Days at Maitri

Ankitha, 23 June 2019

Ever Wondered?

Have you ever wondered? About how people lived on over the years so close to the poles? In Antarctica, land that was cut off from everywhere else in the world? All through my expedition, I had had the opportunity to interact with many people who haven't visited Antarctica including school children and their teachers, Engineering students, newly joining employees of ISRO, IAS and IPS officers, members of various Ministries, Parliamentary Committees, Outstanding and Distinguished scientists of ISRO including current and former chairmen of the organization and the Honorable Vice President of India. That is a wide range of human exposure but deep down, at the basic level, there was something common in most conversations... it was curiosity and wonderment. What and why, you ask? The conversations included how we maintained temperatures inside station? How we powered all the equipment? How we protected ourselves when we ventured out? How long could we stay outside with that protection? What was the temperature and wind for that particular day? What were the minimum temperatures like? How we managed our biological and sleep cycles on polar days and nights? And many more... All this apart from technical discussions related to our work and organization. When myself and my 2 colleagues were remembering our interactions before our return, I suddenly realized that we are all curious to know about a place that has been discovered and being explored only since a few decades. Even I am, because 13 months wouldn't be sufficient to know about the dangerous beauty or serene wilderness of Antarctica. But I will share with you all I learnt from my expedition.

The first night at Maitri

By the time we arrived at Maitri, the Antarctic day length was 23 hrs with the sun going below horizon for only an hour. So practically, there was no darkness even in the night. The first night in Antarctica was different, with low howling sounds of wind singing lullabies until the gust made a fierce blow. And I woke up few times to check if something happened until I finally understood it was the gust. Mornings started by as early as 06:00 AM for most members and when people walk the corridors in Maitri, you feel it in your room. I started spending time in the kitchen and dining, making new friends. Morning meetings were held by the station leader, everyday at 08:00 AM and all members except the ones on galley off were to attend the meetings to discuss day-to-day activities and other information.

Welcoming Blizzards and Shramdaans

The first 2 days went by observing the activities of station, getting accustomed to the systems and the climate. And we brought with ourselves a series of blizzards. And there it was, my first experience of a blizzard welcoming us to this land. Clear skies turned cloudy, gentle winds turned strong, carrying with them the soft snow lazily deposited on their way, along with the snow falling fresh. Their strength hitting the station hard for being an obstruction.

The blizzard would manage to deposit a lot of snow in front of the summer camps, making it difficult to even open the doors. And people went to sleep in the summer camps would be locked inside by the deposited snow. Every morning, some assistance was required to cIear the snow and open the doors. And after every blizzard, there were many entrances where snow would be deposited, sometimes even upto the roof of container, disabling access. Shramdaans became a norm after every blizzard, clearing the snow with shovels, reopening the entrances, which would soon be closed by another blizzard few hours away.

Click her to have a glimpse of blizzard at Maitri

Shramdaan is the voluntary labor contribution by the members for any station or expedition related activities in the station premises Eg: Clearing snow, shifting expedition food and groceries from ship to respective containers and periodical shifting from containers to station, cleaning the station and surroundings..., etc. Shramdaans needed effort but members always had some moments out of it.

Remember the Norwegian friends we bid goodbyes to when we landed at Troll airbase? We met a few of them again at Maitri, they were members of the MadICE project, an Indo-Norwegian project to investigate floating ice shelves and adjacent grounded ice in central Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. And more members of 37ISEA arrived from Capetown.

Tea, Coffee, Maggi, Games and Internet

Be it any time of the day, tea or coffee were the best refresheners. Every evening, tea would be prepared for eveyone and members would be called for in village style shouting 'chaaaiiiii' and we all rushed for tasty adrak wali chai. And when its blizzard time, you stay back inside the base for most time... Feeling lazy? make anything from tea to milkshake and call everyone. Up for a lazy movie watch? whats better than hot maggi with movie and a blizzard. Midnight sleep crisis? Group chitchatting? Maggi fits just right.

But we can't be eating and drinking all day while we even can't venture out much during blizzard, games to the rescue. Indoor games like carroms, chess and TT were available. We would mostly start off with carroms, game after game, we would go on until we hear 'Chaaaaiiiiii...' from the kitchen. And after tea, its time for TT until its dinner time.

But the title also says 'Internet'. As interesting as it may sound, Maitri station previously had internet connectivity which was disrupted due to technical issues. Now imagine the group of 23-25 people living in a remote place with no internet connectivity. Calls for an appreciation, particularly in the age of internet.

But why did I mention it if there was no internet? Well, one of our colleague arrived early to check and try to resolve the issues at Maitri end in coordination with NCPOR. So, he had a special welcome, with everyone looking up to him to do some magic, some hoping he would and some, hopeless. And he being a person who works with so much passion, he was on job soon after arriving. We assisted him while he worked for less than a day before he could connect Maitri to the world of internet. Everyone clapped for him, praised and appreciated him for giving them something they didnt hope for. They were grateful for the efforts NCPOR made and tried to make the best of it by first speaking to their families heartfully without counting minutes (Apart from internet, through satellite phone, members were allotted 20 minutes a month from March to November and 6 minutes per month from December to February). The station was now in a different state, with happiness and appreciation filled in members' hearts and admiration for the person who made it possible, named 'Saravanan'.

But the happiness din't stay long. After about half a day, the connection was lost. Now, the internet man was back on action and we were back in assistance. Once again, he established the connection which lasted only for a few hours. Again, back on job, but this time, there was no re-connection. Discussions for further measures to solve the issue were discussed but in Antarctica, you don't have retail stores, amazon etc where anything you want can be bought right away.

Time for Departure

We had splendid 20 days at Maitri, making new friends, playing games, doing shramdaans, feeling the blizzard and the silence after it left, visiting surroundings, playing with snow, walking on frozen lake and watching a little penguin. The madICE team had already left with a convoy. The blizzards gave only one flying windows in these 20 days. And 4 of us travelled to Bharati in that window. Now, it was time for our journey ahead. Bharati is at about 3000 kms east of Maitri and 2300 kms from south pole. The Basler flight (BT67) takes about 9-11 hours and would stop midway for refueling. Mind you, this is a feeder flight and its nothing like regular flights. Its a small flight that can take a maximum payload of about 3 ton and seating capacity of 18 pax. There are no facilities like toilet or air conditioning or luxury seats in a BT67. People eat less and some even go low on hydration one day before they take this flight. And some also sleep less hoping to go through part of their flight sleeping. We left early in the morning for Novo airbase. The flight was already there by the time we reached. But to take off from Novo, we needed clearance from Showa airbase for landing... Due to a recent blizzard, soft snow has accumulated on the airstrip that has to be cleared up for landing. We waited for about 3-4 hours at Novo before we got the clearance and flew. I slept straight through the first lap until we landed at Showa airstrip for refueling.

Here are a few interesting videos related to Maitri captured by Indian Antarctic expeditioners.