russia and are fond of your bed tea, carry your kettle and tea bags. Same evening we ventured out to visit the city centre, and managed to reach the Red Square and Kremlin. Asking for directions was a risky affair. We did not know if the person had understood where we wanted to go, and we were also not sure if we understood where he was asking us to go. We spotted a well-dressed gentleman, and just thought he could be English speaking. And yes, he did. He explained us the directions patiently, and then asked us if we were from India. Now we asked him if he ever visited India. He replied it was an interesting question as he had visited India three times! What cities? It was Bhuj on the first occasion. We were flabbergasted, of all places he chose Bhuj. Chitra was quick to think it must have been in connection with earthquake there. Yes, he was a rescue expert. After his first visit, he told himself, never again to India. But official work brought him to Delhi second time, and he thought, yeh, may be next time also. And after his third visit, he would look for an opportunity to visit India once again.

Red Square and Kremlin are incredible places along with all the churches, cathedrals and other buildings within the compound. You need to see all this yourself to appreciate the grandeur and vastness of this place. Though the tourist season had not started yet, there were people all over. And all around it are so wide roads that we hadn’t seen elsewhere. Inspite of a far reaching and efficient metro service, these roads are usually jam packed with cars and buses. Though you see all the latest models of merc and BMW, but most of the cars are older models, small or medium sized. We could manage to see many of the important tourist attractions of the city. We avoided museums since, I believe, Russia must be having the largest number of museums in the world, from Museum of Erotica to Sigmund Freud Museum of Dreams. Earlier we believed that the most beautiful churches and cathedrals were only in Rome or Prague, but St Petersburg and Moscow are very close in the race. Moscow can boast of some ultra-luxurious clubs and shopping arcades. Of course, any shopping at these places was out of question. But we did visit a weekend market in the outer skirts of city having hundreds of shop selling souvenirs, Russian handicrafts, shoes, bags, and garments etc. A sizeable number of these shop owners were those Afghanis who originally must have been from Indian sub-continent. They could speak some Hindi sentences.
Alcoholism is major health hazard in Russia, but cigarette smoking is a big public nuisance. It is rampant among men and women both. I think the only place they do not smoke is the metro. It is very common for people to walk in the streets smoking. I must have inhaled every day equivalent of one full packet. I must visit Himalayas to get rid of all the smoke deposited in my lungs.

Metro service of Moscow must have been the largest in the world. It ferries 9 million passengers every day, more than that of London and New York combined together. Frequency is incredible too, at peak hours you do not have to wait for more than 30 seconds! Some of the stations on the Ring Line were breathtakingly beautiful, marble faced, frescoed, with gilded work of arts. The art work depicts history, war, and Russian life. We had not seen such beautifully done metro station anywhere in the world.
During the time we were in Moscow, Jag Mohan and Gurmeet were also there. We met up with them on a few evenings, and they invited us for a meal at the Indian restaurant, Maharaja. On our penultimate day, we went to outskirts of Moscow to visit the University of Moscow, and also to go to the ‘look-out point’ from where one could see the entire city. It was raining, and we crossed a large wooded area to climb up to that point. While negotiating a small incline covered with fallen leaves, Chitra slipped and fell down hurting her left shoulder.

On our final day, the taxi driver taking us to the airport seemed very pleased to learn that we were from India. He managed to convey to us that he was 61 years old, and had seen ‘Awara’ seven times 50 years ago. As if on a cue, we broke into the famous Raj Kapoor song, ‘Mera Juta hai Japani’, and he joined us in the chorus. We bade him ‘Dissvidaniya’ at the airport, and wished that when and if we visit Moscow once again, he takes us to our hotel from the airport.

ST. PETERSBURG DIARY

2009-05-29T23:09:00.003+05:30

Our first stopover in Russia was St. Petersburg, formerly known as Leningrad. In fact, it had been known as St. Petersburg since its inception in 1709, but was renamed Leningrad in 1924 following Lenin’s death. What a better way than to begin Russia from St Petersburg, which is in Russia but not Russian! I was to attend the conference here, 12th Multi-disciplinary International Conference on Neurosciences and Biological Psychiatry with conference theme of “Stress and Behaviour”. I was to chair a scientific session as well as make a presentation. And with my continuing preoccupation with Antarctica, what else would I speak other than ‘Psychobiology of Mood and Behaviour in Extreme Climatic Conditions of Antarctica’, more on this subject in some other post. This conference was being organized by two Ukrainian scientists settled in the US with support from local scientists and professionals. They were organizing successful annual meetings year after year in St. Petersburg. I was told about this meeting, in fact, by our friends Jag Mohan and Gurmeet who were coming from Brisbane to attend this. We had not met them for last so many years, and thought if we could not meet in Australia or India, why not in a third country!
It was past 7 pm when our flight landed in St. Petersburg. The outside temperature was 4 degree Celsius. It looked like bright day even at that time of the day. St. Petersburg is not far from North Pole, and the city was gradually moving towards ‘white nights’, when during June and July, the Sun would hardly set. Reaching our hotel, St. Petersburg Hotel, from the airport did not create any hassles as Chitra and I had decided not to embark on public transport (when we are overseas, we are always bogged down with saving money), and had hired a cab. The hotel was right on the bank of river Neva. The hotel was big with impressive lobby and dinning hall, but our room was basic with both the beds not arranged side by side but one after the other in a row. Soon after checking, we took directions from the receptionist to locate the nearest metro station which would take us next morning to the conference venue at Hotel Oktiabrskaya. We did not reach the metro station, but managed to find a small supermarket for buying drinking water, fruits, some bread, cheese etc. Next morning we managed to reach the metro station not before losing our direction a few times. What was dawning on us was that though people were trying to be helpful when we asked for directions, very few of them knew English. St Petersburg is well connected with metro and its bus service. Though the metro maps, announcement within the metro, and names of the stations all are in Russian language, we could master it in 2-3 rides. In our first ride, we did go back and forth a few times before disembarking at the right station, and what a relief it was when we saw Hotel Oktiabrskaya as soon as we stepped outside the metro station.

Though more than 300 delegates had registered for the conference, not many were seen inside the lecture hall. It is very difficult to sit through scientific sessions when you are in St. Petersburg for the first time. However, I did attend some interesting sessions. We also met a group of 10 psychiatrists from Pakistan who were accompanied by two drug representatives of the pharma company. They precisely attend two hours of meeting out of 5 days. The organizers had also arranged a visit to the Pavlov Institute, where the great Russian scientists worked on dogs and gave us the principles of classical conditioning paving the way for Behaviour Therapy as an important tool for managing many psychiatric disorders. Currently some scientists there are working on ‘brain music’ where brain’s electrical impulses (which may indicate state of our relaxed or tense mind) are turned into music. A tense mind produces a noisy mixture of unrhythmic music while music from relaxed mind may appear very soothing. I had volunteered to be a guinea pig for demonstration for other’s benefits, and so everyone had to admit that my mind produced some very pleasing and original score.

St Petersburg is the second largest city of Russia and steeped in history and riches of its royalty. After all it had remained capital of the country for more than 200 years. The city is full of palaces, museums, and gardens. Tulips of all colour and hues were blooming merrily everywhere. We took the guided city tour and boat cruise to get oriented to the city and to have its feel. We managed most other attractions on our own. But you can not do justice to the city in one visit or with only a few days at your disposal since there were too many museums, art galleries, cathedrals, and stage shows. The art collection in museums was amazing; the beauty of cathedrals spellbinding, and the gardens displaying a riot of colours. By Indian standards, entrance fee for most of these places appear exhorbitant, however, what you get to see fully justify that.

Meeting Jag Mohan and Gurmeet once again after so many years was very warm and pleasant. We together spent some very good time in St. Petersburg, and then again in Moscow. One very memorable evening was at the only Indian restaurant of the city, the Tandoor. The host who waited on our table was a young smart Indian boy who was willing to talk. He had been in St. Petersburg for last 8 years and was in the internship after having done his medical studies there. Stipend from the internship was obviously not enough, and he had to supplement his income from such jobs. He proudly told us that for last four years he had been financially independent by waiting on tables. He had married a local Russian girl and was looking forward to his Russian citizenship next year. He is aiming to be a cardiologist. With private health sector likely to open up and expand in new and booming Russian economy, he is hoping to have a flourishing practice. We also met one of the partners of the restaurant, who was an Indian doctor. He had come to Russia for medical studies, but found restaurant business more lucrative. I suspect that our young host may also turn a restaurateur.
With Finland only 4-6 hours away by road or train, who knows, we may feel tempted to come to St Petersburg enroute Finland and discover some amazing sights outside the city!!

FLYING AEROFLOT

2009-05-28T21:14:00.000+05:30

As if once was not enough, I happened to choose Aeroflot, the Russian airlines, once again. However, this time it was to fly into Russia only, and I was not looking for a cheaper ticket to fly to Europe or US. This year, in any case, air tickets for flying to London or New York are way down the price tag even on prestigious European airlines, and it does not make sense to go there by budget airlines. The first time I was on board Aeroflot was way back in 1983 when I was working in Addis Ababa. I was to attend a conference at London (it was ironic that Pan-African Psychiatric Conference was being held in London), and with limited resources was looking for a cheaper air ticket. People advised me to fly Aeroflot as it offered London ticket at half of the price. It only involved a change at Moscow. With very limited international flying experience, I had no idea what this ‘change’ involved. Buying the ticket was another issue. Aeroflot office in Addis Ababa would sell cheaper ticket only if it was paid in hard currency, that is, British pound. That also meant buying ticket in England only. Though I had friends there, but communicating with them was not easy. In 1983, there were no emails or faxes, and telephone calls were exhorbitantly expensive. And most of my friends were in the initial stages of their careers and were shifting their addresses quite often. However, I still managed to establish contact with Late Prof G. Morris Carstairs, the reputed psychiatrist and ex-Vice Chancellor of University of Edinburgh, whom I had the priviledge of knowing since my PGI, Chandigarh days. He responded immediately and offered to buy Aeroflot ticket for me. When I met him later in London during this very conference, he would remark that it was not easy to buy this ticket. The confirmed ticket was issued by the Addis Ababa office of Aeroflot, I would reach Moscow late in the evening (or early next morning) after having three stopovers at Aden, Cairo, and Odessa. My Moscow-London flight was by noon time. I was to spend night in the hotel provided by the airlines. I must have been the only non-Russian in the entire flight which was full of Soviet nationals who were returning home from Ethiopia. Ethiopia had large presence of Soviets at that time being under socialist influence. When the flight landed at Aden, its first stopover, I was surprised at the scene inside the cabin. Even before the aircraft came to a halt, there was a queue in front of the exit with passengers holding green dollars in their both the hands. No sooner were they allowed to get out, they started running towards the lounge. Not understanding anything, I was careful and just walked and obviously reached last by which time all had entered the only duty free shop at the Aden airport, and were clinging to various electronic items and denims. Within 10 minutes all the shelves of the duty free shop were kind of stripped of each and every item by them. During Soviet period, all these ‘phoren’ items were not available in the Republic but Soviet citizens working abroad were allowed to bring in these items. We were served lunch after Aden, and the air-hostess was dumbfounded when I asked for vegetarian food. However, she was sympathetic when she learnt that I took no meat or fish. She assembled a tray for me with bread, salad, fruit etc; on learning that I could egg, she prepared omelet for me and also offered me the Russian delicacy, caviar. At Moscow, the Sheremetyevo airport looked bright and huge, but devoid of people. It had been renovated for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. At the transit desk, I felt uncomfortable when the officer there retained my passport and indicated through gestures that I would get it back before my next flight to London. The hotel room was very basic. Next morning, which came only a few hours later, my name was missing from the London flight. I protested to the hotel staff, but they were of no help. There was no common language between us. In the dinning hall, I met many other Europeans who were there for 3 to 7 days waiting for their connecting flights having come from some remote parts of Africa. Aeroflot was providing link to many parts of Africa and European cities via Moscow. I was much much relieved when I read my name next morning in the list, got back my passport at the airport, and was boarded into the plane leaving for London. Return flight two weeks later was, however, smooth and without hiccups. However, in retrospect I felt I should have chosen the more expensive route of flying to London by some other airlines.
This time around, since I was attending a conference, in the Russian city of St Petersburg only, I was not anxious of flying Aeroflot. I was at my home turf, Chitra was with me, and we could buy ticket from any vendor in INR. We had no problem with the airlines, but the agent in Delhi did not provide good service. Inspite of my clearly asking for a veg meal, and she having confirmed it, our name was not in the list for veg meal. From Delhi flight we had no problem, but from Moscow to Delhi flight, we had to wait till the airhostess could manage to put together a veg meal for us. By the way, Aeroflot does not serve liquor on the flight, but you may buy your drinks. There is however abundant supply of fruit juices and aerated drinks. And it does not pamper you with eatables every hour. The agent also did not tell us that like Delhi, international and domestic terminals were at least 10-12 km apart. Our flight at Moscow landed on time, Moscow-St Petersburg flight was two hours later. We could not figure out where to go for reaching terminal II or domestic terminal. Information desk provided very little information on how to reach there. The shuttle service was only at 2-hourly interval, and we were losing precious minutes. The cab drivers were all over us and asking for an exhorbitant sum to take to the domestic terminal. Finally we teamed up with two Indian students who were also going to St Petersburg by the same flight and hired a cab. By the time we reached there, very little time was left and while we were in the queue, the flight closed right before us. We went to the ticketing counter to rebook us on the next flight. However, the salesgirl told us that our fair basis did not allow us that luxury; we would have to pay a hefty penalty. The amount she quoted was tantamount to buying a new ticket. I declared we had no money, and we had come all the way to attend a conference little realizing that reaching domestic terminal from the international one would involve such an effort. She took pity on us and called her supervisor who seemed to know good English. She took no time in deciding the matter and rebooked us on the next flight without charging us a single paisa, or I should say, a single kopek. We all were much relieved, and thanked her profusely.
More on St Petersburg and Moscow in next posts

***

Russian Joke: A mummy was found in Egypt. The archaeologists could not determine its origin. Then a Soviet advisor offered his help. The mummy was delivered to the Soviet embassy. In two hours the Soviet advisor appeared and said, "His name was Amenkhotep 23 rd."
"How did you find out?"
"He confessed," the advisor said.

TIBETAN INSTITUTE OF PERFORMING ARTS

2009-05-12T19:44:00.002+05:30

The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) was founded by the Dalai Lama on reaching Dharamsala, after his exile from Tibet in August 1959.It was one of the first intitutes set up the Dalai Lama within 4 months of his arrival in India. It was established to preserve Tibetan artistic heritage, especially opera, dance, and music. After the occupation, the then Chinese authorities had attacked and destroyed every aspect of Tibetan culture, and it had become essential to preserve the rich Tibetan culture and promote it in successive generations before it was lost forever. That also became a major source of entertainment for exiled Tibetans.

We enjoyed good music and vibrant and live performances by the dancers. Dancers were dressed in traditional bright and colourful dresses. Some of the dances were very vibrant. Some focussed on rhythm and quick-stepping. The numbers where girls challenge boys in martial arts as well as romance and activities of daily living were very entertaining. Though, of course, I knew no Tibetan language, but who needs to master the language to understand dance and music!

NORBULINGKA INSTITUTE

2009-05-12T19:15:00.003+05:30

We visited the famous Norbulingka Institute known for keeping the Tibetan culture and values alive in India for the Tibetans living in exile. It is named after the traditional summer palace of Dalai Lamas in Lhasa, Tibet. It was established in 1995 for preservation of ancient art practices of Tibet, especially the crafts.
Norbulingka is dedicated to handing down tradition and restoring standards by providing training, education and employment for Tibetans. It supports an environment in which Tibetan community and family values can flourish. It reconciles the tradition creatively and respectfully with the modern, and seeks to create an international awareness of Tibetan values and their expression in art and literature. It offers training in Tibetan statue making, thangka painting, printing, thangk applique and tailoring, wood carving, wood and metal craft.
We saw the young students working painstakingly on all these arts. I have always admired the intricate designs and pattern of thangka, and for a long time had wished to own at least one such painting. However, the cost has always been a prohibitive factor. This time Chitra instructed me to get one, she offered to finance the acquisition. She suggested that there I would not only get an authentic thangka, but the price could also be less than the market price. But the cost this time also was way beyond my expectation. However, this time I realized that what we were offered in commercial markets of Dharamsala or Kathmandu or Gangtok were perhaps not hand-made authentic work. The traditional thangka is totally hand made and may take a year or more to produce a piece measuring 2 x 2 ft. But the end result is truly breathtaking.

VISITING DHARAMSALA AGAIN

2009-05-10T16:24:00.004+05:30

It just occurred to me that Dharamsala happened to be one of those towns where I have gone a few times. Of course, Dharamsala is a hill station, but mercifully it is not in the same league as Shimla, Nainital or Mussoorie. For more than 20 years now, I have stopped going to the ‘mainstream’ hill stations. They are not better off than Delhi during the tourist season – hot and humid and civic amenities breaking down. And then there are traffic jams, and familiar food corners selling chholey-bhature and jeera chow-mein fried in ‘pure desi ghee’. You hear the same bollywood numbers blaring out from the cars of puppies, and then also bump into the same people whom you assiduously wanted to avoid back home. These hill stations, and Manali included, remind you of Lajpat Nagar or Sarojini Nagar. But Dharamsala is different. It is less frequented by hill-station hoppers, and the presence of Tibetans with their rich heritage of culture, politeness, crafts and variety of food make it an interesting place. Though over the years, its character too has undergone sea change, yet I find it a charming place. So last month when I got a chance to go to Dharamsala for a meeting I could not resist.

The first time I visited Dharamsala was way back in autumn of 1961 or 1962 in a trip organized by our school for young students. Dharamsala had suddenly shot into fame by the Dalai Lama having been given sanctuary there by the Government of India after having escaped from Chinese oppression in 1959. Our teacher goaded us to trek to His seat from the bus stand, but we could not have an audience with him as he was away to Delhi for a meeting. Other than that, what I remember of Dharamsala from that time were fruit laden trees of apple, walnut and almonds. Before that I had never guessed that walnut and almonds grew on trees, and were not mysteriously procured by the store-wallah for our consumption.

