Adieu Friends

The scene at Maitri today was of excitement and hectic activity. It almost bordered towards commotion though not in any negative sense. Since they are returning all the way by air to India, they were anxious about the weight of their luggage. They have collected a few things here: souvenirs in form of Antarctica stones, their own pyrographical work on wood, water from the lakes etc. They are discarding now things they had kept with them but find no use for them. I received a bag full of goodies: sweets, namkeen, chocolates, and a bottle of premium brand whiskey. Last night the Maitri lounge was alive till the wee hours of this morning. I had asked some of the departing members how many hours of sleep they had planned for the night. And they had very confidently and nonchalantly assured me of usual seven hours. They were walking like zombie with swollen eyes when I met them this morning at the breakfast. This morning some of them reminisced with me about their time in Antarctica. They shared some funny and a few not so funny tales of their time here. Now they do not care in divulging some sensitive information; they have nothing to lose. Their excitement was almost infectious. I too got into a kind of hyperarousal state. I had just finished reading print-out of the daily news in the lounge when someone asked me what were the headlines or main news. And I just could not recall anything coherently. Only some words stuck like cricket, weather, Thackeray, petrol prices etc. I could not elaborate on any news. There was extended 'bhajan sandhya' at the temple in the late afternoon. In any case, every Tuesday, there is one hour programme at the temple, but today it almost got extended to two hours with reciting of 'Sundar Kand' from Ramayan. It was early dinner this evening as the members were to leave for airport at 7:30 pm for their flight at 10:30 pm for Cape Town by IL-76. They would reach Mumbai on the night of 9th February after a two-night stopover at Cape Town. A large contingent has gone in snow vehicles and choppers to see them off. I was offered a ride in the chopper to go to the airbase, but I declined. I do not find such moments too comfortable for my liking. Right now a kind of emptiness is engulfing me. I have felt closer with the members of the 26th IAE and only with some of members of the 27th IAE who arrived with me here in November, 2007 itself by air. I have now spent nearly three months with them. Now I must also begin winding up here. I should start my preparations to board the ship any day for going towards Larsemann Hill. That excitement will ease the pain of this parting.

BREAKING NEWS: Indian Earth Station at Maitri

The Indian Earth Station at Maitri in Antarctica has been made functional this morning. The to and fro signals between Maitri and the satellite have been established and tested. The strength of the signals is excellent. We had video conference with people at ISRO in India where I also participated. The installation of the Earth Station was a major task for the 27th IAE and I am proud to be a member of this expedition. The logistics of installation were mind boggling. Construction of platform for putting the antenna to track the satellite was a tricky affair given the topography of Schirmacher Oasis. More tricky and risky was transporting the components of platform and the antenna itself from the ship. Since crevasses, deep and shallow, have now appeared in the otherwise frozen blue ice sheet during the ongoing summer season, it is not feasible to run snow vehicles to the coast at a distance of 125 km. The entire equipments and components have been transported by the two helicopters. Hats off to these two pilots of Helicopters New Zealand to have accomplished a great feat. Members of the 26th and 27th expeditions did not shy away from transporting huge and heavy parts from the helipad to the site of construction. Because of the location of Schirmacher Oasis so near to the pole, the positioning of the antenna was a crucial step since there was very little scope for any maneuverability. I do not understand all the technicalities, but Mr S S Waldia, the scientist from ISRO, had sleepless nights here. Finally everything was in place without any major hitch. He was ably assisted by Mr Raju, engineer from Electronics Corp. of India, Sunil Kushwaha (ISRO), and Chaman Lal (ECIL).

