Top 10 memories of Antarctica

Top 10 memories of Antarctica

My first iceberg

Setting foot on Antarctica @ Almirante Brown (Paradise Bay)

Night camping on Antarctica snow at Almirante Brown!

Zodiac cruising among icebergs around Cuverville Island with Yar Petryszyn

Soft Polar Plunge in Deception Islands

Hard Polar Plunge at Damoy Point (near Port Lockroy)

Bum slide on Neko Harbor

Kayaking in Deception Islands with Shanks

Shopping in Port Lockroy

Wandering among the icebergs. Sumeet & Smita Cabin No. 426

22Dec 64'40"S, 62'40"W. Today must count as one of the 'Best Days of our
Lives'. Seeing not 1, not 2 but countless icebergs up, close and
personal was something I had only dreamt of! They come in all shapes,
sizes and their shades of blue range from the mundane to the azure. We
saw a humpback whale too! The past few days, we spent at Yankee Harbor,
Half Moon Bay and Deception Islands - all fabulous sub-antarctic
islands. Look them up on the map. More Later! Frm Under Down Under.

The Power of One Big Idea: Fin Del Mundo

Everything in Ushuaia is defined by one Big Idea - Fin Del Mundo (End of World). The train is tren del fin del mundo, restaurants are ristorante del fin del mundo, the lake is lago del fin del mundo, there´s even a toilette del fin del mundo!! Anything and everything here appropriates this idea as a suffix to their name. Its refreshing to see one Idea integrating every conscious realm of a people.

How good it would be if everything in India could integrate under the Idea of Land of Himalayan Bounty´ or under the Idea of Land of 3 seasons´. Even if a city such as Mumbai could come together as the ´City of Equal Opportunity´ - it can do wonders for the collective spirit of the city.

In the simplicity of a Big Idea and a single minded execution that ties everything to that Idea lie some solutions to our problems of division.

Ushuaia - fin del mundo

Sunday, 17th Dec, Los Nires Hotel, Ushuaia. Post 2
Its crazy to be staring at sun rays at 9pm. Its even crazier to be woken up by sunrise at 3am. This place is disorienting us - used to as we are, to 7am sunrise and 7pm sunsets through the year in Singapore.

Ushuaia in summer seems to be on a revenge mission to get all the sunlight it missed out during the winters. Days are 19 hrs long with night just making a cameo appearance.

Dinner was zuppa asparagos or Asparagus soup, salad and wine. We - esp the 3 veggies have had enough bread and pasta for the past 5 days. We will drive to Lake Fugnano tomorrow in a Hertz car and that should be fun.

More Later
Frm Under Down Under
Ps: This couplet came up today in our chat-
ragon mein daurtay firney ke hum nahi kayal,
Jo aankh se hi na utra, woh lahu kya hai
(We're not enamoured by that which merely runs through the veins,
What's blood's worth if it doesn't show in your eyes) - a revolutionary's call to stand up and fight.
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Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

The southernmost city in the world!

Sunday, 17th Dec, Ushuaia, Argentina
Ushuaia is everything that the southernmost city in the world should be and more. Although Aerolineas Argentinas made us wait 2 odd hours before we could board our flight from Buenos Aires, the turbulent ride indicated that getting to the Ushuaia will be special.

Our plane seemed to strain to touch the ground as if the convexity of earth at its southernmost point was making it hard for the protruding tyres to make contact. Finally, we landed with a thud and as we stepped out of the shed that passes off as airport terminal, we were greeted by a barren landscape that did full justice to being the last frontier of civilization on earth.

Los Nires is a delightful hotel. Its got a wonderful view of the Beagle Channel one one side and of brown mountains with a smattering of snow on the other. The rooms are cozy and spacious and the people are very helpful.

We spent yesterday walking the San Martin street in Ushuaia town. The town itself is a delight - stuck between snow capped mountains and a colorful port. The weather was cold, a bit windy with a slight drizzle.

Today, we went to Martial Glacier via a chairlift. The chairlift takes you to about a 1000 meters above sea level and then its a couple of kms to the glacier. It was fun to walk on the snow and we met Ashok, Rajendran and Rupel - people who would be with us on the Antarctic cruise. They were amazing fit for their age and actually walked down all the way while we took the chair lift back!