Next time our visit to Dharamsala was in 1993. During the summer holiday, I was looking for an easy place to trek where we could go as family without testing our stamina or skills. Deepak suggested Triund and Ilaka glacier above McLeod Gunj. We drove via Chandigarh, Una and Kangra. Drive to Chandigarh those days used to be an easy one, and after Una, it was very pleasant and scenic. There were many places to be seen on our route - Bhakra dam, Anand Pur Sahib, and many temples devoted to Durga. If Uttarakhand is the land of Lord Shiv, Himachal is the abode of Goddess Durga. Thus, many famous and deeply revered temples like Naina Devi, Brijeshwari, Jwalamukhi, and Chamunda all lay on this circuit. Though I am not a ritualistic religious person, but if there is a famous or historical temple en route, I might as well have a darshan. But children found it too much; I vividly remember Kush telling me, “Dad, this is not my idea of vacation”. After having spent night at Kangra, we drove next morning to McLeod Gunj. McLeod Gunj has some very popular Tibetan food joints serving authentic dishes. And to cater to Western tourists, there are many bakeries selling delectable cakes and pastries. I was too impressed in having ten different kinds of tea available even at an ordinary dhaba. After spending a night or two at McLeod Gunj, we drove further to Naddi village where the metal road ended. There were a few inexpensive guest houses there where we finally stayed for next few days. We trekked to Triund and Ilaka glacier from there, which was an easy trek. We returned via Palampur and Joginder Nagar; Palampur was very scenic while Joginder Nagar was nostalgic reminding of Devanand and Suchitra Sen in ‘Bambai ka Boboo’.
This time I found McLeod Gunj grown very much. Many tourist hotels have sprung up, and there are far too many shops catering to the tourists. Most tourists at this time were westerners, including some famous ones.

And now there is a direct air link between Delhi and Kangra. We as a group had flown there. We visited some famous Tibetan institution during our stay. The weather in April was perfect. For our return while we were waiting at the airport, we were informed that the Delhi-Kangra flight could not take off due to technical snag. So we decided to hire a cab and return by road. Though I don’t like the idea of driving/being driven at night on Indian highways, we did not have much choice. So we took the plunge, and took a 12-hour road journey all through the night. Needless to say, I could not even doze off, having one eye on the road and the other on the driver. We reached safe and sound, and being Sunday, could rest for the whole day.

BLOGOSPHERE FROM ANTARCTICA

2009-05-03T13:39:00.003+05:30

When I started this blog in October, 2007 to post my Antarctica experiences, I was too preoccupied with a number of things and could not get opportunity to look for other people blogging live from Antarctica. Over the time I learnt that many expeditioners to Antarctica have been blogging live from Antarctica. However, most of these blogs remain active during the summer time which most of the blogger spend there, and cease their postings afterwards. Blogging occurs during wintering period too, but not as frequently. There are some expeditioners, explorers, and scientists who have been taken so much by the issues concerning Antarctica that they have devoted their life time in doing scientific projects related to Antarctica and have spent many summer and wintering periods in Antarctica. And then, there are some who are bipolar, that is, they are active at both the poles periodically. When I was blogging from Antarctica, this blog was picked up by a Norwegian doctor who had reached Antarctica towards the end of November, 2007 for a summer and had established a blog, www.oysteininantarctica.blogspot.com. He left an entry on this blog on 18.01.2008 writing, ‘Just found your blog (linked from indian news site). Interesting stuff! We're fellow travellers - I'm the current doctor at the Norwegian Troll station. I've linked your blog now, for broader coverage of us docs on the ice planet. My site: oysteinantarctica.blogspot.com’.
I blogged live during summer time and could inspire Dr Abhijeet Bhatia who was medical officer for our 27th Indian Scientific Antarctic Expedition to start his blog and maintain it during the winter period. So while, this blog is the first from India, Abhijeet’s blog, www.imprintsonice.blogspot.com is certainly the first wintering blog from India.

Recently I looked for more bloggers from Antarctica. I am quite pleasantly surprised that blogging from Antarctica is very popular. The website www.coolantarctica.com lists various blogs that have been currently active, and some more in the archive. However, the list is not exhaustive. For more blogging sites, one may also look at some countries’ websites devoted to Antarctica, for example, UK Antarctica Heritage Trust or British Antarctic Survey. US perhaps has the largest presence in Antarctica, and there may be lot more many scientists and explorers from that country blogging from Antarctica. You can see some of the most spectacular photographs on these sites, and very useful information on climate changes and conservation strategies.
I was curious to know who started the first blog from Antarctica. The claimant is Dale Andersen who claims in the coolantarctica website, ‘I was blogging from McMurdo in 1993, and again from the Dry Valleys (Lake Hoare) in 1996. You could double check with Geoff Haines-Stiles (passport to knowledge, polar palooza) for the 1993 blog (Dale's Dive Diary) and Keith Cowing at NASAWatch for the material I posted in 1996.’

I could established email contact with Dale, and it is fascinating to know his work. Dale has been a Principal Investigator at the SETI Institute’s Center for the Study of Life in the Universe since 1992. During this time, his research has focused on microbial ecosystems in extreme environments including areas of the Arctic, Antarctic, Atacama Desert, Death Valley and Siberia. Dale has participated in field research in polar regions for more than 25 years having participated and led 11 expeditions to the Antarctic (each lasting 4.5-6 months on the continent) and over twenty expeditions to the Arctic. Dale helped pioneer scientific research diving in the perennially ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and the Bunger Hills and has made more than 600 dives beneath polar ice, north and south. Dale was the first to use remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technology in the Antarctic to help explore lake and marine environments and as a PI at the SETI Institute he helped develop and utilize telepresence technology to extend the capabilities of the underwater ROV’s.
Dale’s website, http://daleandersen.seti.org, is very fascinating, and is worth many visits. Do watch an hour long movie “Antarctica and Mars”

LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS

2009-04-19T22:41:00.003+05:30

I am happy to share this news with the readers and followers of this blog that this blog has found an entry in the Limca Book of Records for being the first live blog by an Indian from Antarctica. When I was preparing for my expedition to Antarctica, there were many things in mind. Though we had received some training at the Indian Mountaineering and Skiing Institute at Auli in Garhwal Himalaya by the expert instructors of Indo-Tibetan Border Police for negotiating snow and glacier walking and learning to tie various kinds of knots used in rescue operations, yet there were doubts and issues which needed attention and fixing up. One such concern was communicating with the family and friends on regular basis since I was going to be away for not less than four months. Though Chitra had very sportingly supported my wish to go to Antarctica, but she needed to be assured of my welfare on regular basis. I had told her that Maitri, the Indian station at Antarctica, was well equipped with internet and telephone services, but I knew it was easier said than done. Internet facility was limited and we could send and receive emails only through group email id (Maitri@ncaor.amosconnect.com) which could not exceed 50 kb size; telephone was available all the time but was exorbitantly expensive at Rs 200/- per minute. Communicating with family was OK, but with friends it was going to be tedious with these limitations. It was during discussions with Chitra and kids that Kush suggested to start my blog to share my diary and experiences of Antarctica. He offered to start the blog and then update it as regularly as I wrote my experiences. He was already into blogging and had started his own blog some time back: www.tantrikclimber.blogspot.com. It was a master suggestion; I would be able to share my Antarctica experiences with interested friends and visitors all over the world! Thus the blog got started on 2 November, 2007 and the first entry from Antarctica was posted on 16 November, 2007 – the day I reached there. All credit to Kush for his painstaking effort to put up posts regularly for next more than four months with suitable titles and editing, and also with photographs whenever I could send them. Thus, I posted more than 100 entries during my entire stay there. I would first email my intended post to Chitra, Kush and Vasu, and then Kush would upload it on the blog.
I found a new thrill in blog writing and have continued it since my return in April, 2008. I have found many fellow blog-writers through this blog, and am amazed to know them through their writings. Blogging is a very popular activity, and more creative people maintain two or more blogs on regular basis writing on varied subjects. I too follow some blogs regularly. Ever since I returned from Antarctica, my fascination with the amazing continent has only grown. I have discovered many other blogs by Antarctic expeditioners. I am continuing to write on Antarctic themes of general interests. Before this Limca award, another award had already come my way, the cute ‘Butterfly award’ bestowed by another popular blogger, www. manmahesh.blogspot.com.
Thank you all,
It has been a fascinating journey.

SCOTT'S HUT

2009-03-28T16:03:00.003+05:30

If one ever thinks of Antarctica explorers, one name that invariably conjures up in memory is that of legendary explorer of Antarctica, Robert Falcon Scott. Scott was the person who fired up the imagination of European explorers in early 20th century to reach South Pole. He was a British Royal Naval officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13. During this second venture Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, to find that they had been beaten by Roald Amundsen's Norwegian party by a few days in an unsought "race for the Pole". The chosen group had reached the Pole on 17 January 1912, only to find that Amundsen had preceded them by five weeks. Scott's anguish is palpable from his diary: "The worst has happened; all the day dreams must go; Great God! This is an awful place". "I'm afraid the return journey is going to be dreadfully tiring and monotonous", wrote Scott on the next day. On their return journey Scott and his four comrades all perished because of a combination of exhaustion, hunger and extreme cold.

Scott's Hut is a building located on the north shore of Cape Evans on Ross Island in Antarctica. It was erected in 1911 by the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1913 (also known as the Terra Nova Expedition) led by Robert Falcon Scott. From here Scott and four companions set out on the ultimately fatal trek to the South Pole. Although abandoned in 1913, the hut and its contents are remarkably well preserved today due to the consistently sub-freezing conditions.
In selecting a base of operations for the 1910-1913 Expedition, Scott rejected the notion of re-occupying the hut he had built on Ross Island during the Discovery Expedition of 1901-1904. This first hut, known as the 'Discovery Hut' was located at Hut Point, 20km south of Cape Evans. Scott's ship, the Discovery, had been trapped by sea ice at Hut Point, a problem he hoped to avoid by establishing his new base further north. Discovery Hut was never fully occupied during the Discovery Expedition, as most expeditioners elected to live aboard the ice bound ship. Ten years later when members of the Terra Nova Expedition journeyed south from Scott's Hut at Cape Evans they found Discovery Hut intact (although full of snow and ice), along with supplies left over from 1903. Discovery Hut was cleaned out and used during 1911 and 1912 as a staging and rendezvous point for Terra Nova expeditioners heading south towards the Pole from Scott's Hut at Cape Evans.
Scott's Hut is rectangular, 50 feet long and 25 foot wide. Insulation was provided by seaweed sewn into a quilt, placed between double-planked inner and outer walls. Considerable effort was made to insulate the building, and to extract the maximum amount of heat from the flues from the stove and the heater. Terra Nova expeditioners described the hut as being warm to the point of being uncomfortable. During the winter of 1911 25 men lived in the hut.

New Zealand and the UK have undertaken responsibility at various times to preserve these nearly 100 years old structures, while they were built to last only five years. By a stroke of luck, these have survived all this long duration, but may not survive further until and unless regular efforts toward preservation are not put in place. Most people don't know about these huts, and those who know think these huts must be in perfect condition being frozen and in Antarctica. The decay comes in all forms: biological, chemical, environmental - and, despite low visitor numbers, human intervention. It happens from knocking things, scraping the floor, through to people putting stuff in their pockets!

SUMMER SEASON ENDS AT ANTARCTICA...

2009-03-27T08:59:00.003+05:30

The Antarctic summer of 2008-09 is coming to an end now. The Antarctica, being in the southern hemisphere, the Antarctic summer lasts approximately from October till beginning of April. During this time, most of Antarctica experiences an extended and unending day lasting many months. At the South Pole, the Sun does not set for six months. At Maitri (Lat: 70 Deg 45' 01.65" South, Long: 11 Deg 43' 01.45" East), the continuous day continues for nearly four months. When I reached Antarctica on 15th November, 2007, it was already an unending day, and I never saw a star in the sky till the beginning of February, 2008. I would see moon sometimes during these months, but it would be completely lackluster without its ‘chandni’. It did not stir any romantic feelings, and one could not sing ‘dhire dhire chal chand gagan mein’.
The summer period in Antarctica are months of hectic activity. All the camps and bases of various countries come alive to receive new teams and guests and bid farewell to the wintering team members. The supplies are received, offloaded, and stocked. The scientific equipments are serviced, major repairs in the station are carried out. My old mates of 27th batch of the Indian Antarctic Scientific Expedition, who wintered there, have also returned now putting the winter team of 28th batch in place at Maitri.

Summer months are also a period of wild life come alive, as many birds and some species of penguins begin their nest building, laying and hatching of eggs, and rearing of chicks. The Emperor penguin does this work during the height of winter with temperatures plummeting to -50 C. It has to do things differently from the commoners, after all it is Emperor. With sea and air travel becoming operational during summer months (during winter months, entire Antarctic continent becomes out of bounds), ice-breaker ships start traversing the Southern sea, and cruises start ferrying tourists for packages for two to three weeks. Now you can fly into Antarctica all the way from wherever you are (as I did) via Cape Town or Chile.

Summer is also the time when the ceremonial South Pole starts receiving its adventurous guests and expeditioners. Various expeditions are planned to reach the pole in a way that has not been used earlier. This year was no different; in fact, a number of new record achievements took place, like South Pole Race and a blind man reaching the South Pole for the first time in history. See the posts below.
If you ever thought that indulging in adventure sports or going to the South Pole is meant only for people who are full time into such sports, then you are mistaken. Gavin Booth and Adam Wilton, two young men in their early 30’s have just completed a 1130km trek to the South Pole to raise funds to Save Scott’s Hut. Inspired by news stories of the plight of the fragile hut, Gavin and Adam decided to support the cause and achieve a lifetime ambition, to trek unaided to the Pole.

Gavin works for GE Real Estate in London, and runs marathon, road cycling and climbs mountains as hobby. Adam works for Investment bank in London and has similar hobbies. But going to the South Pole is not just an ordinary hobby. For them it was an expedition of lifetime and the effort over the past 5 years – sacrificing holidays for training, negotiating time off work, getting up in the early morning to drag tyres, and negotiating time off work. In November 2008 they left for a 2-man expedition to the Geographic South Pole, starting at the edge of the Antarctic continent. The expedition was unique in the sense that it was not to have any resupplies and would be self sufficient, dragging 120kg pulks over the ice and sastrugi, in one of the harshest environments on the planet. The team successfully reached South pole on 27th December, 2008 after a grueling work of 45 days. More on Scott’s Hut in next post.

BLIND MAN RACES TO THE SOUTH POLE

2009-02-21T16:52:00.002+05:30

Having gone blind in the space of two weeks in 1998 Mark rapidly learned how to adapt to changing circumstances. Now, he motivates employees all over the world, pursues research into resilience, creativity and innovation as well as testing the theory by competing in diverse events. Mark’s story is incredible and reaffirms our faith that there is a power that resides within us all to take control of our lives.
One major highlight of the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race 2008 was Mark Pollock completing the race skiing all the way to the South Pole like other competitors. Mark’s story is truly inspiring, he is blind in his both the eyes. He went blind in 1998 due to retinal detachment. He was then already an international rower and a business student. “The shock of going blind was almost unbearable. One moment I was on the crest of a wave with everything going my way, the next I went blind and my life changed forever. I thought my life was over.”

However, loss of vision failed to dim his spirits. He had to dig deep to redefine his life and ambition. Choice was to give up and lead a retired or semi-retired life, or to move on. He decided to take an even more arduous and hard journey for himself. He chose to become an adventure sportsperson. He quickly learnt how to adapt to the changing circumstances. Since going blind, Mark has won medals rowing for Northern Ireland at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, completed six marathons in one week in China’s Gobi Desert, raced in the world’s coldest marathon at the North Pole, kayaked across the Irish Sea, completed Ironman Switzerland (3.8 km swim, 180 bike followed by a marathon) and was the first blind person to complete the lowest and highest marathons in the world – The Dead Sea Ultra in Jordan followed by the Tenzing-Hillary Everest Marathon from Everest Base Camp in Nepal.
For the summer season of Antarctica beginning October, 2008, Mark teamed up, South Pole Flag Team, with Inge Solheim and Simon O’Donnell to participate and compete in the South Pole Race 2008 which has just concluded last month. See the earlier post on this blog. He was to race to the South Pole over 800 km in the world’s harshest environment.

“We will man-haul 90 kg sledges (pulks) up to 16 hours each day for 45 days. We will be sleep deprived, hungry, cold and tired. We will risk Polar shock and wonder why we are there at all”. That’s what Mark said before his departure for Antarctica.
What on earth possesses such people? It is this - the common purpose - that is the reason for the adventure. The team and the bonds that develop between them are the answer to: “What on earth possesses you?” This is what inspires adventurers to take on the challenge in the wildest extremes of the most formidable and coldest white desert of Antarctica bearing biting cold, extremes of sun-burns, sleep deprivation, dehydration and exhaustion.
The South Pole Race 2008 started on the 4th January with six teams. Mark along with his team-mates in the South Pole Flag had carried with them a flag with photographs of well-wishers, friends, and family members to hoist on the South Pole.

In spite of harsh terrain and sever climatic conditions, South Pole Flag team performed brilliantly, skiing, trudging or clambering 12 hours or more each day. On many occasions, they faced deteriorating weather conditions, poor visibility, contrast, winds, spindrift and extreme cold, temperature dropping to -46C with windchill. After nearly 1000 km and over 21 days of hard work, suffering and pain, Mark, Inge, and Simon arrived at the South Pole finishing 5th.
For more details and audio and video: www.southpoleflag.com and www.markpollock.com

SOUTH POLE RACE 2008

2009-02-12T19:10:00.004+05:30

Nearly a hundred years ago in 1911, two legendary South Pole explorers, English man, Robert Scott and his Norwegian rival, Roald Amundsen raced against each other and against all odds to be the first to conquer the South Pole that had eluded mankind for quite some time. We now know the history how Amundsen emerged victorious, and what Scott said on finally reaching the pole only after a few days, and then his ultimate tragic fate.