Hike to 'Trisuli'

This afternoon I led a party of 5 members to a peak named 'Trishuli', Lord Shiv's trident. It has been given this name by India and is recognized as such by the Antarctica Gazette. At 1000 ft it is the highest peak in the Schirmacher Oasis. Of these other 4 members, three are new entrances to Maitri, while the fourth, Subhash, came with me from Goa. He has not gone much beyond the Maitri area, so I asked him to come along. Today was a perfect day for an outing with no appreciable wind or clouds and day time temperature at 4 C.. Trishuli is a comfortable walk of one hour and I have been there earlier on 2-3 occasions. It is a beautiful area from where you get to see the Shivling, the big lake, the continental ice sheet (if you walk or ski on it southwards for 2500 km, you shall reach South Pole creating a world record) and sastrugi formation. I gave a brief history to the 'tourists' of Schirmacher Oasis and Indian initiatives on Antarctica expedition. When people visit Trishuli, their high point is to climb on the top to get photographed there. Then they would claim to have climbed the highest peak on the Schirmacher Oasis. Back home they would conveniently forget to mention that it is only 1000ft high. I never had such an ambition. To me 'Trishuli' is a kind of sacred peak; so I went around it as a gesture of reverence.

The possibility of my going to Larsmann Hills is becoming more and more certain with each passing day. Since it is Antarctica, no one says anything for certain. An environmental event can either postpone or even prepone any programme. In any case, all of the summer members of 27th IAE who are returning to India will be shifted to the ship by 10th February. I may be asked to shift earlier; the latter sorties will be reserved for members who are yet to complete collection of their scientific data. Since I have finished my second assessment of the winterers, I do not have any scientific work any more. The second and the final assessment of the summerers (I have coined this word) I shall do on the ship. However, I am busy here like any other scientist. Mostly I am busy in talking to people about their experiences in Antarctica. Now that time of my departure is approaching, I am excited but at the same time I also wish that I am accommodated on the chopper at a later date. Suddenly there is now urgency to complete and wind up many things.

Break in Weather

The weather has improved quite remarkably, both at Maitri as well as around the ship which is parked near the Indian bay. It has not anchored yet since the pack ice around the ice shelf (coast) has not yet broken; it has been in that area for four weeks now. It is 7:30 pm now and I can hear the sound of the chopper from my room. It is the first sortie it has made in 9 days. People have been eagerly and anxiously waiting for it for various reasons. First, the four members of the 26th Team who had left on 21st January for an overnight stay on the ship to experience it, since they had arrived in Antarctica all the way by air in November of 2006, and hence wanted a familiarity with it. They must have been anxious to return because they are going back to India all the way by air and their IL flight to Cape Town is on the 5th February. Each extra day on the ship must have increased their anxiety as they must have kept a few things to be done during these days, for example, some photographic sessions, some exchange of photo and video albums, exchanging one another's coordinates, visit to some spots like Shivling etc. One of them said later that with each day on the ship their desperation grew and they were ready to walk all the way to Maitri, a distance of 120 km full of crevasses now. Though there is another flight one week later, but after having lived here for 15 months, they are not ready to spend one extra day in this white desert of Icy Planet. Second group of people anxious for the chopper landing are the ones waiting to board the ship for going to Larsmann Hill. They wish to return as soon as possible to the comforts of the ship and avoid galley duty. Their sense of belongingness to Maitri and its life is not as greater as that of some of us. The third group has been eagerly waiting for the chopper to bring tea bags which have exhausted here a few days ago. People are managing with green label. This does not give the needed colour to the cuppa tea that we Indians are used to. They do not use the green tea as it should be. So far the station had been managing with the stock of the 26th IAE. Chopper's landing will bring relief to a number of people.