The Train at the end of the world - Tren del fin del mundo - is immensely avoidable. Like a lot of touristy stuff, it was a lot of fluff wiht no substance. Imagine being in a 60cm gauge train that moves at the speed of 10-15km per hour through territory that is nothing special save for a wide expanse of tree stumps and you would know what I´m talking about. And all this for 80 Pesos (abt 27USD) and 2 hours!! Never ever take the tren del fin del mundo even to save your life!

We have hired a car to drive around Ushuaia - there are a couple of good spots in a 100km radius around towm. Will let you know tomorrow how it goes
More later!
Frm Under Down Under

Under Down Under III

15th Dec. 11.10am. Howard Johnson hotel, Florida St. BA
Yesterday was our full fledged day of holidaying - we scanned Buenos Aires like nobody´s business!

Went to the cemetery at Recolleta - where Eva Peron lies among other dignitaries of Argentinian history. This was followed by an extended lazing session at Plaza San Martin. We then went to La Boca - Maradona´s home suburb. Saw the colorful houses that are a hallmark of this area, experienced the neighborhood where he played - Boca Juniors stadium was close by. Were accosted by Maradona himself - it was only on close inspection did we realise that he was a look alike!! We rounded off the day at Michelangelo with a Argentine Tango performance. Michelangelo is a real high end place and a good lesson on how to package your culture for the tourist dollar. Given the food, drinks and performances it was dollars worth spent :-)

Buenos Aires for most part is strinkingly similar to a lot of cities we are familiar with. In its weather its a bit like Sydney. In its traffic, its a bit like Manila. In its culture richness, its like Italian cities minus the attitude. In its people, its like Mumbai - very pleasant and forthcoming in help. In its food, it has a bit of all of the above. If I blindfold you, bring you here and open your eyes here, you´ll have trouble figuring out where you are.

Today we are planning to go to Tigre. Dont know much about the place save for the fact that there is a lot of greenery, around a body of water (or the other way around)

More Later
Frm Under Down Under

Under Down Under II

Thursday, 6am, Buenos Aires.
Today, I woke up to dull pink curtains, pale yellow wall paper and a low brooding ceiling. This is Howard Johnson Hotel in Buenos Aires, #04-01.

Buenos Aires airport reminds one of Mumbai. The only difference are the pretty immigration officers and the wide highway leading out of it. Otherwise, the crowds, chaos and confusion re-assured me that India is not alone in tourism anarchy.

The stop over yesterday (wednesday, 13th) in Cape Town was interesting. First, we almost choked on our Lattes (Shanks on his breezer) at the announcement to evacuate the terminal building due to security concerns. This gave rise to some confusion when the couple on the next table kept ordering more beer nonchalantly. It was only when they told us that the announcement was for Terminal 1 ( we were in 2) that we resumed our pursuit of a hindi movie dvd. Our infallible logic was that Gandhi's popularity would have had a halo on bollywood's in South Africa - can't argue with that!

Second, Cape Town became the 5th airport where yours truly's name has been announced to goad me towards the plane. This time though, there was comfort in numbers :-).

We've slept for 13 hours and at 6.30 are ready for a shower, breakfast and exploring Buenos Aires. I'm also hoping to catch a live soccer game here.
More later!
Frm Under Down Under
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Under Down Under 1

So I left office early today for last minute packing up and generally to get into the mood for my vacation. This is something I have planned for a long time and finally I'm leaving for Antarctica tonight!

 

There's Shanks, Shalini, Smita and me - 4 of us going on this trip which'll take us to KL - J'burg - Capetown - Buenos Aires - Ushuaia - Antarctica & back with a detour to Iguazu Falls thrown in. For Smita and me, this was one of the 10 things we wanted to do before we had kids (the other few being going to Everest Base Camp, climbing Mt. Kinnabalu, Conducting a Summer Camp for kids, taking a sabbatical from work etc.)

 

There are 3 things I'm looking forward to as the time to board the flight comes closer -

1. Vast, uninterrupted, undulating, imposing Snow all around. I love the purity and stark beauty of Snow and hope there is no place better than Antarctica to see this in all its glory

2. Life on an expedition ship. These are Ice breakers or Ice strengthened ships brought down from the erstwhile Soviet Union for carrying curious passengers like us to Antarctica. If you've read Ernest Shackelton, you'd know that getting to this southern most continent takes a lot of cutting through ice packs and it was always fraught with dangers. But with these ships, its now easier and more manageable. I hope we don't get caught in stubborn ice packs and are able to get to and get back from Antarctica!