Since then, modern day adventurers are attempting to reach South Pole in different style and creating all sorts of records, skiing all the way, or using ski and kites etc. However, there is a big difference now in the efforts and logistics one has to put in to complete the race. First of all, it is much easier to reach Antarctic shores now – the ships are better and there are regular flights to Antarctica from Cape Town and Chile. So the race actually begins when one has already been dropped at the dome of the continent from where the South Pole is only 800 km. Equipment is far superior and lighter in weight. Navigation and communication facilities are available throughout the journey, so that rescue can be summoned if need arises. The entire route is well surveyed by means of satellite. Weather forecast is available before hand. However, this is not to make light of what the present day expeditioners have to endure even now when they are attempting to reach the South Pole. Besides all their motivation, determination, and physical fitness and training, they have to undergo almost year long training in skiing in rough terrain, crevasse crossing, rescue etc. And of course, they have to find sponsors who believe in their ‘madness or misadventure’ and provide funds.
This season, for the first time in almost a hundred years, the historic duel of first to reach South Pole has been recreated in the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race 2008 which witnessed both Norwegians and British competitors following in the footsteps of Scott and Amundsen. Leaving in December 2008 and set to travel 483 nautical miles across some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth, six teams survived in temperatures as low as - 50C degrees, navigated, skied and pulled 70kg pulks (sleds) and faced tough climbs of up to 9300 ft in the race to get to the South Pole first and surviving for 30-45 days. The teams of both men and women came from all over the world to undertake this major challenge that pushed these people to their limits of physical and mental endurance to have a crack at something that did not involve sitting down. AND, for the first time in the history of Antarctic exploration, one blind man would compete and attempt to reach the Geographic South Pole!
The support team would, for the first time in the history of Antarctica, would travel in Toyota Hiluxs modified by Arctic Trucks completing a trip of over 5000km from Novo, a Russian Scientific Station in Antarctica to the Geographic South Pole and back again, making them the first 4x4s to reach the South Pole.
The Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race is sponsored by Amundsen Omega 3 AS, a Norwegian based company that develops, produces and sells high quality omega-3 products from Norwegian fish oil. Additional sponsors are extreme clothing wear company, Missing Link, extreme equipment suppliers, Nanok, and equally appropriately, Tesco’s Captain Scott’s Strong Blend Tea. This mammoth undertaking was filmed by TwoFour productions and would be broadcast on BBC TWO in Spring/Summer 2009.
The race finally started on the 4th January with temperature of -25C and blizzard continuing. In fact the blizzard had already delayed the start of race by a few days. The participants had woken up to a glorious sunshine and the race began at 10 am to cover a distance of 750 km to reach Geographic South Pole. The air was full of excitement as competitors crossed the start line. You know there are four different South Poles!

All the teams progressed with excellent spirits and competitiveness ably supported with support team in two modified Toyota vehicles. The competitors said the race was hard, “but they are glad it is hard, they came to Antarctica for the Challenge” - that's fighting talk!

The support team had an unusual experience on 3rd day - running into the Norwegian Antarctic Research Expedition conducting a science survey in Antarctica. The odds of the two expeditions running into each other are very remote - in a desolate place bigger than India and China put together, and the two meet! The Norwegians were extremely surprised to see ski tracks, and then a support team as last year the only thing they saw was one lone ski pole! The research team had incredible vehicles and excellent research equipment.
The competitors were frequently confronted with blizzard, very low wind chill temperatures and poor visibility. And of course, there were sastrugi and crevasses to negotiate. Having blisters on top of aching and sore feet was a common occurrence. But all this was part of the game and challenge. No body complaining.
Special mention has to be made for Mark Pollock from team South Pole Flag. All were astounded by his drive, motivation and determination skiing to the South Pole, with all of the difficulties of this extreme endurance race. Mark was skiing the race blind. He skied every meter to the check point, over all of the difficult terrain and sastrugi, with no sight, where several other competitors have given up and walked. Inge Solheim, his team mate was guiding the team, he commented "During 13 hour every day it’s not easy to motivate yourself to do it. Mark is my purpose to wake in the morning and ski for 13 hours. What he is doing is so important for everyone as an example."
On 21/01/2009, the 18th day of the race, Team Missing Link won the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race. The Norwegians crossed the line and arrived at the Geographic South Pole at 7pm completing the race 770km in 17 days and 11 hours. Watching the team cross was a historic and momentous occasion, they linked arms held high in the air as they walked to the Pole and planted a Norwegian flag. They stopped at the Pole and talked about their tremendous journey, the difficulties they have faced and their joy and pride at arriving at the Pole. The Norwegians have once won the race to the South Pole, the first since Scott and Amundsen.

Missing Link wanted to commend other teams for making it a fantastic race. After all their hard work Missing Link got to spend some time at the Pole, resting, relaxing, eating and enjoying being at the Top of the Bottom of the World. The British team, QinetinQ, arrived a few hours later to complete the race in second position.
By 26/01/2009, on Day 23, all the six teams had reached the Geographic South Pole. After relaxing for a few days in their heated tents and three warm cooked food, and human company, they would fly back to their home countries. The final race positions are:
Race Positions
1st: Team Missing Link
2nd: Team QinetinQ
3rd: Team Danske Bank
4th: Team due South
5th: Team South Pole Flag
6th: Team Southern Lights

With team South Pole Flag having made it to the Pole, Mark is now the first blind man to ski to the South Pole - an incredible achievement! Simon has faithfully helped him the whole way and never given up; Inge has been their guide on this amazing journey. Mark took it in his stride as he skied up to the Pole. I am sure all will like to congratulate all of the competitors on their amazing achievement in completing this race. It has taken enormous courage, strength and determination to ski almost 800km to the Geographic South Pole in Antarctica, the driest, highest, coldest and windiest desert in the world - one of the most extreme environments on the planet. By the way, I myself met Inge in November 2007 in Antarctica (see November 26, 2007 post)when he was setting camp near Maitri as one of the organizers of Desert Safari tourist agency.

Tess and Pete of Team Southern Lights carried out peace ceremony reading 3 hours of messages from all over the world, and with a short ceremony at the Pole.
I sincerely believe and fervently hope that the nations and peoples of the planet Earth will leave Antarctica out of their race towards greed and acquisitions, and strive to keep this amazing continent safe and peaceful for posterity. We owe it to our future generations.
(Photos courtesy: Amundsen Omega 3 Race South Pole 2008)

VINNY TAKES TO THE BLUE SKY ONCE AGAIN

2009-01-23T22:23:00.003+05:30

Guest column by Leela Latheef

(Leela read the "Nesting on no man's land", stories on Antarctica, in the New Indian Express and shared her following experience with me over email. I am reproducing her experience and photographs with her permission)

I am Leela Latheef from Trivandrum, Kerala. In ‘The Hindu’ dated 11-1-09 I read your article on extraordinary Antarctica, a place which has always fascinated me! And your article did quite fill up my never dying inquisitiveness on the South Pole. But more than other things, your story caught my attention because of Shiv and Uma who held your perpetual attention while you were there.
Not only because of your description of the South Polar Skua but also for the fact that on July 3rd 2007 I had received a call regarding a bird caught at the beach by some people when it was on its way to be killed and sold off by some fishermen. We run the Trivandrum Chapter of People For Animals [PFA] here and went in our ambulance and brought it home. It certainly looked a water bird but not like anything we had seen or known before. But nothing could stop us from admiring this strange guest who showed the least concern being in a new place amongst strangers! It even pecked at my dog when she went too close to it out of curiosity! I named the bird Vinny.
Vinny wanted to be in water, we felt. We provided her a large plastic basin first, in which she happily dipped though it was too small for her. So we quickly replaced it with this very large rubber tub meant for children. And the sight of Vinny making the best out of it was something to watch! She had a rollicking time! Again and again she would dip herself and then flap her wings and spread it and we marveled at her beauty! Meanwhile I started contacting bird experts to find out exactly where she belonged to as we still had no clue as to what kind of bird she was. Net surfing was also done at the same time. Soon things began to fit into place which was shockingly pleasant surprise news for us!
Suresh Elaman and Sushanth, known ornithologists, came over and took no time in educating us that Vinny was none other than The Brown Skua, and that she had come all the way from South Pole!!! And that, after flying a very long distance, non-stop, maybe it landed on as a stop gap on our beach; this also meant that it would resume its journey soon. It will be no exaggeration if I say that we were totally bowled over by this news. We felt privileged! We had a guest with us coming all the way from Antarctica! I almost felt connected to Antarctica. Vinny soon made into the Newspaper! It seems the last sighting of a Skua in Kerala was way back in the 1930s in Kozhikode. I do remember that Vinny was described as Katharacta Antarctica while you had described your skuas as Katharacta McCormick. I wonder if it is one and the same kind of bird.
On July 13th Vinny flew away. Though very sad we were relieved that it took to the blue sky once again. We hoped and prayed that Vinny reached her actual home. And we were left wondering whether she was bound to the South Pole! I am sending you the snaps taken when Vinny was with us. It would not explain much if I say that I still miss her. Sometimes I am still left wondering whether Vinny was a dream but then I chuckle at my own self when I realize that an extraordinary guest like Vinny happens just once in a person’s life time!

nesting in no man’s land

2009-01-18T17:57:00.005+05:30

The New Indian Express dated 11.01.2009 on Sunday carried some stories of Antarctica penned by ‘yours truly’ on its centre-spread with photographs. You may like to see the link at http://epaper.expressbuzz.com/NE/NE/2009/01/11/index.shtml

MAITRI CELEBRATES BIRHTDAY...

2009-01-17T20:30:00.005+05:30

The Indian Antarctic Expedition celebrated its 27th birthday on 9th of January this year. It was on this day that M.V. Polar Circle brought the first ever Indian Antarctic Expedition to the shore of Antarctic continent. The Expedition comprised of 21 members, with 13 of them scientists and rest logistic staff. They all had undergone snow and ice training in the upper reaches of Himalayas. The Expedition was led by Dr S.Z. Qasim, the eminent scientist from the Deptt of Environment. The team had left Goa on the 6th December, 1981, after leasing Norwegian ice breaker, M.V. Polar Circle, and took 33 days to reach Antarctic ice shelf traversing 11, 000km. Its objectives were, establishment of an Indian base camp in Antarctica, initiation of scientific work in different disciplines of Antarctic science, and assessment of the logistics requirements for future Indian missions. After reaching there, it successfully established a base camp and hoisted the Indian flag. It initiated work on geology, geophysics, microbiology, meteorology and chemistry. It also established an unmanned Automatic Weather Station (AWS) in the Schirmacher Oasis region of Antarctica. After accomplishing its mission successfully, the first expedition returned to India on 21st February, 1982. India’s national pride was apparent in the statement that “the Indian success at the very first attempt is therefore recognized the world over as a remarkable achievement.”

It goes to the credit of Mrs Indira Gandhi who initiated the planning for Antarctic expedition. Indira Gandhi, despite her many domestic socio-political compulsions, wished a respectable status for India, not only in the developing world, but in the entire world. It is said that the entire planning for the first expedition was a closely guarded secret. It was only when Department of Ocean Development started looking for an ice-breaker for the launch of expedition that the world came to know of India’s ambition. Indira Gandhi had decided to send an expedition to Antarctica, hinting that India also might join the treaty. Although at the time it was not even an acceding party, India’s 1981 Antarctic expedition was the first sent by any nation entirely outside of the treaty framework. It scored points, however, with the treaty powers by stating that the expedition was “purely scientific”, that India had no territorial ambitions in Antarctica, and that India subscribed to the principles of the treaty. But before the expedition left, the Indian government notified other developing nations of its plan-in effect, testing the waters of developing world opinion. Consultative status in the treaty-and an accompanying scientific presence in the region-would have offered a great prestige value to a developing nation like India.

With the 3rd expedition in December, 1983, India established and successfully commissioned its first permanently manned station at Antarctica and named it Dakshin Gangotri on ice shelf; with this India obtained the membership of prestigious club, Antarctic Treaty. It however, started to sink in the ice and had to be abandoned. The work for India’s second station had begun at the Schimacher Oasis region in 1987-88, and the ninth expedition launched in November, 1989 successfully commissioned fully equipped winter station, Maitri. India is in the process of starting its third station, Bharti, at the Larsemann Hill area of Antarctica.

In last 27 years, India’s Antarctic programme has development successfully in initiating a number of major scientific work and in providing better facilities to the expedition members living in Antarctica for summer season or for wintering. It, of course, is fully centrally heated with 24-hour supply of power and cold and hot water. It has a number of scientific labs where work goes on throughout the year. Its telecommunication has improved tremendously over the time. Now through satellite facilities, one can communicate with Maitri any time of the day or night throughout the year.

One important mandate of the 27th IAE, of which I was a member, was to erect Earth Station so that Maitri gets full time internet connectivity. The construction part of the earth station was completed while I was there. We all had toiled in carrying heavy construction material for this purpose. Our hard work has paid off when the station has successfully established link with the satellite and Maitri now has full time internet connectivity as well as television link. So members now enjoy net surfing like you and myself, and watch daily news and soap operas of their choice on TV.
Antarctica is now not such a desolate place as it used to be. Besides, sea-route, which till recently provided the only access to Antarctica, now we have regular flights from Cape Town, Chile, or Argentina landing directly into Antarctica. Indian expeditions are also now using air route regularly. However, both these route operate only during Antarctic summer. There are attempts now by Americans to land their Hercules C-130 during nights of icy winter of Antarctica.
More and more people are now choosing Antarctica for their adventures, like reaching South Pole skiing all the way, or using huge kites. Cult swimmers or long distance swimmers are now swimming in the iceberg choked freezing waters of Antarctica. You are considered to have achieved the distinction of Antarctic swimmer if you manage to swim 1 mile (1.6 km). Many tourist agencies are now operating packaged tour to Antarctica regularly. People believe that in very near future Antarctica would soon be a popular holiday destination for people with all amenities.

Now Toyota has introduced modified cars which can negotiate Antarctic blue icy surface and its crests and troughs. These have very large sand-tyres (about one and half feet wide) and a huge ground clearance. The Arctic Company has been using these vehicles successfully for some time now in Arctic, and their introduction in Antarctica will change the face of travel within Antarctica.

A CUTE LITTLE BUTTERFLY...

2009-01-06T20:22:00.002+05:30

I should have put this post quite some time ago. Was it my modesty that kept me away from putting this post, or just laziness, or was it because of inertia set in motion by Delhi’s cold wave? Mampi, the prolific blogger (www.manmahesh.blogspot.com) chose to bestow a ‘butterfly award to this blog. She cites the reason for giving away this award to Himalayan Adventurer for ‘bringing to us the cold of Antarctica first hand’. I really feel priviledged in receiving this award since it has come from none other than Mampi who herself is not only a brilliant blogger, but is recipient of many awards from other bloggers who are fans of her blog. Some such awards conferred on her are like butterfly award, certified honest blogger award, Proximidade award, million dollar friend award, Brilliante Weblog award, etc.
Why do bloggers give award to other bloggers? She offers reasons you can not disagree with. Well, let me quote from her only, “When these same friends remember you on their own blogs for a reason as good as an award, it is not flattery, it is not mere reciprocation. It is merely a way to remember each other on the blogs and to introduce new blogs through the various links that these awards ask you to put up. It is a validation of what you stand for in your blog-and a validation offered by your blog-mates who are the true judges of your words. Nor are the awards givers any celebrities in the regular sense of the term. They are celebrities in their own right. Some of them make us laugh, some make us empathize with them, some jolt us up to the realities of our day and some just share their day-to-day life with us. We know their babies, spouses, parents, friends, friends-of-friends, colleagues, neighbors from their writings. After all we are all just Six Degrees removed from each other.”
When I started Himalayan Adventurer, I did that for a limited purpose only to remain in touch with family and friends. Before going for Antarctic expedition I was in a fix as to how share my journal with others on regular basis, given the limited internet connectivity at Maitri at that time. I had been sharing my travelogues with others for quite some time. It was Kushagra who suggested the idea of starting a blog. He himself had discovered the joy of writing his rock-climbing thrills on his own blog, www.tantrikclimber.blogspot.com, and found it a great experience. He helped in setting up the blog and naming it also. When I was packing for leaving for Antarctica, it was a big problem to decide what was essential and what could be left behind. Once there, you could not buy anything, though we were assured that Maitri complex was well stocked for essential living. In my list of essentials, I included my cameras, spare batteries, blank CDs, pen-drives, and laptop. Carrying my own laptop was a very wise decision. I could practically write my experiences on daily basis on my laptop sitting in the comfort of my living module (heated and with 24-hour power supply) and give to radio room at Maitri for emailing these. All members would send and receive their emails by a common group email id through radio room. Kushagra, sitting in San Francisco, would properly edit my writings to post them on the blog. He did a magnificent job in being prompt and discerning. Ironically, I myself could not view my own blog for five months till the time I was away to Antarctica.
On coming back, I got introduced to other bloggers and was amazed by number of blogs coming from India only. I am also impressed by the range of their subjects and quality of writings on these blogs and learnt that bloggers’ is a dynamic and thriving community. They remain in touch with one another’s writings and offer their comments and suggestions. There is now an association or a directory of Indian bloggers which also holds regular meetings of the bloggers: www.indiblogger.in. So now we have a new term, blogosphere. Several blog search engines are now available to search blog contents, such as Bloglines, BlogScope, and Technorati. Wikipedia now has a lengthy post on ‘Blog’. It defines blog as (a contraction of the term "Web log") a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Why do people blog? There are many reasons you can find on Wikipedia or Google. However, let me again quote from Mampi’s blog for this answer: “When we lay our hearts bare before our readers, either as anonymous writers or with our names declared on our blogs, we do or do not crave appreciation. We yearn for sharing our joys and sorrows; we yearn to use the writing as a catharsis. To some, this becomes a compulsive activity, to others it is merely an extension of their personality. Through our blogs, we meet those who live a whole world afar and are yet just a step away from us. Through our blogs, we become the reason for many strangers to meet and talk on a common forum. If nothing else, I feel this is one valid reason for us all to come together through the words expressed on our respective pages.” I do not think I could improve on the reasons given by her.

NOW IT IS SARISKA...

2008-12-21T21:46:00.004+05:30

It seems to be happening for some time now; I am revisiting my favourite cities lately. First it was Dharan in Nepal, then Chandigarh, and now we recently visited Sariska. Sariska, as you know, is a wild life reserve in Rajasthan which has been lately making to the headlines for all wrong reasons. This forest could boast of a tiger population a few years ago; however, all the tigers have vanished, falling prey to the greedy poachers who supply tiger hides and bones to the weird taste of rich and famous who would adorn their drawing rooms with a dead tiger rather than see a handsome live specimen roaming and roaring freely in the wild. Rajiv Gandhi provided Sariska forest and Sariska Palace some moment of hype and glory when he organized an official meeting there soon after his assuming prime-ministership. However, I visited Sariska more than 30 years ago with Chitra, Chitra’s parents and Girish. That being my first ever visit to a wildlife sanctuary, I was excited and had an intense desire to spot a tiger. However, we could not see one; in fact, in many of my subsequent visit to this forest, I could never spot a tiger. Over the years I have realized (and now advise all who are visiting a sanctuary) that one should not visit a wild sanctuary with the sole aim of seeing a tiger. Each Indian wildlife park has so many other things and sights to offer that even if one does not spot a tiger, there is nothing to be disappointed. The tiger does not make appearance easily; after all, he/she is king of the jungle! But if you spot one, it is a bonus.