A Well Earned Return

It is activity time at the Maitri. The first batch of the 26th Indian Antarctic Expedition is getting ready to leave for India on the 6th February, 2008. It's a batch of 10 people from the Corps of Engineers and Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Equipment of the Indian Army. They had come to Antarctica in November, 2006 by air all the way from Goa. They looked after the logistics of the station, namely, maintaining all the snow vehicles and organizing convoys to bring supplies from the sea coast (ice shelf) about 120 km from Maitri, looking after generators, boiler, water and electricity supply, sewage, and all maintenance jobs. The transfer of charge (jobs and responsibilities) has been completed. The inventories have been verified and papers signed. Books and music and film CDs and DVDs are being returned. The polar wears are being deposited back. Coordinates (emails, addresses, telephone numbers) are being exchanged. Last minute photographic sessions are taking place. The telecommunication room operator is having a busy time because these members are now exhausting their unused quota of telephony minutes. The wintering members of the expedition get a free allowance of 20 minutes of telephony time per month. Keeping the traditions of the Indian Army intact in Antarctica also, they have given an exemplary account of their sincerity, hard work, dedication and devotion to their duty during their stay at Maitri. Sadly, the Indian Army is withdrawing from deputing its personnel from Antarctic expeditions for the time being. Hence for the 27th Indian Antarctic Expedition there are no Army personnel; however, retired persons from the above two Corps of the Indian Army have been recruited for the job. This arrangement will continue in future if found satisfactory.

These members will leave for Cape Town from the Novo airbase by IL-76 and after a night's halt there, will board Mumbai flight from Johannesburg. They will be received by the Army Chief at the Army Headquarters, Delhi. As a reward for their work in Antarctic expedition, they will get a choice posting of three years. Invariably and understandably, they opt for a posting in home towns.

I salute you, Col Suresh, Gurdeep Saab, Sanjay Saab, Om Dutt Saab, Rajan Saab, Shankar Saab, Rajbir Saab, Ranawat Saab, Rambax Saab, and Tejram Saab. I shall miss you.

This evening our film club at Dooda Beta with limited and exclusive membership screened 'Dhamaal'. After some time I realized it was remake of 'It's a mad, mad, mad, mad world'. Quite silly movie, you could enjoy it only in a setting like Dooda Beta.

Alcoholism

Couple of days ago, one medical officer here took an evening lecture on 'Alcoholism'. He showed some very morbid slides of the consequences of alcohol on various body organs. It has scared some regular users of alcohol and they have been coming to me in private looking for some reassurances. But then, I am also assessing them on the alcohol and tobacco use. That is another matter that most of the regular users do not give correct responses on these self-administered questionnaires.

I am reproducing below one story that was narrated by one member here. I hope I have not already told you.
Many many years ago during the times when boys went to the teacher's (sage) hut for education and learning, one sage wished to test his pupil before he was allowed to return to village. The sage made three cabins and asked his pupil to go into each one by one. The pupil went into the cabins one by one there and was aghast to see what was put into each cabin. In the first there was liquor, second contained non-veg dishes, and there was a young beautiful woman in the third. The pupil did not know how he was being tested. The sage explained that he had to experience one thing of his choice. It was like murder for the pupil. All three things were sinful and hence taboo for him as per the learning from this very teacher. The pupil vehemently protested and expressed his helplessness in carrying out his teacher's wish. However, the sage was unmoved; he repeated that the test was mandatory otherwise his learning would be considered incomplete. The pupil had no choice now. He evaluated pros and cons of each cabin and concluded that liquor perhaps was the least sinful. It was made from fresh fruits and did not hurt anyone, involved no killing. Hence he chose to taste liquor and went into the first cabin. After having a few gulps he waited outside the cabin for its effect to wear off. He was feeling comfortable and confident that he would clear his test with flying colours. However, a little later he sought his teacher's permission to go into the second cabin and experience non-veg dishes. The wish was readily granted. And then he wished to visit the third cabin too. That was the end of the test; he wanted to visit each cabin again and again.
Moral of the story: do I need to tell you!

Blowing away (in the wind)!

There is a kind of general alert at Maitri prohibiting lightweight members to venture outside by themselves. They must be accompanied with an escort. With maximum wind gust going above 60 knots (one knot = 2 km approx), there may be a risk of their flying outside the Schirmacher Oasis. Fortunately, I am a well fed person, so no real risk. However, even better well fed persons will have difficulty in walking in straight line at this wind speed giving them a tipsy gait.