3. Setting foot on Antarctica. This has to be special. To be actually standing on the last frontier of landmass on Earth, take a whiff of pure air and look up at the gaping Ozone hole should be one amazing experience.

 

 

There are also 2 things that are running at the back of my mind:

1. Sea sickness. Don't know whether I'm prone to it or not. Don't know whether any of us will get it or not. But I just hope that the Ocean and us are long lost friends - we take to each other with nothing but joy. Shalini is going to get some patches to ensure we stay normal but hope we dont need them much beyond the torrid Drake Passage.

2. The Cold. Ya, we are carrying layers and layers of clothing. Am sure the parka provided by Quark expedition would be great, but I want to be able to move about my arms freely, be able to maneuver my Canon 400D without the hassle of two layers of gloves.

 

The icing on the cake promises to be the detour to Iguazu Falls and the stop over at Cape Town on our way back.

 

I'll be writing regularly to keep my travelogue updated. Do post any questions about the place and I'll try my best to answer via words and pics.

Cheers to Under Down Under!

Cameron Highlands - nature close-ups

Bala's Chalet is pretty and cozy but sucks in terms of services. You'll do fine if you're immune to no room service, bland food, frequent follow-ups. If you love your bath water to turn ice cold just as you've applied soap all over - you'll not want to go anywhere else. And if you like to hear NO to every request ranging from an umbrella for wet weather, to help in lugging your bags from the 2nd floor - Bala's chalet is heaven!!

Cameron Highlands, where we went for a couple of days, during Deepavali - Hari Raya break doesn't have much to do. To be fair, it never claimed to be a hub of hectic activity. What you get is good weather with average temperature at 15C, good views with green mountains flirting with clouds and good walks amidst rainforests. Carry a book and pair of walking shoes and you'll do fine in Cameron.

Coming back to Bala's Chalet, all wasn't depressing. To its credit, it has a nice building - it used to be British school. The whole compound has an abundance of flowers and greenery. You walk out of your room to a view of the hills in the distance and a bed of flowers at your feet. Here are some of the flowers up close:

Sticking on for dear life!

The water droplets hanging on for dear life from these sinewy leaves tell a tale that might be yours or mine.

The inclination to hang on to what's known and resist from trying what's not, pervades the vast majority of us.

We tend to over-estimate our risks and under-estimate our upsides. This is a perfect recipe for maintaining status quo, however sad the current reality might be. Too many people languish in their current jobs, & current lives because changing it means opening themselves to an unknown future - it might be better, but hell, it could get worse too!

When I saw this drop resisting gravity and sticking to the familiar embrace of the leaf, its resemblance to my life and of many I know hit home - and it hit hard.

World Cup loses its most exciting team

In sport as in war, victory and defeat is delivered on the field much later than it occurs in the mind. Last night's quarterfinals between Argentina and Germany was lost in the South Americans' mind much before the penalties. They never seemed to recover from Klose's header in the 80th minute when they were already beginning to imagine their victory celebrations. I cringed at Klose's header. Reminded me of the FA Cup Final this year when West Ham thought they had won it only to be hit by a sucker punch by Gerrard. Here the characters were different but the denouement pretty much the same.

The turning point of the match for me took place in Pekerman's head. It came in the 72nd minute when Pekerman decided that he had won the match and he just had to protect his lead. He made a defensive move by bringing on Cambiasso for Riquelme. A midfield lock in front of his defense vs. a creative fountain behind his attack. Not satisfied by this, he inexplicably brought on Julio Cruz for Crespo instead of unleashing Messi on the Germans. The latter would have been a menace and would have distracted the Germans from the imminent task of equalizing - thus closing the game for Argentina in normal time. This, however, was not to be and the world was robbed of a true talent's performance and of a great team in the final.

Once Germany equalised, Argentina had no way of coming back. Short of their creative spark and lacking ideas upfront (in Messi's absence) they looked lost in extra time. Penalties were a formality - anyone who could read their body language could make out that they had lost the match in their mind.

It comes down to one man's decision. Last night, Pekerman gave in to his defensive instincts and the whole nation will pay the price for the next 4 years.

It comes down to the mind. Seeing their visions of victory evaporate with Klose's header and missing their creative catalyst, Argentina lost the match much before Cambiasso hit the ball in Lehmann's grateful arms.