So this time around, when there was this opportunity to visit Sariska for a meeting, I almost jumped at it. Though I was to give invited lecture, the organizers were only providing local hospitality but no transport to and fro Sariska. It required some persuasion for Chitra to agree to this weekend trip, who took time off from a long list of her weekend errands. Sariska is 200 or 230 km from Delhi depending on which route you take; either way for most part you negotiate new Delhi-Jaipur toll road. This new highway is a world class road, smooth, wide and with good road signage. However, the driving habits of users are worse than any of the developing country that I have visited in Asia or Africa. The most horrible and dangerous are the drivers coming from opposite direction on your side of road. And these are not just occasional cyclists, bikes, or bullock cart or tractor, but all kinds of public and private vehicles. And the worst are these SUVs which are catering to the cyber cafes all over National Capital Territory. These SUVs, mostly Innova and Tavera, are the new road killers around NCT or beyond. Lately I have come to realize that truck drivers are unnecessarily the maligned lot. They are mostly underpaid, under-rested, and are always at the receiving end of public’s ire or police excesses. They still follow some of the rules of highway driving, or may give you way on request, but these SUVs would not ever budge. We left highway at Behror, and took a small road going to Sariska via Alwar for another 100 km passing through many small villages and village haat, and beautiful fields which were just glorious with yellow mustard fields at this time of the year. This road had very little traffic and almost no heavy duty vehicle, and driving would have been fun, only if the road was in good shape. It had not been maintained at all with potholes strewn all over. I am sure if it is maintained properly, it would be a popular route to reach Sariska or Alwar and would also take some pressure off the busy highway.

Next morning we headed for the park. The visitors are allowed to drive on a 21 km long stretch of metal road. I do not understand why the road was in such a state of neglect and disarray. One side of the forest was closed for public as it has been priviledged to receive and house Sultan and Rani, a pair of young tiger under a scheme to reintroduce tiger once again in Sariska. We were told that the pair has electronic collars and chips to monitor their movements. I wondered why collar these beasts; we should put collars and tags on to the poachers so that they do not approach even the vicinity of any forest. We could sight eagle, owls, herons, partridges, quail, wild boars, cheetal (spotted deer), sambhar, neel gai etc in plenty. And peacocks were in abundance. The males were not so handsome at this time of the year, after their annual shedding of plume and feathers around Deewali time. We saw one solitary mongoose who must be at least 4 times larger than the one we normally see. The road ends at Pandupole which has a Hanuman temple. No prize for guessing that Pandupole must be connected to 5 Pandav brothers. They are believed to have visited this forest and met Lord Hanuman here.

The vicinity of temple had a large population of monkeys and langurs. Their acrobatics and playful acts were a source of joy I could watch for hours. One female langur had just been blessed with a baby and was fondly grooming it. She was joined by three other females of the family who took turn in fondling and grooming the baby who was getting restless with each passing minute to get out of their clutches. It was a beautiful sight. The head of the family, a lone alpha male, showed on interest in the new arrival and was just lazing around in the sun. A large group of monkeys was active inside the temple compound. I was fascinated by their drinking water from the tap. I was wonder-struck when one monkey maneuvered the tap by revolving the knob anticlockwise to drink water, and then closed it after quenching his thrust. It was now turn for the next; however, before it could finish, the guard came with a big stick and chased it away. The monkey had to run away leaving the tap open. But this guard, the man, did not bother to close the tap. I am certain if the monkey had the chance to fill his quota, it would have closed the tap. We, the naked apes, have a lot to learn from our hairy ancestors in environment protection and resource preservation.

VOICES AGAINST 377

2008-12-12T14:04:00.004+05:30

While the mental health professional bodies have shied away in taking up the issue of decriminalizing homosexuality, a team of Delhi’s bright young lawyers has committed its time and legal acumen to challenge the archaic provisions of Section 377 in the Delhi High Court. Indian Express profiled these lawyers in its print and electronic editions at:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/377-arguments-4-voices/389330/0

Some excerpts:

It makes no sense. Corporate lawyers in India are paid upward of Rs 12 lakh a year. Why, then, should India’s brightest young lawyers - the world at their feet - be working at minimum wage, even free, arguing for the decriminalization of homosexuality in India? It just makes no sense.
Section 377 of the Indian Panel Code, drafted in Victorian India, criminalizes “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”. This has been interpreted to include sodomy, effectively criminalizing homosexuality. A century and a half later, the law is being challenged in the Delhi High Court. The petitioner, Naz Foundation, has challenged it on medical grounds, arguing that it prevents India’s gays, many of whom are at high risk for AIDS, from receiving treatment. The other group challenging the law, ‘Voices against 377’, relies more on human rights, contending that Section 377 violates the constitutional rights guaranteed to homosexuals. The court’s judgement is expected anytime now.
A team of highly educated young lawyers has committed its time to this case. Chief Justice A P Shah of Delhi High Court told the petitioners, “You seem to have gathered much medical evidence that homosexuality is not a disease, unlike the other side’s lawyer, who argued in court that ‘homosexuality is a matter of fun’.”

While, Vasuman Khandelwal (27) is a hard-nosed Supreme Court lawyer, driven to the case by the Constitutional obviousness of the cause, the other three, Shivangi Rai (27), Shrimoyee Nandini Ghosh (29) and Mayur Suresh (28) are more activists.
Shivangi, (a graduate of Indian Law Society, Pune) lawyer of the petitioner Naz Foundation, is fighting Section 377 in the Delhi High Court on the grounds that Section 377 violates the fundamental right to privacy, right to dignity and right to health of homosexuals. Shivangi values her legal training. “We are not just activists; we are first and foremost lawyers, so we use our legal skills to make a persuasive case in the court, not just shrill rhetoric.
Shrimoyee (LL M from University of London) is associated with “Voices against 377” fighting for decriminalizing homosexuality. Why homosexuality? “I think that as a feminist, I understand the sheer wrongness of Section 377, and how it stigmatizes an entire community. Discrimination on the basis of identity is something that feminists can easily relate to.” She further says that Section 377 is just a violent, archaic, incoherent law that needs to go.
Mayur, (LL B from National Law School, Bangalore and LL M from Columbia University), is using his legal arsenal to work in Delhi as a litigator, and is currently combating what he terms one of India’s most unjust laws. As a gay lawyer, he feels lawyers play an important role in the wider movement in the country fighting for the rights of the lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders. He finds that his skills as a lawyer help him to take a bunch of facts, cut out the faff, and present a legal argument that will stand scrutiny in court. “We are able to make a medical argument and a human right argument, but what about love, why is it the state’s business to regulate love?”
Vasuman (a graduate of National Law School, Bangalore and LL M, SOAS, London) says that his interest in Indian Constitution and court room drama drove him to become a Supreme Court lawyer. “The Constitution protects homosexuals against discrimination; they deserve to live lives and build relationships - so essential to fulfilling life’s goals”. Vasuman is a very much mainstream lawyer, sharpening his legal skills working on corporate and tax matters in the Supreme Court as junior to the eminent lawyer Shyam Divan. Vasuman rejects the human rights lawyer tag, terming it as ‘bad slotting’. He contends, “But the argument for decriminalizing homosexuality is very much a mainstream argument.”

PRIDE PARADE

When we were in San Francisco this summer, Pride Parade was organized on the last weekend of June. I wanted to go there more for curiosity than anything else. I was curious to know what these guys do in such parades. Do they make fun of themselves or of the world? Or it is a show of their camaraderie and bonhomie! Or is it show of revolt against the callous and non-understanding world, activism or politicking? Or it was a show of strength to fight for their rights and rightful place in the society.

We all went to the city centre where this parade was being organized. In fact it was a big ‘mela’ where people of all ages and all hue and colour had assembled. The parade with colourful floats had all assembled at the city centre. There were many stalls enrolling members to various organizations. You did not have to be LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) to get the membership. Many stalls were for health promotion regarding HIV and AIDS. And of course, there were numerous food stalls. People were in festive mood with colourful dresses. Of course, some were defying the evening chill and were in their birthday costumes, but only a few. Men and women in fancy dresses were in great demand for getting photographed with.

We also approached a few who gladly obliged us, and on knowing that we were visitors from India, very warmly welcomed us and wished us a pleasant stay at San Francisco. For sure, there was no obscenity or lewdness in the whole show. We stayed there for nearly two hours and never felt awkward.
On our return, we learnt that in India too coordinated pride events were organized on June 29, 2008 at Delhi, Bangalore, Pondicherry and Kolkata where about 2000 people turned up. The pride parades were successful, given that no right-wing group attacked or protested against the pride parade, although the conservative opposition party BJP expressed its disagreement with the concept of gay pride parade. The next day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appealed for greater social tolerance towards homosexuals at an AIDS event. On August 16, 2008 (one day after the Independence Day of India), the gay community in Mumbai held its first ever formal pride parade (although informal pride parades had been held many times earlier), to demand that India's anti-gay laws be amended.

THREE CUPS OF TEA

2008-12-04T21:26:00.004+05:30

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time

Let me be honest. I must confess: when I picked up this book, I wanted to read it to improve on my knowledge of topography and geography of Karakoram region and the people living there. I also wanted to know a little more about K2, the savage mountain, which has no other name. Though K2 is the second highest mountain (8611 meters or 28251 ft) after Mount Everest, I knew very little about it. Having lived in Nepal for some time, and with my fascination for Himalayas, I managed to read a little about Mt Everest, and like most people, I equated Himalayas with Mt Everest only. It is also a fact that much less is written about K2 since it is believed to be the world’s most treacherous and dangerous mountain, and technically most difficult climb. Far less number of mountaineers have attempted and succeeded on K2. I have personally heard Everesters who admit that Mt Everest is more about physical fitness and less about technicals (but you must still have sound technical abilities of rock climbing, snow and glacier walking, negotiating crevasses, rescuing etc), but K2 remains formidable as it tests a climber in all aspects of summit climbing. As of now, only 305 people have successfully ascended K2, compared with about 2600 who have summitted more popular Mt Everest. Mortality rates continue to remain high on K2.
I also wanted to read the book since it was about Pakistan and its relationship with Himalayas. Other than K2, I never associated Pakistan with Himalayas. But I was made aware of my ignorance in the opening pages of the book when I found out that in a comparatively small region of Karakoram, more than 60 peaks reside which are more than 20,000 ft high.

In 1993, a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson, drifted into an impoverished Pakistan village in the Karakoram mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. He was rescued by a Balti. Moved by the inhabitants’ kindness he promised to return and build a school. Three Cups of Tea is the story of that promise and its extraordinary outcome. Over the next decade Mortenson built not just one but fifty five schools – especially for girls – in the forbidding terrain that gave birth to Taliban. His story is at once a riveting adventure and a testament to the power of the humanitarian spirit. Three Cups of Tea is co-authored by Greg Mortenson and David Relin and published by Penguin.

When I started reading the book, first I was captivated by the beauty and desolateness of formidable and merciless Karakoram region. However, soon I was flowing with Greg in his mission to build his first school in Baltistan and was periodically filled with thoughts of doubts, apprehension, fear and hope. It was a Herculean effort to raise money for his school in US even before the days of 9/11. He had begun his mission in 1993. He had no idea of how to raise money. People were generally not interested in the Islamic world; Tibet had remained a favourite cause for charity. He begins by writing letters. He had returned from his K2 mission not just as a failure, but completely broke. He sends 580 letters of plea for his cause. After an agonizing wait and some lobbying, he finally gets a single cheque, but it was worth twelve thousand dollars, enough to build one school in Baltistan. Even then, it was not easy; many people in the village thought their village had different priorities. Many suspected his motives. However, with time, persuasion, and patience he manages to win their trust and support. Like one village chief told him “Here, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family and for our family we are prepared to do anything…even die.”
Illiterate high-altitude porters of the region put down their packs (and giving up decent salary and benefits from expeditions) to make paltry wages wit him so their children can have education they were forced to do without. A taxi driver who chanced to pick Greg up at the Islamabad airport sold his cab and became his fiercely dedicated ‘fixer’. Former Taliban fighters renounced violence and the oppression of women after meeting Greg and went to work with him peacefully building schools for girls. Though he managed to build 55 schools in 10 years in the most formidable region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, he did not have a smooth ride. He was termed a CIA agent, was threatened to wind up his mission; clergy of a village issued a fatwa against him; and he was even kidnapped. Like a true missionary, he did not give up and persisted with his goal. His logic in those regions as well as in his own country, US, was simple: though the US was fighting terrorism, it was doing nothing to rehabilitate families or empower them. Very soon he had discovered in his mission that education of girls was key to health, peace and prosperity. Aren’t we in India familiar with the slogan ‘you teach a woman, you teach a family.’

Some reviews of the book:

“As the US confronts Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, Greg Mortenson is quietly waging his own campaign against Islamic fundamentalists, who often recruit members through religious schools called madrassas. Mortenson’s approach hinges on a simple idea: that by building secular schools and helping to promote education - particularly for – in the world’s most volatile war zone, support the Taliban and other extremist sects eventually will dry up.” (Kevin Fedarko, Parade cover story, April 6, 2003)
“In an age when every politician and talking head has little but rhetoric to offer for the seemingly irreconcilable mess of warfare and cultural conflicts wash in the Middle East and Islamic territories in Central Asia, Mortenson’s book is a stunningly simple story of how to make peace in one of the most beautiful places in the world: build schools for girls… his mission is a relentlessly positive one, and his ability to reveal the beauty and refuse to accept the brutal reality around him is an inspiring, heroic and at times even crazy pursuit.” The Bloomsbury Review

Three Cups of Tea is a beautifully written book about one man’s crusade against poverty, illiteracy and terrorism. Though sometimes it gets repetitive, but is still unputdownable. I shall recommend it to everyone who feels his/her life has been affected by terrorism

MUMBAI BOMBED AGAIN...

2008-12-03T16:57:00.001+05:30

The terror strike in Mumbai has not only been painful but shameful too. With immediate loss of life of innocent civilians, the forces too lost their valiant officers. Watching it live on the television was tragic; one felt so vulnerable and impotent at the same time. Ten people had held the whole country to ransom where life had gone still. The Taj, the pride of India, Oberai Trident, the place to enjoy and relax, Nariman House, the place of peace and safe abode had all become war zones and fields of destruction. While the whole drama was unfolding on TV channels right in the drawing room, one did not think of past or future. But after it is all over for rest of the country, the pain and grief continue for the bereaved families. Drama unfolding in the newspapers now is getting more shameful everyday. Within 24 hours, all agencies have put together the route, mode of conveyance used, terrorists’ training etc for our consumption. All this did not come from the captured survivor; intelligence, though in piecemeal, was available to most of the intelligence agencies much before the terror strike. Blame game has started within our most prestigious defense and security organizations. Heads of the ministers are rolling. But the politicians at ministerial levels could be so callous is unimaginable, Kerala CM takes the cake and would not even send his dog to a martyr’s home; Maharashtra CM finds his visit to war raven Taj as opportunity to promote the career of his son and takes a well known producer-director on a guided tour who may soon launch his next production on Mumbai’s terror strike with the son in a leading role; deputy CM wonders why people are so agitated over a small incident when the death toll is only 200. Union cabinet minister lost his seat so early in the game that he did not get a chance to display his latest wardrobe or shoe collection.
We have heard the phrase ‘Mumbai’s spirit’ so often it sounds like a cliché. Mumbaikar’s never-say-die spirit has given power that be the right to let it be assaulted repeatedly with floods, bomb blasts and terror strikes.
How long will we in India continue to suffer this terror and humiliation?

CHANDRAYAAN 1 - India on Moon

2008-11-18T22:30:00.003+05:30

The MIP crashed at a place called the Shackleton crater in the south polar region of the Moon and put the Tricolour on the Moon. The crater also is possible site for future human missions to the moon.

The Shackleton crater has an undulating terrain with hills and valleys. Since the valleys are in the moon’s permanently shadowed regions, it could harbour water and ice.

What was extraordinary about the historic event of Chandrayaan -1’s probe landing on the moon on Friday night was that the spacecraft was built in India, it was put into orbit by the Indian rocket, PSLV-C11, and the launch took place from Indian soil.

When I was in school in late sixties, one of the favourite topics for English essay writing and science project was ‘visit to the Moon’. I remember making visits with my friends to USIS (United States Information Service, earlier version of American Centre) and the Russian Centre to collect printed material on these countries’ space programmes. We were so enamoured with those glossy magazines and what a thrill we got in collecting them for free.
Then on July 20, 1969, US won the race when it succeeded first in landing a manned flight onto the surface of moon. The newspapers next morning (Television had made its token appearance in Delhi only, was in its very early days of infancy, and we did not have it) were full of pictures and story of man’s first steps on the Moon. Neil Armstrong had become a hero and a role model immediately. The same day I happen to go to my father’s business premises where I also met our octogenarian Munimji. Munimji was a very respectable member of our family who not only handled the accounts of our business firm but also the affairs our joint family as well. He was part of all family decisions, and was consulted for all matrimonial alliances of my father’s generations. When my father reached his marriageable age, my grandmother had sent Munimji first to my Nanaji’s house to approve the family and the prospective bride. At the shop that day in July, 1969, there was more number of newspapers. All were discussing the moon-landing, about the site, possibilities of living on moon etc. Our Munimji listened to all this for a while, and then thundered – ‘it is all bakwaas (bulls..t); no one has landed on the moon; it is all amrikan propaganda’. No body opposed him! Little did he realize that he would later find support for his disbelief not from Russians who were beaten in their race to Moon, but from the Americans only.
On February 15, 2001 the FOX television network aired a program titled Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land On The Moon? This program showed alleged evidence that NASA faked the moon landings. This hoax theory has been around for several years, but this is the first time it has been presented to such a wide audience. This programme is freely available on CD and I watched it during my Antarctica days. What it says basically is that NASA was in such a hurry to beat Russians in their landing on Moon that it hatched a major conspiracy to fool its own people as well as of the world (If you can not make it, fake it). There are now websites on this topic and NASA as well as many independent experts and scientists have strongly and scientifically refuted the claims of advocates of hoax theory.

The lunar probe of Chandrayaan 1 has landed on the south polar region of Moon. The area where it landed is Shackleton crater. South Pole and Shackleton are so intimately linked with Antarctica! But Shackleton, being a great hero of early Antarctic exploration, has been honoured at Moon too.

After joining many prestigious clubs (nuclear club, satellite club, Antarctica club, Arctic club), we are over the moon now. Many people ask what India is achieving in establishing bases at such formidable and inhospitable places like Antarctica and Arctic. And now why Moon? There are many scientific as well as geo-political answers to such doubts. I shall not go into that. But it is a great feeling that we are over the Moon!

The Ship Pirates

2008-11-17T18:35:00.002+05:30

Having spent two months on the ship this year, and passing through some risky area of the Indian Ocean while sailing from the Antarctic Ocean via Cape Town and Indian Ocean, news such as ship piracy in such area of course attracts my attention. While on the ship, I was quite surprised to learn that ship piracy is a regular risk with the ships and its crew especially cruising in the Gulf of Aden. During my daily visits to the Radio Room at M.V. Emerald Sea for making/receiving phone calls from home, or collecting/delivering emails, I would see printer regularly printing alerts from the maritime bureau. If you ever thought that the ship pirates in current times existed only in the Hollywood, then improve on your information and general knowledge. They are every where in different oceans with high speed boats and modern weaponry. Fortunately, we were safe in Antarctic Ocean; so far no incident of ship piracy has ever been reported from this continent. In fact the menace of the ship piracy is so rampant that many maritime bureaus have dedicated and specialized crime services to collect and disseminate information to alert the ships about the risky areas. There are many famous books and movies on sea pirates, the latest being Pirates of Carribean. There are now dedicated websites on this subject.

It is a big relief now to the families of all the sailors on board the ship, MT Stolt Valor. It was hijacked by pirates 38 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden more than two months ago while it was on its way from the Suez to Mumbai. The Hong Kong-registered ship was carrying a cargo of oil and chemicals. Apart from 18 Indians, the crew members also included two Filipinos, a Bangladeshi and a Russian.
At any given point there are one lakh Indian sailors on foreign seas; India is the largest suppliers of sailors and yet there is no system in place to ensure their safety. There have been so many such incidents in the Gulf of Aden, this was the 54th incident this year.
Surprisinghly, despite such high numbers, India is neither a part of the UN Coalition Force that patrols the area nor is there any set protocol for dealing with such incidents.
Last week only, the Indian Navy was able to prevent the hijacking of m.v. Jag Arnav in the Gulf of Aden because it was an Indian ship. The Stolt Valor was, interestingly, Japanese vessel registered in Hong Kong. Owning and registering of ships is also a complicated process. M.V. Emerald Sea, for example, a Greek ship, was registered in Liberia to save the taxes. Liberia and Panama remain very attractive cities for registration of such huge vessels as they do it at very cheap rates.

Some of alerts received on M.V. Emerald Sea
Warning Warning Warning: piracy prone areas
Somalia: heavily armed pirates are now attacking ships further away from the coast. Ships not making scheduled calls at Somali ports are advised to keep at least 200 nm from the coast.
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania: 19 incidents have been reported in 18 months. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.
Chittagong, Bangladesh: 62 incidents have reported in 2 years. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.
Other risky areas:
South and Central America and the Caribbean waters
Brazil – Santos
Peru – Callao
West Africa – Lagos

Some actual and attempted incidents:

December, 2007, Dar Es Salaam: Pirates boarded a container ship drifting. They broke padlocks, removed container lashings bars and stole ship stores and cargo.
November, 2007, Belawan, Indonesia: duty quarter master onboard a product tanker at anchor noticed two robbers hiding under windlass. Crew alerted, robbers jumped overboard and escaped in a boat waiting below.
November, 2007, Arabian Sea: A reefer underway detected a small boat on radar at a range of 4 nm approaching from the starboard side; alarm raised, lights switched on. The boat moved away.
November, 2007: In the Gulf, a suspicious craft approached a tanker. Master sounded general alarm, increased speed, crew mustered and fire hoses standby. The speed boat closed at 0.1 nm, and when it noticed crew alertness, aborted approach and moved away.
November, 2007, Somalia: A car carrier noticed an unlit boat at 3 nm off the port bow with a speed of 19 nm. The boat reduced speed to match the speed of the vessel. Another unlit boat observed at 2 nm. Master raised alarm; crew mustered and switched on deck lights. Both boats moved away.
November, 2007, Vietnam: Robbers armed with knives boarded general cargo ship at berth. Port security informed. Ship stores stolen.
November, 2007, Malacca straits: an unidentified small watercraft approached a chemical tanker underway. Alarmed raised, the craft came within 150 meters and aborted the attempted.
November, 2007, Mozambique: Robbers boarded a container sip at berth and stole ship store amid tight anti piracy watches. The ship had shore security personnel deployed by the port security. In addition there were armed security guards on the shore side.
November, 2007, Hoogly river, India: Six robbers armed with knives boarded a chemical tanker at anchor, via the poop deck. Crew raised alarm and activated anti-piracy measures. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped, with ship’s stores in their waiting boat. No injuries to crew. Reported to harbor pilots but no action taken.
November, 2007, Mogadishu, Somalia: A general cargo ship was boarded and hijacked by seven armed pirates while at anchor after discharging cargo at Mogadishu. Pirates took control of the bridge, engine room and steering room. There was a fight between the crew and the pirates. Six crew members were injured. An U.S. warship rendered assistance in rescuing the crew and ship.
September, 2007, Haiti: Robbers armed with knives boarded an anchored general cargo ship unnoticed. Ship’s general alarm sounded and crew mustered, robbers jumped overboard and escaped with ship’s stores. Attempt to contact the local authorities were futile.
September, 2007, bonny river anchorage, Nigeria: five robbers in two motor boats armed with guns and knives boarded an anchored chemical tanker from the bow using ropes and hooks. Duty crew spotted the robbers and raised the alarm. The robbers broke the locks on the forward store and stole ship’s stores and escaped. Bonny signal station was called many times, but did not respond.

Chandigarh....the city beautiful

2008-11-13T12:22:00.003+05:30

Ever since I left Chandigarh way back in 1982, I have looked for opportunities to visit Chandigarh again and again. There are so many pleasant memories and experiences associated with the city. It has not yet disappointed me in my so many visits in last 25 years. Though these visits are now never for a longer period, not more than 2 nights usually, but the visits and meeting with old buddies always refreshes me. Chandigarh has changed in so many ways, and yet it has remained the same in its character. It has expanded in all directions. Like NCT region of Delhi which now encompasses Noida, Gurgaon, and may be Sonepat also, Chandigarh’s unofficial boundaries now engulf Mohali, Panchkula, and may be Raipur Rani. It is not uncommon to find letters for Panchkula also mentioning Chandigarh in the address. The traffic has multiplied manifold; the ubiquitous cycle, the most common mode of transportation earlier, has rapidly been replaced by motorcycles and small cars. Traffic jams, unheard earlier, do occur now on some roads. I used to own a cycle then; and would enjoy using it for various errands, and also on many occasions with Chitra on carrier at the back. Later I also put a small seat in front and would take Ishu for fun ride in the campus. It was a bit of unusual since very few docs in PGI used cycles, and perhaps none to use it as a family transport.
My hobby for bird watching really took off from the woods adjacent to the hostel. There were many resident and visiting birds there and gradually I learnt to recognize them. I still remember my joy when for the first time I made a spot recognition of golden oriole and grey hornbill.
We got lot of visitors from Delhi who would visit us for various reasons: medical consultations in the hospital, just to visit and spend some time with us, or on their way to Kasauli or Shimla. We were always on lookout which hostle-room’s occupants were away on home vacation so that we could accommodate our own guests. Besides usual tourist attractions, we would always entertain them at the first floor cafeteria which they found so spotlessly clean. They found it amusing to see the caloric value of each item of food served there.
Some of the friends we made there are our closest friends now and we value their friendship. People of Chandigarh were warm, simple, and yet fun loving; unlike Delhi. I also tried my hands to learn to speak Punjabi; speaking same language is a key tool to communication and it proved very useful to establish rapport with patients. My skills to speak Punjabi were OK if some linguistic expert did not sit on judgment. However, what I learnt most at Chandigarh and which I continue to cherish is to take pride in my profession.

So when there was another opportunity to visit Chandigarh for a meeting, I jumped at it. And the organizers of the meeting booked my stay at the UT guest house in sector 6. It has just been renovated and its sprawling lobbies would put ordinary 5-star hotels to shame. The best part of the guest house is its close proximity to the lake. I went there for my morning walk. I was visiting it after so many years, may be after two decades, but was very happy to see it as clean and unpolluted. On the opposite side, one could still see the clear land and greenery with no encroachment. When we were there, visits to lake, rock garden, rose garden, 17 sector market were quite frequent. What I also liked very much there was the cactus garden in the Punjab University. It had at that time some amazing variety of cacti. I have not been to all these places now in so many years now, but would like visit cactus garden once again.
The roads and various sectors continue to be clean and uncluttered. It is such a contrast from Delhi where you could not pass a stretch of one km without the road being dug up, or huge dump of garbage. Unauthorized floors or extensions are not visible, at least on my short visits. However, with third generation having now grown up, the Chandigarhians will be facing tremendous pressure for the need to have an extra floor above their houses.

The Scent of Fruits and Vegetables

2008-11-09T13:33:00.004+05:30

You read any health column; invariably, you will be told umpteen number of times the value of fresh fruits and vegetables in your daily diet to ward off modern life illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, or heart attack. You can also ward off pernicious illnesses like prostrate cancer, colon cancers, or even Alzheimer’s disease. We all take the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in India almost for granted. I now know from my personal experience how much one can miss even the mere sight of fresh fruits and vegetables. I have now known what the sight or scent of fresh fruits or vegetables can do to boost up your morale and improve your mood. We were returning from Larsemann Hills (69° 25´ South, 76° 15´ East), Antarctica on M.V. Emerald Sea and by the time we reached Cape Town, we were already on board for nearly six weeks. We had exhausted all our supplies of fresh fruits and vegetables and were getting slowly sick of frozen stuff. Only potatoes and onions were unfrozen, but they had also started sprouting inspite of being stored in the cold room of ship. As luck would have it, our ship anchored on ‘fruits exporting dock’ of Cape Town harbour. South Africa is a major fruits exporting nation, and crates after crates were lying all around ready to be loaded on to vessels going all over the globe. During our short trip to the city, I was thrilled to see the quantity, variety, and looks of so many different kinds of fruits. Of course, our mess committee did not disappoint us, and made sufficient purchases of fruits to last till we reached Goa two weeks later. When we set sail again after one night’s halt at Cape Town, I refused to have any daad-chawal-roti for next three days and thrived very well on fruits and salad.
Who can forget the scintillating and award winning performance of Al Pecino in ‘Scent of a Woman’, but scent of fresh fruits and onions can excite people so much if they have not set their eyes on fresh fruits and vegetables for six months, you can very well gauze by reading Ashit’s account. He is the current wintering member of our 27th IAE team.

The scent of the fresh vegetables and fruits
Guest Column by Ashit Swain

I never imagined that the scent of the fresh vegetables and the fruits will be so sweet aromatically. I could never have thought that this much of urge for the fresh things would be there with a large group of people who stay for a common cause in the harsh wintering period of Antarctica.
From my first day at Antarctica, I have been exposed to so many wonderful things. At one side, where some of the natural beauty is unparallel, the other side focuses on the different attitudes of the human beings. Towards the end of October, skua and penguins have reached Maitri and generated intense interest among the members. Even though these birds of Southern Hemisphere generated intense excitement in most of the members here, all did not participate in showing their eagerness to watch them. However, with their arrival, summer season has begun. Very soon lakes will melt on which I have traveled a lot with the vehicle and walked length and breadth for various scientific and other interests. The accumulated snow will melt away and the landscape will change entirely.
With the start of the summer season, the flight service between Cape Town and Novo airbase in Antarctica has started and we are once again reconnected to the mainland. The de-induction has started. With the inaugural flight coming on 31st October, we were told, there was a huge parcel for Maitri. The news spread like fire to all the members that some important things for Maitri station have reached airport. Very soon, there was a guessing game began on the possibilities of things which are coming. Some members were of the opinion that the most crucial parts of the vehicles must be reaching; others were of the opinion that this must be the fresh vegetables and fruits package; or it could be some vital and delicate scientific equipment. The suspense was increasing every hour. It was taken into the custody at the Novo airbase and reached Maitri late afternoon, and no time was lost in opening the packets. To our great delight, there were apples, oranges, lemons, onions, carrots, leafy vegetables, broccolis, coriander leaves, ginger, garlic, green chilies etc. All of us were excited and extremely happy to see all this and wanted to touch it and smell all vegetables and fruits. We were setting our eyes on them after a long gap of more than nine months. The sight of fruits excited us, but it was not comparable to the sighting of the onions, which were long missing in the kitchen.
For fair distribution, apple, orange, onion, carrot and lemon was equally divided among all the members. I would not have seen my share so closely, if I were there in India. But with the fresh stock in my hand I saw it more closely than ever. It seems I had already forgotten the taste of lemon, apple, orange etc. I smelled the lemon. It was so sweet. When somebody is away from it for a long time, only then the importance of the very common things can be best felt. The green, orange, yellow, light pink and reddish orange colors of the fruits and vegetables could attract all of us together that starting from the youngest to the oldest, all are very happy to get, see and feel it. Even penguins and skua had not generated that much interest or excitement!
Very soon, the plans were made to prepare the salad and omelets, with the fresh stock of the new things. It was like a festival; possibly more numbers of persons were seen in the kitchen area to prepare the dishes of their choice, keeping Narayan Singh aside. I wish subsequent incoming flights will bring more fresh stocks. To appreciate fresh fruits and vegetable with all the five senses, you have to be Antarctica and spend the polar nights here. Not a big deal!

HALDI - THE WONDER INDIAN SPICE

2008-10-21T19:53:00.003+05:30

Turmeric or haldi has been used in my family for many purposes besides culinary. I am sure it must be true for most of the homes in India. I was introduced to turmeric powder (haldi) during my own childhood when my mother and grandmother prevailed upon us to take it for frequent bouts of cough during winter season. We took it in powder form with hot milk just before going to bed. We were also advised to take it when having general aches and pains all over the body after a particularly grueling day in the sports field. The powder of haldi was also sprinkled over open wounds to speed up healing. Now we know that it works as an antiseptic and prevents infection of the open wound. I started taking haldi regularly only a few years ago to overcome my frequent bouts of sinusitis. I think it has benefited me somewhat. It has reduced my frequent use of antibiotics. However, it has not set right my proneness for easy and recurrent rhinitis and sinusitis. Recently I discovered that Bikash, a very close friend and famous neurosurgeon in the US, also takes haldi on regular basis. Bikash and Dottie were visiting us in England, and after dinner Chitra asked them if they would like to have a drink. She suggested if they wanted to flatter me, they should take ‘haldi-milk’. Surprise, surprise; Bikash had been using haldi regularly for some time in the same way as I took, though he took it in cold milk.
So, when recently I was asked about the scientific validity of haldi powder, I rushed to where else, but Prof Google and Tutor Wikipedia, and collected the following information.

Medicinal properties of Haldi (Turmeric, Curcumin) as gleaned from the net:

In Ayurvedic medicine, turmeric is thought to have many medicinal properties and many in India use it as a readily available antiseptic for cuts, burns and bruises. Practitioners of Ayurvedic medicine say it has fluoride which is thought to be essential for teeth. It is also used as an antibacterial agent. It is taken in some Asian countries as a dietary supplement, which allegedly helps with stomach problems and other ailments. It is popular as tea in Okinawa, Japan. It is currently being investigated for possible benefits in Alzheimer's disease, cancer and liver disorders.
It is only in recent years that Western scientists have increasingly recognized the medicinal properties of turmeric. According to a 2005 article in the Wall Street Journal titled, "Common Indian Spice Stirs Hope," research activity into curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, is exploding. Two hundred and fifty-six curcumin papers were published in the past year according to a search of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Supplement sales have increased 35% since 2004, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health has four clinical trials underway to study curcumin treatment for pancreatic cancer, multiple myeloma, Alzheimer's, and colorectal cancer.
A 2004 UCLA-Veterans Affairs study involving genetically altered mice suggests that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, might inhibit the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients and also breaks up existing plaques. "Curcumin has been used for thousands of years as a safe anti-inflammatory in a variety of ailments as part of Indian traditional medicine," Gregory Cole, Professor of medicine and neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA said. Another 2004 study conducted at Yale University involved oral administration of curcumin to mice to study its benefit in cystic fibrosis. Anti-tumoral effects against melanoma cells have been demonstrated. A recent study involving mice has shown that turmeric slows the spread of breast cancer into lungs and other body parts. Turmeric also enhances the effect of anti-cancer drugs in reducing metastasis of breast cancer.
Curcumin is thought to be a powerful pain-relieving agent. In the November 2006 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism, a study was published that showed the effectiveness of turmeric in the reduction of joint inflammation, and recommended clinical trials as a possible treatment for the alleviation of arthritis symptoms. It is thought to work as a natural inhibitor of the cox-2 enzyme, and has been shown effective in animal models for neuropathic pain secondary to diabetes, among others. Presenting their findings at the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in San Francisco in June 2008, researchers discovered that turmeric-treated mice were less susceptible to developing type 2 diabetes, based on their blood glucose levels, and glucose and insulin tolerance tests. They also discovered that turmeric-fed obese mice showed significantly reduced inflammation in fat tissue and liver compared to controls.
Welcome to Haldi Club!

FIRE ACCIDENT AT PROGRESS, THE RUSSIAN ANTARCTIC STATION

2008-10-11T19:05:00.004+05:30

Fire is a major risk in Antarctica with grave consequences. When we, the members of 27th Indian Antarctic Expedition, were being trained and briefed at Auli, our team leader, Mr Arun Chaturvedi, veteran of many Antarctic expeditions, had very explicitly told us the risk of fire in Antarctica due to closed spaces, wooden structures, high wind, dry air and plenty of oxygen.
Unfortunately, inspite of it being a real danger and all the precautions, such accidents do happen in Antarctica with tragic results. Besides the loss of life, loss of scientific and communication equipments, medical and other supplies can also become major hindrance in the successful completion of expedition. Sadly, such an accident has happened last week at Russian station, Progress, situated at Larsemann Hills (its rough coordinates are: 69S and 76E).
I had visited this station in March, 2008 when I visited Larsemann Hills where India is also coming up with its third station. The Russian leader, Lukin, had greeted us very warmly, and the team doctor, again Lukin, had taken us around the station. I was very impressed with the new station coming up at Progress. I am reproducing below the mail which the Russian leader shared with all the Antarctic nations after the accident. The photograph below shows Mr Ajay Dhar, again an Antarctic veteran and leader of the summer team of the 27th IAE, with both the Lukins.