Working with clay: Our experience from a Summer Camp in India

Education in India needs several leg-ups. One of the most apparent ones is the lack of education for 40% of our population who are classified as 'illiterate'. Second, where a lot of private enterprise is being seen over the past few years, is to improve the quality of education among the 60% who are getting it. A recent survey conducted by the Department of Education, Govt. of Maharashtra realised that among those people who were officially classified as literate (based on the 3 R's) only abt 20% could do simple arithmetic or write their name - An alarming statistic, if it is representative of the country!!

Anyways, cutting to the chase, during our sabbatical from work last year, we decided to stop thinking and discussing these things and start doing something about it. From there, emerged the idea of utilizing the summer vacations to spend some time with kids. We wanted to focus on small town kids because the Metros have gotten enough of these things.

Over emails and virtual chats, we clarified the objective of this exercise in our mind. What did we really want to achieve? What did we want the kids to take away? How do we define success? There are so many things that you can do, so many avenues to explore, so many topics to cover making this the toughest and the longest part of our journey.

Eventually, we got down to saying that if we can show the kids a world beyond their textbooks, leave them with some tools to make learning fun and we get a sense of fulfillment out of it - THAT'S SUCCESS!!

The nitty gritties of which place, how many days, how many kids, the menu, transportation, agenda etc followed and suddenly it was 9th June. We had 17 kids in our hands and felt like potters working with clay :-)

What followed was 5 days of immense learning for us. We discovered reserves of patience that we did not know existed. We encountered countless questions from the kids - some of which left us scrambling into the deepest recesses of our minds & memories. We experienced parenting and the emotional highs & lows attached to it. It was an emotional roller coaster.....

The lows were handling kids patently lacking in manners - misbehaving & abusing their room mates, cheating in the games, creating a mess in their rooms, creating a fuss over food and generally carrying a sense of entitlement around themselves. They typically happened to be male kids from non-working mothers.

The highs were the conversations - How can we see Jupiter? What is that shining thing next to it? What is a black hole? What is a supernova? Is sun bigger than Pole Star? Is a galaxy bigger or a constellation? The Berlin wall is in Berlin, right? Is a tetra-pack bio-degradable?

It was amusing to see the sense of competition so deeply ingrained in them. Anything that won them points was important, anything that didn't was a chore. Their smiles when they won and their dropped heads when they lost were emotions of such contrast that we found it hard to maintain our equanimity.

But the biggest reward was their unwillingness to go home on the penultimate day. The camaraderie that got established between them over the 5 days was amazing. When we saw them exchanging phone no.s, emails (the few who had access to the net) and addresses - we thought maybe, just maybe, we have begun what could be a life long association.

At the end, for a first attempt - this was great! We had a lot of fun and left the camp with an overwhelming sense of fulfillment. And the kids responded positively to our stimuli. They had a great time playing the learning games, many took to reading beyond their text books - some doing it for the first time!, others started looking at the sky with new eyes - trying to see whether it was Ursa Major or Minnor, still others promised to imprint the world map on the retina of their mind.

There is a sense of power and responsibility when you are dealing with kids. They are like clay and you feel like the Potter who can give them any shape. It's scary and empowering in equal measure.

The stupidity of reservations

The shameless attempts by the Congress and Aligarh Muslim University to accord it minority institution status and thereby reserve 50% of the seats for Muslims flies in the face of India's claim to be a secular state.

What is the need for such reservations?

If universal education at the primary level is the goal of the Government, shouldn't this enable everyone - irrespective of caste, creed or religion - a platform from where to find their deserved position in the society in a meritocracy? Where then, is the role for reservations at the Higher Education level? What's the overall strategy here?

If someone is not capable of getting into an insitute of Higher Education, what is the purpose of providing him the crutches of reservation? Won't this merely delay his eventual settling down to his steady state where his job/role fits his capabilities?

Vote bank politics is screwing the country and no one is thinking of the long term implication of such short sighted appeasements. Tomorrow, if Benaras Hindu University reserves 50% seats for Hindus, will it be acceptable?

People asking for reservations on each and every count of caste, religion and region is a dangerous trend that can tear the unifying fabric of the coutry (or whatever remains of it).

Can someone drill some sense into Arjun Singh, the HRD Ministry, the Congress and the Government? Manmohan Singh and P Chidambran - two of our learned politicians and our hope - are you listening?

An Agitated Me