From: lukin@aari.nw.ru - Valery Lukin (lukin)

Dear COMNAP members,
With great regret I have to inform you that at night on 5 October around
2.00 Moscow time (4.00 local time) there was a fire at Progress station in
the two-storeyed living building. The station team was not able to cope with
the fire by their own efforts and the building was completely destroyed by
fire. The station team comprised 29 people including 10 builders. As a
result of the fire, one person is missing (the body was not yet found) and
two persons were injured (fractures of different gravity). All three people
are from the construction team. The injured people are now at the medical
unit of the station. On 7 October the Progress personnel began dismantling
the collapsed structures and probably they will find the body of the third
builder at this place. Most of communication facilities and part of
scientific equipment including all PCs were destroyed. At present the
station team (28 people) lives in the old small houses left by previous
builders. The fire did not spread to the other station facilities, so we
have the mess-hall and the galley, the medical unit, "warm" and "cold"
warehouses, all transport vehicles and also the facilities of the new
wintering station under construction (diesel-electric power station, garage
and repair shops, a bath-house, a heli-pad, fuel storage and the carcass of
the new building). All food, fuel and medical supplies were preserved. The
people are provided with normal meals, polar clothing and medical service.
The station continues to fulfil the program on geomagnetism, partly on
coastal oceanography and hydrography. Meteorological observations and
receiving satellite information were temporarily stopped. The Progress
station now has HF radio-communication and telephone satellite communication
via Iridium and RAE daily communicates with the station and Progress station
communicates with Mirny or Vostok stations twice a day. We are very grateful
to Chinese colleagues from Zhongshan station for their immense help and
various assisstance provided after the fire. The Zhongshan station is at a
distance of 1.5 km from Progress station in the Larsemann Hills on the coast
of Prydz Bay. The burnt building was built in 1991. RAE plans to organize a
flight of BT67 airplane from Novolazarevskaya station in early December. If
the state of the injured people aggravates, RAE will make this flight in
early November for evacuating these people. The R/V "Akademik Fedorov" will
approach the Progress station on 20 December and deliver the necessary
equipment and supplies and new personnel.
So far the cause of the fire was not determined. We have informed all our
wintering stations about this accident with the request to check all
equipment and safety emergency action plans.
We are not asking the Antarctic community for help as the situation at the
station is not critical and station continues operation.
Have a good Antarctic season.
Best wishes.
Valery Lukin
RAE Head

Dharan Revisited...

2008-10-01T18:39:00.005+05:30

Ever since I spent time in Dharan, I have looked forward to visiting it again and again, and fortunately there have been a number of opportunities to go there and relive the time once again. To the uninitiated: I spent more than two years between 1997 and 1999 at the B. P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan. Dharan was then a sleeping town in the foothills of Eastern province of Nepal. It is 150 km from Siliguri (airport: Bagdogra) or 5-hour drive from Darjeeling. Bihar border is only 50 km at Jogbani adjacent to Birat Nagar. Dharan had been the centre for the British Army to recruit soldiers for its Gorkha Regiment. The Ghopa Camp, established by them on a 700-acre estate, offered them to live there in style with an 18-hole golf course, swimming pools, sports facilities, and a vast jungle. They had established a 150-bedded hospital too there for people living there, ‘goras’ as well as ‘civilians’. There was a clear dividing line between ‘gora lines’ and ‘civil lines’ with civilians being prohibited to enter gora lines. In the early 1990s when the demand for Gorkha soldiers decreased, British decided to hand over the camp to Nepalese government, and subsequently wound up their operations. It became difficult for the Nepal government to sustain this sprawling estate. The then Indian PM, Shri Chandra Sekhar, a good friend of Koirala family, offered a substantial grant to develop the camp with a new health institution with a mandate to train local manpower for spreading health care in the Himalayan state. Thus, the B. P. Koirala Instt for Health Sciences got established where Indian doctors have been going there for short-term as well as long-term assignments for providing clinical care as well as training the young Nepalese health professionals for the country. I had gone there to help set up the department of psychiatry in the institute for its clinical and training facilities.
When I went there more than 10 years ago, Dharan was just a little sleeping town. It had started to awaken then and now 10 years later it is a bustling town with a vibrant economy, and in keeping with modern trend, has a few ‘malls’ too. In those two years, besides doing my clinical and academic work, I got plenty of opportunities in Dharan for trekking to nearby areas where I got a chance to see first hand how people lived in mountains with no roads, no health facility, or only a symbolic school. Only means of transportation was either to trek for a few days to reach the road head, or fly. Yes, Nepal could boast of nearly 40 airports situated on plateau on various hill tops. Flying in a small Dornier and landing over flat grassland was an experience in itself.
Last month when the Dean Office invited me there, it also advised me to come to Bagdogra (airport in Siliguri) from where I would be picked up. Normal route would have been Delhi-Kathmandu-Birat Nagar by air and then to Dharan by road. The Kosi River was in full spate with incessant rains in the hills and had breached the road bridge on the highway linking Dharan with Kathmandu, and with road traffic totally paralyzed, the Kathmandu-Birat Nagar flights were going full. The floods-prone Kosi, 'Bihar's sorrow', is a nightmare in flood management. Efforts to contain the river's annual season of fury by building embankments have not succeeded. Kosi is one of the largest tributaries of Ganga. In spite of an age-old treaty between India and Nepal, both countries have failed to tame the river. Each year it is the same story of floods, destruction, and human migration. It was funny watching Nepalese and Indian TV channels there when both sides blamed the other side for not fulfilling the obligation of maintenance of embankments etc.
The BPKIHS staff car was waiting for me at Bagdogra. The Nepal border at Kakarbitta was 25 km away. The road on Bengal side was in pathetic condition due to rains as well as poor maintenance even during dry season. While traveling in those parts of the country, the main worry is not because of the condition of roads, but because of frequent and instantaneous road blocks or ‘bandh’. The famous village, Naxalbari’ is on this route. Once we crossed into Nepal, the highway became better. East-West highway is the longest in country and is maintained in large parts by India. We stopped at Damak to straighten our legs and have tea. Over the last 10 years, the quality of ‘samosa’ had certainly improved. We reached Ghopa camp or BPKIHS on time. A number of new buildings had come up in last two years since my last visit. However, the greenery was still intact and it was very welcoming. The guest house was full of various medical experts from India and Nepal who had come there to conduct the M.D. examination in various disciplines. It was very nostalgic meeting some old colleagues; it was almost like home coming. A big colonial house has been converted into a guest house where I was put up with the luxury of a suite. It was very heartening to see that inspite of vast new construction, the green cover apparently was still intact. During my early morning walk next day, I came across a number of birds with whom I was familiar. I almost felt as if we recognized one another. Besides common birds, I spotted grey hornbill, pied hornbill, tree pie once again. While walking back in the night, I wanted, but at the same time did not want, to come face to face with a snake. Those days, it was a common occurrence for a rat snake or cobra to cross your path during late evening walks. But now with increased human and vehicular traffic, the snakes perhaps have hastened their exit.

It was quite satisfying to see the department of Psychiatry at BPKIHS progressing quite well. It has made a space for itself in clinical, teaching and training activities. It is training MBBS students, specialist psychiatrists, as well as psychiatric nurses; it is fulfilling a vast gap between supply and demand for mental health care in the Himalayan nation. The department as well as the Vice Chancellor were kind enough to allow me to share my experiences of Antarctica with the students and staff.

Eid Celebrations in Antarctica

2008-09-30T20:40:00.004+05:30

Eid Mubarak at Maitri, Antarctica

I am so full of my Antarctica days. Any event, even remotely connected, fills me with nostalgia. But the Eid that I celebrated last year while at Antarctica will always remain a cherished memory in my mind for ever. Let me tell you about it.

Last year Eid was celebrated in the Maitri on 21st December, 2007. I had gone for a long walk at about 4 pm after talking to Chitra. I returned just before 7 pm (and it was bright day light) and headed for Annapurna lounge for having tea. I was surprised not to find anyone there. I was just wondering what happened when I found all the spoons missing. I guessed immediately that some party was going on in the summer camp. I went to the recreation lounge of the summer camp, Dooda Beta, looking for the group but was more surprised finding that it too was totally deserted. I was now certain that Eid party was in full swing somewhere, and just when I was scratching my head I noticed a bucket outside the igloo hut. And that gave it away since this hut usually remained locked. Reaching there I found the party in full swing. One does not need any invitation to join the Eid celebrations, so I jumped in. I was welcomed very warmly by Sheikh Ghaffar Saab who produced a bottle of Scotch to welcome me. Other people were happy with Rum. People were cracking jokes and reciting Urdu poetry. I was also asked to speak something. I recited a poem by Kaka Hathrasi that I reproduce for you. This poem is more than 40 years old and we as kids listened it many times on All India Radio.

It is about the days of early 1960s when adulteration was rampant in Indian markets. Kaaki sends Kaka to fetch pure ghee from the market, and when he brings it she immediately declares that it is as good as kerosene oil!

“ghaaslet batla rahi, hum laaye ghee shuddh,
isi baat per ho gaya deviji se yuddh;
deviji se yuddh, sambhala hum ne danda,
do belan par gaye ho gaya danda thanda;
ghairat ke karan hua bura hamara haal,
do aane ka sankhya le aaye tatkaal;
le aaye tatkaal, pees kar maari phanki,
mooh dhaap kar so gaye, kar marne ki taiyyari;
kar marne ki taiyyari,
lekin hum nahi mare, kyno ki sankhya nikla nakli”

Ghaaslet: kerosene oil
Ghairat: humiliation
Sankhya: poison containing arsenic

I also narrated my most favourite story of Eid by Munshi Prem Chand “Idgaah”. I am sure you remember it, or I will reproduce it some day.

In the Maitri dinning haal, Ram Das and Narayan had made biryani of both kinds, to top it with gulab jamun. What else I could do after taking some scotch but to indulge myself. So I had 4 gulab jamun, and just when I was about to finish, SK Singh came along and announced that I must have gulab jamun with yoghurt. That is the way sweets are consumed in Bihar! So I had two more. I reassured myself that I would walk extra mile next day.

HARISH, THE FRUITWALLAH

2008-08-31T12:27:00.002+05:30

In a paper written and published in the American Journal of Psychiatry many years ago on Eating Disorders in India, we had argued that the need to do well in education is a stress for young students and their families, and in some vulnerable young girls and boys, it may lead to some psychopathology. The point we wanted to make was that education remains a very important means for upward mobility in Independent India.

For nearly two decades now, I have patronized Harish, a fruitwallah, in Kotla. Kotla is a versatile market for all household necessities in South Delhi known for its wholesale prices. It is not in the league of nearby up-scale markets of South Delhi like South Ex or Defense Colony. Harish has a ramshackle kiosk and specializes in some select fruits and sells full boxes only. I like to go there because he stocks fruits like mango, apple, grapes, oranges etc that I like to buy in bulk for our use and share with friends. When I went to him yesterday, he asked me if I could make a medical certificate for his child. Though I never told him, but he has seen the sticker on my car announcing the place where I work. I thought he must be wanting a med cert for his child studying in school and must have been missing his school on account of truancy. I told him that my certificate would not work in the school, but was curious to know the school where his child was studying. No, not for school, it was the Australian embassy which was demanding such a certificate. I could barely manage to hide my shock – I knew Australian embassy demands med cert only if the applicant is applying for a long term visa, like immigration or for studies. I asked him why he was going to Australia. His son had obtained admission in the Univ for studying Computer course. Harish would be spending Rs 25 lakh on his education.
More shocks were to follow. His son no. 2 is already in Sydney studying for his Masters. He supports himself by doing part time teaching in the Univ itself. His son no. 1 is in Bangaluru and works for an MNC, Accenture. He is coming back to Delhi on transfer with a package of Rs 2.5 lakh a month.
I thought I had enough shocks that early morning for the entire day. But I was extremely happy. Though I managed to conceal my shock, I did not try to conceal my happiness. I expressed my desire to meet his sons. Harish said in a very matter of fact manner, and may be with a sense of pride that all his life when he was working hard, he never allowed his sons to come to the shop or to extend help. Harish’s hard work and sacrifice has worked so well for his children, who did not disappoint him.

HIKING ON THE GREAT WALL

2008-08-17T19:12:00.001+05:30

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
While in Beijing, it is almost customary to visit the Great Wall of China. Though China is known for many things, the Great Wall, one of the seven man-made wonders of the world, remains an attraction for all the visitors. So when we were planning to visit Beijing, I had made sufficient enquiries before hand if it was possible to make a day-long trip to the Great Wall from Beijing. After all the name ‘Great wall’ has been etched in my memory ever since I knew there was another country by the name of China in my primay classes many decades ago.

There are two or three areas of the Great Wall, within 100 km from Beijing, which have been well developed for tourists’ visits. The visit is also combined with other attractions enroute. We chose a package which combined it with Ming’s tomb. Also thrown in the package were visits to Jade factory, enamel factory, Tibetan herbal medicine house and tea house. All such factories had packaged these visits as an educational tourist attraction, but in reality they all were commercial enterprizes which organized guided trips within the factory with the ulterior motive of persuading the tourists to buy their products. As a sale strategy, these houses had employed English speaking charming damsels to lure the visitors. We disappointed all the pretty young girls, but were impressed by their perseveration. However, the Great Wall was interesting. We had chosen the Badaling section of the Great Wall for our visit. It is 70 km northwest of Beijing and is the best known section, and hence the most packaged. The moment you reach there you are welcome by a number of restaurants and souvenir shops. And since we were there just three weeks before the Olympics, the most saleable souvenirs were Olympic memorabilia. It had been cloudy since morning, and by the time we reached there it had started drizzling. So we also made a beeline to one of these shops to buy ‘one-time use’ kind of raincoats. We decided to climb the wall from one part of this section and descend from the other negotiating and climbing steep stairs and hiking on the wall. The wall followed the contour of the adjoining steep range of hills. The area was full of local and foreign tourists, and the local school children made the entire atmosphere very lively. We three Indians stood out different from the rest and were in huge demand by the school students to have photographs with us. Of course, we did not disappoint any. We decided to walk and walk leaving the crowd behind us. Then the natural landscape and scenic beauty got better with hills and lush greenery on both sides of us.
The Great Wall of China is 6400 km long and has been built over a period spanning from 6th century BC and 16th century AD, making it a wonder that has taken the longest time to be erected, by successive dynasties to defend themselves against the northern invaders. Over the centuries the wall has been in despair at many places due to neglect, vandalism, and harsh climate or sandstorm. Our guide also told us that at many places, local people vandalized the wall to use the building material for their own houses! However, at Badaling, the wall has been restored for tourists and does not give the feeling of ancient ruins, unlike the ruins of Greece. In fact the wall does not seem restored but rebuilt in its entirety. Some people feel that there is nothing genuine about the experience. However, we were happy with the visit and other experiences and returned to our hotel in time for the evening Beijing Opera show.

GAME OF SKILLS, JUST OUTSIDE LAS VEGAS

2008-08-12T17:43:00.005+05:30

Hiking and Rock Climbing

The moment Las Vegas comes to mind, one thinks of the casinos, gambling, spectacular shows and all the adult entertainment that the city has to offer. The city thrives on the pleasure principles and has been nicknamed as the ‘Sin City’. It has some of the grandest hotels and fanciest malls in the world. Though Macau has fast grown in gambling opportunities, however, it is not at the cost of Las Vegas, which still remains as popular as ever. Undoubtedly Las Vegas is known more for its casinos and gambling, yet it has many other activities and recreations to offer. The state of Nevada boasts of two very popular recreation areas just outside Las Vegas: the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area and the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Park. The austere wilderness of both the areas is home to several plant and animal species that are unique to these areas; however, what attracts the adventure sports enthusiasts is the unique and varied climbing environment. Mountain peaks rise thousands of feet off the desert floor and the mountain faces are among North America’s most unrelenting formations.
If you happen to plan a vacation with Kush, you will find yourself invariably landing into some hiking or climbing spots. So even if our itinerary began with man made amusements like Las Vegas or Los Angeles, it ended with a day-long visit to Mount Charleston in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area which lies west of Las Vegas at about an hour’s drive from the famous Strip of Las Vegas. Mount Charleston is an imposing peak at 12,000 ft rising from the meadows below.

We drove from our hotel, Flamingo, and soon left the hot and humid weather of Las Vegas behind and entered the town named Mount Charleston in the valley of Spring Mountains. The air became cool and pleasant and soon we sighted the Mount Charleston Lodge, a rustic hotel which must have been a popular joint with Las Vegans to escape heat. If I tell you the population statistics of this town nestled in the valley, you will laugh. As of the census of 2000, there were 285 people, 133 households, and 80 families residing here. The population density was 9.7 people per square mile (3.7/km²). Such low density of population in India is just not thinkable, or may be, some village in far North-East or high up in Himalayas could match it.
The area is full of hiking trails for easy walks, and mountain faces for rock climbing enthusiasts looking for adventure. We chose an easy trail of 5 km for our hiking. Kush was not carrying his climbing gear, so we were comfortable in our thought that he would not insist on initiating us into this difficult and technical sport. Towards the end of our trail, we came across a group of young women and men, some on the ground and two of them high into the air with nylon ropes and slings around them on a mountain face which was sheer vertical. One girl was climbing up with nylon slings and harness gear, and a rope trailing between her legs. The climb was totally vertical and to our unaccoustomed eyes appeared totally smooth. How she was going to climb there, we wondered. ‘But small cracks and protrusions from the rock would provide passage up’ explained Kush. That explained why she would stop intermittently and scan the route above before reaching for such a crack or protrusion. It required subtle balance, long reaches and precise footwork for her climb. One thing was sure: this girl could not be suffering from acrophobia, that is, fear of heights. I wondered what happens to the depth perception on such height and open spaces.
After all the glitter, fun, excitemen, and tensions of Las Vegas, time spent in the green environs and fresh air of Mount Charleston was quite refreshing. Kush will return here quite soon with his rock climbing group; we may also come here in future, but only for our easy hikes.

Flight of the Condor

2008-08-01T18:34:00.005+05:30

2nd August, 2008

While at the Grand Canyon, I was lucky to spot a condor soaring high above in the sky and shoot it, of course, with the camera. I had read and heard so much about the ‘flight of a condor’. We also attended the educational programme on the condor and its successful conservation which has brought it back from the brink of extinction.

On the wing, the movements of the condor, as it wheels in circles, are remarkably graceful. The birds flap their wings on rising from the ground, but after attaining a moderate elevation they seem to sail majestically on the air.
Wild condors inhabit large territories, often traveling 250 km (150 miles ) a day in search of carrion. They prefer large carcasses such as deer or cattle which they spot by looking for other scavengers. That led to their near extinction, since the caracasses of wild animals shot dead by bullets killed the condors too by lead poisoning. Attempts are being made to induce the hunters to use copper bullets instead of those containing lead.
Condors are basically vultures. California Condors are the largest flying land birds in North America.
The adult plumage is uniformly black, with the exception of a frill of white feathers nearly surrounding the base of the neck and, especially in the male, large patches or bands of white on the wings. As an adaptation for hygiene, the head and neck have few feathers exposing the skin to the sterilizing effects of dehydration and ultraviolet light at high altitudes, and are meticulously kept clean by the bird. The head is much flattened above. The white patch under both the wings at the armpits is diagnostic of condors (see the photographs). California Condors' huge wingspan measures up to 2.9 m, and they can weigh up to 10.4 kg.
California Condors are intertwined in many Native American cultures. There are people who believe California Condors were the origin of the Thunderbird myth, while some Western tribes regarded the California Condors as sacred beings, using feathers in religious ceremonies. The Chumash tribe believes that if the condors become completely extinct, so will the tribe. The Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped nature. They placed emphasis on animals and often depicted condors in their art. The same is true of the later Incan civilizations: the condor represented sky as one of the three celebrated animals. Vultures have been immortalized in Indian mythology too. Jatayu, one of the heroes of the great Indian epic, Ramayan, belongs to the race of vultures.
Twenty years ago, the California Condor Recovery Program began a new era when condors known as AC-4 and UN-1 produced the first egg to be laid and hatched in a managed setting. The resulting chick, Molloko, turns 20 years old on April 29, 2008. The goal of the California Condor Recovery Program is to establish two geographically separate populations, one in California and the other in Arizona. As the Recovery Program works towards this goal, the number of release sites has grown. There are four active release sites in California, one in Arizona and one in Baja California, Mexico with condors flying free.
While listening to the success story of condor, I thought of its cousin, the vulture, back home. In Delhi and most of North India (I hope it is still thriving in other parts), nearly 99% or common vultures have disappeared due to a drug, diclofenac, a common and popular analgesic; it is also used extensively in veternity medicine in farm animals. When vultures scavenged on their carcasses, they died due to diclofenac toxicity. I wonder why we can not replicate the same success story in India for our own vultures.

GRAND CANYON…one of the most spectacular natural wonders

2008-07-23T11:48:00.005+05:30

23rd July, 2008

During our recent visit to San Francisco, Kush took us for a visit to the Grand Canyon. It is only when you go there and witness the imposing character of the canyon that you realize that it is for no illegitimate reason that it is called Grand. We all (myself, Chitra, Kush and Vasu) had flown to Los Angeles to visit Atul and Anita and their lovely and lively daughters, Priyanka and Natasha at their home in Orange County. After doing the usual circuit of LA, Hollywood, San Diego and Sea World, and witnessing the fireworks of the 4th of July, we drove to Grand Canyon. After only an hour or two, the landscape had changed into desert with huge dunes on either side. In spite of the day being hot and humid, it was a relaxed drive after bumper to bumper traffic of LA and San Diego. After passing through the magnificent Hoover Dam, we reached the southern rim of Grand Canyon just in time for the sun set. Because of the long weekend on account of US Independence Day, the lodges were full and restaurants bright with chatty people. After our dinner, we got into our cabin and retired early after a long day and also to catch some sleep before an early rise to witness the sun making its grand appearance over the canyon. We got up early and drove to the Bright Angel Lodge which is also a good location for a number of short and long hikes. We found a good location and waited expectantly. Fortunately, there was no appreciable haze or fog that early morning. We were rewarded and witnessed the spectacular sun rise. It coloured everything on the opposite side in beautiful pink. Then we started for our 5 km hike towards the gorge. We wanted a longer hike, but we were not fully equipped with liquids and food. The canyon gets humid and hot very early morning and challenges your physical fitness. There are many deaths reported among people who thought themselves to be completely fit, but met a tragic end due to heat stroke, dehydration or exhaustion during hiking or other adventure activities. On our return, we were now starving and had a relaxed and sumptuous breakfast at the restaurant.

The Grand Canyon is one of the seven natural wonders of the world; the other being, Northern lights (aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere over Canada), Paricotin Volcano (Mexico), Harbour of Rio da Janeiro (Brazil), Victoria Falls (Africa), Great Barrier Reef (Australia), and of course, Mount Everest, Himalayas.
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided gorge carved by the Colorado River in the U.S. state of Arizona. Considering its importance, the Grand Canyon and area around it has been declared as Grand Canyon National Park.
Grand Canyon is a geologist’s delight because of the ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved in the walls of the canyon. These rocks are testimony to the geological history of the North American continent.
The canyon was created by the Colorado River over a period of 17 million year time span. The canyon is 446 km long, ranges in width from 6.4 to 29 km and attains a depth of more than 1.6 km. It is not the deepest canyon in the world, yet it is unmatched throughout the world for its overwhelming size and its colourful landscape.
Besides offering a beautiful sight, the canyon offers a number of activities for people looking for adventure sports, like, hiking, camping, and kayaking in the Colorado river. For wild life lovers, there is much to see and photograph. The Canyon is one of the few sites in the US for the habitat and breeding site of the magnificent bird, condor. I was lucky to witness the majestic flight of condor during our stay there.
I had long cherished to visit Grand Canyon. I hope to visit it once again to spend more time in the amazing, magnificent, and daunting environs of this natural wonder.

Presentation at Google, San Francisco

2008-07-18T18:43:00.002+05:30

18 July, 2008

I was recently in San Francisco where Pranay, my nephew, organized a visit for us to his company, Google. I was asked if I would be willing in making a presentation for the interested staff on my Antarctica experience. The possibility of space flights and extended space missions becoming available to the ordinary citizens has caught people’s imagination and they want to know how such flights and missions would impact them and their health and behaviour. Since there are many common characteristics (for example, stress, isolation, and sensory deprivation) between Antarctic expedition and Space mission, my talk would be helpful to people wishing to be on the Space flights in the future. Google has uploaded this presentation on the youtube :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GLQqsv-m3A
By the way, this blog is also through the service provided by Google.

Polarman, Polarman....

2008-07-03T08:51:00.001+05:30

POLARMAN: 3rd July, 2008

Guest column by Dr Abhijeet Bhatia

(Abhijeet is a wintering member of the 27th Indian Antarctic Expedition, and maintains his own blog: www.natureinbliss.blogspot.com)

The big day was finally here. The biggest festival in Antarctica- the Mid-Winter Day! It was the darkest day (or should we call it the darkest night) of the polar night. According to an old tradition, anyone who is in Antarctica on 21st June is called a Polarman. But it does not come so easily. Anyone who is here on this day has to spend almost a whole year here. That is because it is not possible to commute to and fro Antarctica during the winters, that is, from April till beginning of November. The last flight leaves this continent around March and start only in November. The ships also start arriving in only in December after leaving Antarctican shore in March-April. Hence, This privilege of being called ‘Polarman’ is reserved exclusively for the winter teams. So this was a memorable day for all of us, especially the first timers. After all, being a polarman is a rare feat. Congratulatory messages had come pouring in from all over the world and other Antarctic stations.

The Mid- Winter Day also means that Antarctica will only get brighter now. Half of the period of polar nights is now over. We will be able to see the sun again after 1 month, though only for, may be, four minutes. But winters are far from over. July and August are the coldest and the windiest months here. That means that the winters are just peaking.

The Russians came over to join us for the celebrations from the nearby Russian station, Novo. They were expected around 10 AM, but were late. They can't be blamed because driving time in Antarctica is highly unpredictable. When they did arrive, we all had a gala time. We exchanged small gifts, and then it was time for drinks, snacks and then tambola exclusively for the Russians. The Russians did not know how to play, so we guided them. They were playing for bottles of rum. Hence there was cut throat competition. They guzzled alcohol like water. We were no match for them. We interacted with them freely and took them around the station. Language was a major problem. But that did not hinder the conversation, which flowed like liquor. They enjoyed Indian dishes thoroughly. We had made every effort to cook according to their tastes- no chillies, minimum oil.

We had made some good friends. It was nice to see some new faces after a long time. We are now ready to face the rest of the time in Antarctica with renewed vigour, with the knowledge that now it's all downhill from here.

As our leader said- Ab hum roshni ki taraf ja rahe hain.

Wintering in the White Continent (Guest Blog)

2008-06-16T22:03:00.005+05:30

Guest Blog by Dr Abhijeet Bhatia - An ENT surgeon and a wintering member of the 27th Indian Antarctic Expedition. Dr Bhatia has his own blog at http://www.natureinbliss.blogspot.com/

ABANDONED IN THE WHITE DESERT

This is what wintering has been all about till now. The process of our physical isolation from the civilized world has been a very gradual one. But it is now total and absolute. It began when the previous winter team left Maitri on 14 February 2008. The next day the ship, M V Emerald Sea, left with the summer team. That marked the official beginning of our wintering. The last of the ALCI flights left on 12th March which means no more flights of IL-76 till November, 2008.
The next few days were very gloomy for everyone in the station. But soon Life became routine and we carried on with our jobs. The next to desert us were the skuas. They migrated to warmer lands beyond the Antarctic on 17th April. The Russians' ship came to deliver their supplies and pick up their old winter team on the 24th April. The final blow was dealt by the departure of the snow petrels in 1st week of May. By then the ocean had also frozen over completely. So now there are no flights to Antarctica and the sea route is also closed for the winters. The 26 of us are left to face the long Antarctic winters, with no help possible from the civilized world even in the most pressing of circumstances. Now, even the Sun has deserted us. The polar night began on 20th May. We bade the Sun a Final goodbye on 19th May at around 11:30 AM, staring at it and taking Photographs as the red globe went down to make a face presentation only after two months.

WEATHERING THE COLDEST CONTINENT

We are having the first good blizzard in end-May as I am writing this piece. So far we hadn't had any good blizzard in March or April which did delay our convoys and made the plying of snow vehicles on the moraine quite a difficult proposition. It was only due to the Herculean efforts of the logistics team in repairing the route at minus 18 degrees C that convoys could be undertaken to bring essential supplies from the stores located 120 km away in the coastal area. Visibility is reduced to just an arm's length with wind speeds reaching 200 kmph, snowfall is horizontal instead of vertical and hits you like a thousand needles. On going out all we see is a white wall. Any movement outside is with the help of guide ropes as people still have to go to the labs and the generators even during the blizzard. We may be holding a person's hand but we are Not able to see him. I kept a Christmas tree outside and it was covered with snow in a few hours. There is a strange mix of thrill and fear. All the stations life support systems are strained to their limits. There is a blanket of Snow all around. The summer camp living accommodation is now under snow. It Will be exposed only in November when the snow melts. Around the station, The snow reaches upto the windows. Soon, it will go above the windows. The Generator complex requires repeated snow clearing to enable them to keep working.

WINTERING IN THE MOST ISOLATED CONTINENT

Let me tell something about the routine life at Maitri. After our wintering began, we had some major tasks at hand. They took a few months to complete. The station was organized as per our requirements. A lot of major and minor repairs were undertaken including cleaning. The hospital block was shifted. The new toilet block was constructed. That is one of the biggest achievements of our expedition; it was long overdue. The logistics for the convoy were being worked out side by side. All these activities required extensive, back- breaking shramdaan - voluntary labour. Then the convoys began. The new supplies were to be taken out of the containers brought by the convoy and arranged in their appropriate place. So some activities have been organised to keep all in good humour. These include hobby classes, sports competitions and TV shows like Ramayana in the afternoon. Most of the conversation in the station revolves around nature and a longing to go back to India. Things like sun, blizzard, temperature, weather, clouds, snow, moon, stars, auroras, lake, birds etc are a regular part of our vocabulary. This is very different from India, where we hardly used to talk about nature. Life at Maitri is very comfortable with 24 hours running hot and cold Water, uninterrupted power supply, and central heating (all unlike Delhi), entertainment facilities, and lot of choice to pamper our gustatory habits.

Life in a small, closed community can lead to increased irritability and occasional frayed tempers. There is a certain degree of gloom in the station that is a regular feature in Antarctica at the onset of winters, more so during the polar nights. Spending long austral winter and polar nights in Antarctica can bring out best in a person; however, some people will have tough time in coping with this. The darkness, the isolation, the confinement, the loneliness- all may put a huge strain on the mind and the spirit of vulnerable and unprepared individuals. Some can bear it, others break down. I am sure that by the time we return home, we will be more evolved as human beings- patient and strong. This will be an experience that we will carry within ourselves for the rest of our lives.

Pics of 'Summer Visitors'

2008-05-28T09:37:00.001+05:30

Summer Visitors

2008-05-23T23:58:00.004+05:30

After having spent five months in Antarctica, Delhi’s heat in the months of April and May is terrible even by Delhi’s standard. The mercury was already touching 42 degrees C when I reached Delhi in mid-April. It was as if the Delhi weather was trying to test my endurance after my five month long absence to Antarctica. After having weathered Antarctic summer with temperatures mostly below zero degree C, I am being made to prove my mettle with nothing less than 40. However, Delhi summer brings its own charm and compensation. The summer bloom on the Amaltas (acacia fistula) is just breathtaking. Gulmohar and Jacaranda are giving it a fierce competition. Bougainville bush is just a riot of colours. The markets are also full of fruits seen only during summer time. To top all the fruits is the king of fruits, Mango, with so many varieties that it alone can match the entire list of fruits in the market. But then, there are melons, water melons, cherry, green almonds, apricot etc. Leechi and plum are yet to make their appearance.

However, the most welcome are the summer visitors that are currently frequenting my front and back court yards and perching on the mango and blackberry trees there. It is practically a bird watcher’s delight to spend early morning at the backyard of my house. I do not mind being woken up early in the morning by their noise, calls, and constant chattering. Thus, sparrow, pigeons, doves, wood pigeons, bulbul, myna (three kinds seen – common myna, brahminy myna and pied myna), koel, crows, grey hornbills, tree pie, sunbirds, thumb birds, magpie robins, owlets, parakeet, babbler, barbets all are keeping me busy outside every morning. My morning cuppa tea that normally should take me 5 minutes is now stretching almost to one hour. And I do not stop at one cup. Chitra is of course resenting; earlier it was ocean, snow and ice that were keeping me busy, and now these noisy birds are competing with her for all my attention. But how can I resist the sweet melodious calls of koel or bulbul! And how can you can not admire the valour of a tiny bulbul chasing a big tree pie which has intruded into her territory to rob her eggs! Even the normally docile dove gets into a fighting posture should it see an approaching crow. Later the crow is at a receiving end when koel (a parasitic cuckoo, it does not build its own nest) enters into the crow’s nest to displace the eggs and deposit her own eggs. Parakeets are as ever a noisy group and look like naughty kids trying out their pranks on one another. On the ground many birds are fighting over the twigs to select the best for their own nest-building. Moths and butterflies are running for their lives from the persistent robins and chattering babblers. The snails and earthworms are on their never-ending trails. I am also having a very unusual resident guest this summer, that is, honey-bees. Yes, the Queen Bee has chosen a bush in the front lawn to make her hive there. Mosquitoes and flies are the only unwelcome guests. But the Delhi summer is not complete without their ubiquitous presence. So are the frequent power failures. But then, summer is summer. With so much action going around and wonders of nature unfolding right in the home compound, who minds Delhi summer!

Skua Family - The Final Migration

2008-05-09T06:09:00.001+05:30

Guest Blog by By V R Manchem

The story of the migration of the skua family took a different turn in the end. The parent skua left their young skua behind and left for their destination by end of March. The young skua was left alone to look for food itself, practice more hours of flying to get stronger, and learn to acclimatize for falling temperatures. I was quite baffled how it would reach a destination it has never been before. It left our vicinity a week later after its parents had left. One observation that struck me was that it left its birth place only when its entire original plume had been replaced by new set of feathers resembling an adult. A few days later, on the 5th April, another young skua from Trishuli area came to Maitri along with its parents. They left the same day, but the younger one stayed behind till 16th April when it left the station before sunset. During the time it stayed here, it remained very active and agile and was seen flying most of the time. Its plume had also been totally replaced by a new covering of feathers before it left.

It has been five months here since I came to Maitri. Every day the Nature looks different which I enjoy from my window. Presently the sun rise is at 8.30 am and sun set at 1.30 pm.

A Journey That Refuses to End

2008-04-29T22:05:00.002+05:30

This mail was meant for April 11. However Gmail decided to place this in my Junk folder, as a result I didn't see Dad's email until yesterday. Apologies! This is a good post and his last from the ship.

Surprisingly and frustratingly the voyage is still continuing. But I refuse to title this entry in my diary at ‘ANTARCTICA ON 11.04.2008. I know Chitra will smile mischievously and say something deeply piercing, but I shall take the risk of subjecting myself to that. It is 11 in the morning, and I have just returned to my room from the deck, no land yet to be sighted. The voyage is still continuing! So annoying! For last few days when we all were playing the guessing game of when we would see the Goa shoreline, some more knowledgeable amongst us had confidently said that by 6 pm on the 10th April our mobiles would start getting the signals confirming that we were only two hours away from the Goa shoreline and by 6 am next morning we should be able to dock since the ship is not guided to the shore during night time; and hopefully we would touch our dear ‘mathrabhoomi’ by ten am. But, alas, it did not happen. By no stretch of imagination we are anywhere near the Antarctica, however, the unpredictability of Antarctica continues to cling to us and influence each and every decision of ours. Last night at about 9 pm, rumour spread in the dinning lounge that mobiles had started getting signals. Abondoning the party, people left their Scotch on the table to join the excitement on the deck. I rushed to my room climbing all the way to the top floor to fetch my mobile. But it all proved to be a hoax; there were no signals yet. What was surprising that the ship was standstill on the seas which appeared totally still. I had seen her once grinding to a halt in the pack ice on our return journey from the Larsemann Hill, but there was no pack ice here. Next morning we would know that one engine had developed some snag and while repair was being undertaken, the strong current had pushed back the ship by three nautical miles.

Since this morning I am restless. I could manage only a few hours of sleep last night, and have been awake again since 4:00 in the morning. I try for some time to get back to sleep, and then leave the room at five to have some tea. I come out on the deck, the ship is sailing faster as if to compensate for the loss of three hours last night. There are still some stars visible in the sky. The wind is warm and humid, unlike any of which I had been enjoying all these past days. No birds or dolphins to be sighted. The tea tastes tasteless. I retire to my room. I am over with most of my packing. In last two days I have gone through print edition of most of my mails, and trashed them. I am now reading Chitra’s mails of last two months. How biting are her words! What Ishu says as her ‘wit or dry wit’, is sheer stabbing: “vain you have been all along; insufferable to live with a celebrity; don’t count on us, just count your fan mail; come by the slowest train, or better, just walk to extend your voyage; you have an MBA in remote management”

I do not have appetite for any breakfast. I make a strong cup of coffee for myself, but do not enjoy it. There is some activity on the deck, everyone out there has a mobile in his hand, however no luck so far. I join the group walking from fauxel, the frontmost area, to the stern, the last open space of the ship on the back, to find the vintage point to receive the signal. Very anxious moments indeed. Then at 11:30, someone shrieks that his mobile is getting a strong signal. Hurray, my mobile does not fail me. I scurry for a spot which gives me strongest signal. After five months of not using my mobile, I fiddle with its keys. I try Chitra’s mobile and in my first attempt it connects. It is reassuring talking to her, it is like a balm to my frayed nerves.

Skua Family - About to Migrate

2008-04-28T09:47:00.003+05:30

Guest Blog by V R Manchem

(V R Manchem was my partner during my long walks at Maitri. He too followed the story of Shiv and Uma and their family closely with me - Sudhir)

On the night of 13th March, the lake was frozen completely. One part of the frozen lake is like glass now, while the other is like waves frozen in motion. The young skua is now flying very well. It exhibits great patience, perseverance, and high spirit in following his lessons of flying. It spends most of its time on the frozen part of lake. The parent skuas sit on land watching it. They must be feeling proud of its getting ready for the long journey ahead. Even during high winds when the parents are under the shelter of the rocks, it is out in the open like a mischievous child. At the wind speed of 60 knots (100 kmph) per hour, it is not only out of the shelter, but defies the storm by flying against the wind direction. From the window of my lab, I would watch its concentration, devotion and interest to develop strength and skill to fly with or against the wind. Sometimes, it appeared as if the wind was blowing at greater speed just to break the vanity of the novice flyer. However, it could not; the young one would flutter and flutter at one point but would not come down. One more pair of skua has come here and is developing friendship with the family. Since the chick is almost fully grown, its parents do not feel threatened any more from any intruder. Very frequently all five fly together, playing and chasing each other and building up on their stamina. They may fly together as a group to their distant destination. The day may come sooner for their departure. I shall feel sad on their going away. It has been a wonderful experience over last few months watching them right from their days of courtship in November to their journey of nest building, laying of eggs, hatching of chicks and then seeing the chick grow. I wonder if the family would miss me or remember me. They must have seen me practically everyday peering towards them from behind some rock.

I know they have to go; they perhaps have a promise to keep. I shall remain here to face the polar nights and long winters. That they will surely come back next November will certainly help me withstand the Antarctic winter.

Back On Firm Ground

2008-04-25T13:15:00.000+05:30

I am back on terra firm and have gone headlong into Delhi's life. It is a funny feeling coming after five months. A number of people have commented that I must be finding everything so different after spending a long time in a pristine environment. Somehow, it does not feel that way. I feel as if I was not away from it at all. In fact, Antarctica appears so far away now. However, when I am narrarating my experiences to people here, then everything come back so live and vivid.
Antarctica was a voyage that I enjoyed so much; every day, and every moment of it. Talking to you people through this blog and reading your comments was a very novel experience. I hope we shall continue to interact and be in touch. Meanwhile, if you have interesting experiences, do share with us all through this blog.

Last Post From The Emerald Sea

2008-04-11T05:30:00.000+05:30

This is my last mail of this voyage on the m/v Emerald Sea of the Antarctic Expedition. This evening there will be last sending and receiving of mails. So I thought why to lose an opportunity, though I am most of times not good at exploiting a chance. This morning we were discussing recently concluded T-20 series (cricket series). I said two things I have regretted in life are: one, never trying to excel in any sports, and secondly not trying to learn a musical instrument. One member tried to comfort me, “But you sing quite well.” I told them: when I was in the early years of medical college, when many of us were trying to ‘patao’ girl-friends, one constant advice was that you should sing well. That motivation was also lost when I managed without singing or learning to sing.

By latitude, we have crossed Kanya Kumari, but can not see the shore line as we are quite deep into the Arabian Sea. Last night some ships were sighted.

I must do cleaning of the hard copies of lot of mails, then get going with the packing.

Another Story on the Equator

2008-04-11T05:23:00.002+05:30

This morning’s latitude and longitude are at 7 and 51 respectively. We should be crossing Equator tomorrow late night or early morning next day. Gradually more and more flying fish are being sighted, but I haven’t been able to capture any on the camera. From today, another bird, Heron, is also being sighted in greater number. This evening a number of them were resting on the front mast. I did not know heron (Hindi name: Bagula) is found on ocean also; I had considered it a fresh water bird. It is seen abundantly around lakes and ponds in India, of the size of pigeon, and appears white in flight, while sitting totally motionless on the edge of pond, waiting for fish, it appears light brown. It waits so patiently and motionlessly that the term ‘bagula bhagat’ originated since fish, even if sees it, considers it a harmless object. In 1970s, Devanand was making a movie ‘Bagula Bhagat’. When its time for release came in 1974, Indira Gandhi had given a socialist and populist slogan – garibi hatao to signify class struggle in Indian society. The producer of the film in a masterly stroke changed the name of the movie to ‘Amir–Garib’. It was a big hit of its time. It was an ordinary movie with no memorable song but the change of the name created the desired magic. Chitra and I saw it together after having lunch at Standard in CP.

Appending one more story on Equator.

The Amazons: the Story of Women Warriors

The islands ruled by women, with mountains of solid silver, where strangers were eaten almost raw after being hung out, upside down, to ripen in the sun, and where crayfish emerging from the surf were turned to stone as soon as they touched dry sand.
In Greek language, the word ‘Amazon’ means, she who is without a breast.

In April1542, Francisco de Orellana, the Spaniard from Spanish colony of Quito, led an expedition to find Land of Cinnamon, the most profitable spice those days. In the land of Paguana, after they sailed past the mouth of a broad and powerful tributary with water that ran black as ink, they landed at a village where they saw something absolutely worth seeing: a tree trunk some three yards across, upon which had been carved a city surrounded by walls, supported by two jaguars. The courteous natives explained that this was a sacred symbol dedicated to a race of women warriors to whom the village paid a tribute in the form of parrot feathers and palm fronds to use as roof thatching.

Subsequently, the Spaniards found themselves surrounded by canoes loaded with warriors. The Indio warriors, midway through the battle, called for help from the Amazons, their mistresses. A dozen of women warriors came to their assistance, fighting as if they were in command.
According to Carvajal, “These women are very white and tall, and have hair very long and braided and wound about the head, and they are very robust and go about naked, but with their privy parts covered, with their bows and arrows in their hands, each woman doing as much fighting as ten Indian men, and indeed there was one woman among those who shot an arrow a span deep into one of the brigantines, and others less deep, so that our brigantines soon looked like porcupines.”

The Amazons lived, without men, in some seventy villages. Their houses were made of stone, and they had furnishings of gold and silver, they worshipped idols made of gold and silver, they wore jewelry made of gold and silver, they ate off of dishes of gold and silver.
“These women would couple with men from time to time, and when the desire took them, they would assemble a large force and would set off to wage war against a powerful lord who resided not far away. They would carry off men and hold them captive in their own land as long as they wished, using them to satisfy their desires. When they found that they were pregnant, they would send them back to their villages without hurting them in any way. Later, when they gave birth, if the babies were male they would kill them, and send the bodies back to their fathers. If the babies were females, they reared them with great solemnity and taught them the art of war.” (Descubrimiento del Rio de la Amazons by Gasper de Carvajal)

Carvajal, a learned man, added that these women should not technically be called Amazons because, though they did fight with bows and arrows, they did not cut off a breast to use them more efficiently, “and in Greek language, the word ‘Amazon’ means, she who is without a breast.”
At the end of August, 1542, Orellana’s two brigantines reached the mouth of that infinite river that the Portuguese had previously called the Maranhao. From that day on, it would be known as Rio de las Amazonas, literally River of the Amazons – the Amazon River.

Bernard O’Brien, an Irish nobleman in the search of El Dorado in 1620,
claims to have met with a woman chieftain in a city on an island where there may have been gold. He insisted later that he had seen decisive proof that he had visited the legendary Amazons: during his stay, he had seen only women; there was not a man to be seen. Moreover, those women had “vestigial right breast, not much bigger than that of a man, artificially shrunken in order to shoot better with bow and arrow. Their left breasts, in contrast, were entirely normal, like the breasts of European women.” His document still remains in the files of General Archives of the Indies, in Seville where one can read an account of an Irishman who lived among the mythical cunantensecuima, the “women without husbands”, as the natives called them.

This merging of the legend of the Amazon women warriors and the city of El Dorado is a saga of fruitless trekking and quests after phantoms that marked a full century of South American exploration.

(Source: Latitude Zero by Gianni Guadalupi and Antony Shugaar)

Ab Goa Door Nahin!

2008-04-11T05:20:00.002+05:30

In one week’s time we shall be reaching Goa. The stores are still full, so the mess secretary in consultation with the management has been quite liberal now in bringing goodies to the dinning table. So now we have dry fruits, fresh fruit and vegetables, honey, ice cream now available all the time with no restrictions. People are also not behaving now in gluttonous manner. I am all for the fresh vegetables. I feel on reaching Delhi, for a few days I will not like to have any cooked daal or vegetables.

The Story of El Dorado: the Golden One

The tales of Equator often seem to involve obsessive quests. One of the most amazing has been the South American saga for the kingdom of El Dorado, the Golden One, who was said to live in a city of gold set on a lake that glowed each morning in a second sunrise that rivaled the real sunrise in glory and intensity. One after another great explorers of 16th and early 17th centuries chased after El Dorado, a name that has become synonymous with vast and illusory wealth.
In the 16th century when the Spaniards who had already plundered the astounding rich coffers of Peru were ready and willing to believe that all of the rest of the South American continent was one vast treasure chest. Word had filtered back that east of the mountains there lay a kingdom whose ruler was so fabulously rich that the Inca emperors had only been a clan of mendicants in comparison. This king was literally covered with gold from head to foot, because a golden powder was scattered over him every morning, adhering to his skin with an aromatic resin. Each night, he would wash off the golden covering in waters of a lake. He would be clad from head to foot again in gold the next morning. The entire kingdom was worthy of the king’s apparel: El Dorado, the Golden One, as the Spanish called this fabled king, lived glittering in the midst of a capital – called Manoa – filled with metal palaces. The walls of the city of Manoa were sheathed in slabs of gold, it was said. At sunrise, the gold would reflect its light so brightly that the entire island glowed in the middle of the lake, appearing to be a second sun rising from the lake waters. Temples and palaces were all sheathed in gold, inside and out. The poor covered the walls of their houses with mere liver. The cobblestones in the streets were diamond; the bed of the lake was carpeted with the pearls.

(Source: Latitude Zero by Gianni Guadalupi and Antony Shugaar)

Duty Free Goods

2008-04-09T06:07:00.001+05:30

There is lot excitement in the dinning hall since morning. The notice board has displayed an announcement by the ship Captain that the duty free items will be available at 12:30 pm. Of course, it is only alcohol and cigarettes. If there were chocolates, I’d be interested. I neither smoke nor offer to guests at home. There is sufficient alcohol lying at home, and I have discovered Goa to be an exciting place to buy liquor at half of the Delhi rates. The quality and variety of IMFL (India Made Foreign Liquor, which is the term that British gave to alcohol industry in pre-independence era and is still sticking) are fast improving. The Indian beer, Cobra, seems to be a popular brand in English restaurants and pubs. The India made ‘single malt whiskey’ that I bought (Rs 450/-) while coming to this Expedition is still lying intact. I seem to be more knowledgeable about Goa prices of various Indian premium brands of whiskey and wine and am advising people on comparative rates. But I am sure they will still buy scotch here rather than single malt whiskey at Goa. After all, ‘phoren’ goods are still a craze. It is said that Delhi wallahs are so crazy about the scotch that more scotch is consumed in Delhi than what is produced in Scotland.

Latitude Zero

2008-04-08T00:11:00.001+05:30

We are now cruising in the Tropic of Capricorn which has started from the Latitude of 22.5 degrees South to last till Equator at latitude zero; then would start Tropic of Cancer for another 22.5 degrees North. Between these two Tropics lie the hottest areas of the world. Goa is at latitude of 18 degrees North.

LATITUDE ZERO – Tales of the Equator
By
Gianni Guadalupi and Antony Shugaar
Stories of great explorers and eccentrics who braved the exotic equatorial regions of the Earth

EQUATOR – ANCIENT’S UNDERSTANDING
The history of the world has almost always been written from a point of view situated around forty-five degrees north latitude. Consider a territory bounded on the south by Cairo (thirty nine degrees north latitude) and on the north by Saint Petersburg (sixty degrees north latitude), we are looking at the stage on which Western civilization has developed. London lies just above fifty-one degrees, Paris is around forty-nine degrees and Rome stands at forty-two degrees north latitude. Asia lies a little further south. North America lies at nearly the same latitude as Asia.
The band of territory between the 30 and 60 degrees north latitude may not have a monopoly on the world’s history, but it has had a virtual monopoly on the world’s history writing. Most of the Earth’s publishers, broadcasters, universities and libraries look on the world from this relatively narrow swath of territory. Latitude, then, is destiny.

Great stories have been told in recent years about the exploration of the rooftops of the world (South and North Poles). But the tales of the Equator have largely been told piecemeal or overlooked entirely.

The Equator is the largest man made object on Earth. The imaginary line drawn along latitude Zero is longer than any other straight line that can be drawn on the Earth’s surface. It is the fastest moving point on the Earth, gets more sunlight than any other point, and the equatorial sun stands still, straight overhead.

To the people of the ancient world things that we take for granted, like sky, sun, or changing seasons, were much more substantial. For us, for example, cerulean might be an attractive designer colour; however, for the ancient world cerulean was the colour of the sky reflected on the surface of the sea. For them, sky and sea were both vital and immediate factors in life.
In waterfront taverns, tales of all kinds are told of adventures and misadventures of all kinds. Islands of serpents; or of men with forked tongue speaking with two different persons at the same time; or the island of the rukh bird whose egg was as large as the dome of a mosque; another island was inhabited by the karkadann which could spear an elephant on its horn; or another island which concealed the copper urns into which Solomon, the wisest man on Earth and who loved Queen Sheba, had sealed the evil spirits.

The Greek philosopher Eratosthenes compared the noonday shadow at Alexandria and Aswan, and from the difference he was able to calculate the curve of the Earth between those two points.
People of the ancient world had a number of amusing and astonishing understanding of the world, however, they also got a lot things right. They were incredibly brave people and took great and arduous journeys to explore the world without the advantage of mechanized boats and ships or telecommunication satellites, or GPS.

For some humility and understanding: a squad of U.S. fighter jets using computer-guided navigation crossed the Equator not too many years ago, flying in perfect formation, wingtip to wingtip, autopilot engaged. As they crossed Latitude Zero, their navigational systems flipped them over, still in perfect formation. Half a dozen pilots hung head down, safe and sound, but frightened and quite confused.

A Russian Barbeque

2008-04-08T00:09:00.002+05:30

This evening we all were invited at a barbeque on the open deck by the Russians at 6 pm. At that time only they had laid food on the table and were serving wine to people who cared to drink. There were soft drinks too. The Russian crew is 30 in number; however, there were only ten of them. The officers including the Captains were missing. For vegetarians there was enough salad, boiled potatoes, bread etc. I liked the water melon best, fresh and sweet. Suddenly a bird of the size of crow came fluttering and entered a stair case going into the engine room. I think it got blinded by the strong sodium lights on the deck. Only some people showed interest to see it. I too went there and found it hiding in a corner. If it went further down, it would surely die due to the heat of the engine room. So I caught it and released it back into the air. By 7:15 pm the party was winding up. The hosts were not bringing more alcohol and were not filling up the food trays. I returned along with some others. In our dinning hall I helped myself with ice cream, my first since I left Delhi. Many of our people felt cheated. I tried to tell them that they had called us for barbeque and not for dinner or for a party lasting till midnight.

Cricket on Board!

2008-04-08T00:09:00.001+05:30

The Sea Lions were convincingly beaten by the Sea Tigers. Yes, they were beaten 2 – 1 in a Fifteen-15 three match series today in a show of convincing performance put up by the Sea Tigers.

Emerald Sea has a huge hold (basement storage) of 30 by 15 meters which has been vacant now after the containers were removed at the Maitri. The wind has been very behaving very well since we left Cape Town and there was no pitching or rolling. However, a sea swell coming from some distance away would occasionally make it mildly roll and pitch. With a cricket bat and a tennis ball being handy, the members climbed down the ladder into the hold for Fifteen-15 matches. The rules were framed, but the application of rules being dynamic, they kept on changing. I was member of the Sea Lion team. We narrowly lost the first match. After lunch break, we were soundly thrashed in the second match. However, we could narrow the gap in the third match. Players complained of poor lights many a time when they missed on a catch or misfielded, but light conditions were same for both the teams. The ball soon lost its colour and became dark which also added to the poor light conditions. The rolling and pitching, quite infrequent though, added to the woos of fielding when a fieldsman who was moving forward to catch a ball, suddenly and involuntarily froze in his steps because the ship had moved in the opposite direction. There were many instances of heated arguments between the two teams, but the decisions of the umpires prevailed. These remained topics of discussion even after the day’s play was called off.