The darkest day

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 night) of the polar night. According to an old tradition, anyone who is in Antarctica on 21st June is called a Polarman. But things are not so easy. Anyone who is here on this day has to spend almost a whole year here. That is because it is not possible to come and go to and from Antarctica during the winters. The last flights leave around March and start only in November. The ships also start arriving in only in December. This privilege 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 were pouring in from all over the world and other Antarctic stations.

The Mid- Winter Day also means that it will only get brighter now. Half the polar night is now over. We will be able to see the sun again after 1 month. 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.

When the Mercury Touched New Depths

As it always happens, the mercury began its downward journey soon after the weather cleared up about a week ago. But now it is having a free fall. 3 days back it reached -28ºC, next day it breached the 30ºC barrier. The mid winter day saw temperatures fall to -30.2º. It had been 4 days since most of us left the station. Nobody would dare to do so unless it is absolutely essential. Around 10:30 on the mid winter day, I went out to take photographs and videos of the station as it appears during the mid winter day. I was fully covered. But as soon as I stepped out, I had a bout of coughing. Then the cold struck me hard. My lungs had gone into a spasm. When I had recovered, I went over to the helipad, set my tripod and camera, and took some photographs of the station, the glacier and the view of the sun trying to rise. The glow of the sun could be seen towards the north, as if it was making an effort to come out, when it was the brightest hour of the day. It was a weak effort. The sun was bound to fail and soon sank again without showing its face. By the time I finished taking the photographs, my hands and feet were frozen stiff inspite of multiple layers of gloves and socks. The tripod would not close because ice had formed at the joints. Frost was also forming on the camera. I tucked it inside my dungaree to protect it. I was not wearing a cap but I did not feel much discomfort. I was probably well acclimatized to the cold. On going inside I discovered that my hands and feet had turned blue. It took a while for them to recover their normal colour and sensation. Over the next 2 days, the temperature continued its downward journey, touching -32º the next day, and -34°C the next. It shows no signs of let up. The lowest recorded at Maitri is -36. It seems like that record will be broken soon, with no signs of a low pressure hitting us in the near future.

At such temperatures, a peculiar phenomenon is seen. If one touches a metal with bare hands, the metal sticks to the skin. This is because the thin layer of water vapour close to skin freezes. There are numerous cases at Maitri of nails sticking to the tongue of a person carrying out some logistic task in the open. Another phenomenon that is supposed to occur at temperatures below -35º is that if one throws hot water in the air, it falls down as ice. This one remains to be tried.

There is nothing abnormal about these temperatures, except 2 things- one, such temperatures are seen in July and August, which are the coldest months. Two, this month, the highest temperature recorded was -3º. Both temperatures are unusual, and could well be a record for the month of June.

Rain without clouds... It happens only in Antarctica

I have never heard of anything like this happening anywhere else on this earth. I had read about it in a book on Antarctic meteorology available here. Now I have seen it as well.

One fine day, or rather night was an absolutely clear, windless, moonlit night. There was no trace of clouds anywhere. The temperature was in the vicinity of -25ºC. It had fallen rapidly after the weather cleared off in the morning. I went out to see what the weather was like. I saw some
> snowflakes flitting around against the light. I looked around to see if there were any clouds. There were none. Where was this snow coming from? The only possibility I could think of was that the wind was probably blowing it from somewhere. But there was no wind. The snow flakes had no business to be there. I told this to the station meteorologist. He had a look at the 'snowfall' and then told me that this was a phenomenon known as 'clear sky precipitation' that is peculiar to Antarctica.

Clear sky precipitation is the only form of precipitation in the interiors of the Antarctica continent. The interior does not have any cloud formation because it is so far away from the sea. It is always clear over there. This kind of precipitation occurs when the water vapour in the air freezes and falls from the sky as snow. It is actually frost that is seen all over the world, but because of extremely low temperatures present in the Antarctic interiors (of the order of -50ºC) it actually falls from the sky. The precipitation by this method is minimal, but since the snow never melts in the interiors, it accumulates over centuries and forms the huge Antarctic ice cap.

I wonder how many more gems like this Antarctica has in store for me.

Preparing for the Mid Winter day

It is a big day for all of us. It will probably never come in our lives again. The Mid- Winter day is on 21st June on the day of the winter solstice. It is a unique 'festival' because it is the only 'festival' that is celebrated in permanent stations all over Antarctica irrespective of nationality. It is also the only 'festival' that is celebrated probably exclusively in Antarctica. Once out of this place, we will probably never celebrate it. Good wishes are pouring in from the previous winter team members.

Another reason why we a eagerly awaiting this day is that the members of the Russian team from the nearby Russian Antarctic Base, Novolazarevskaya are coming over for the celebrations. We will return the visit on 22nd June. So it promises to be a gala event. The preparations are well underway. All members have been assigned tasks, the station is being spruced up, cultural events and games are being planned for the day, sofa covers are being changed, menu is being planned, the carpets have been change, new utensils are being taken out and there is an excitement all around that was missing for so long, replaced by the general gloom that invades all of Antarctica during the polar nights. There are arguments and counter- arguments all day. We are having guests after what seems like eternity. So people have suddenly discovered the joys of grooming. Gone is the unkempt, unshaven look, the shabby clothes that were last washed 6 months back. Good clothes are being washed and ironed, shoes are being polished. Finally, Maitri looks like a human civilization again after a long long time.

I have been assigned with the task of preparing the certificates for the occasion and taking photographs for the same. People are coming up with strange poses and clothes for that purpose. A slightest wrinkle on the face or on the clothes is regarded with great disdain. I am being hounded all over the station. After taking hundreds of photographs, we have narrowed down to 26, one for each member. This promises to be a memorable event.

A thousand lights in the sky

It was an absolutely clear sky today. It was a full moon night as well. There is nothing new about it. I have seen it earlier as well in Antarctica. It seemed amazing then as well. But today was exceptional. It was 10 at night. I went out to have a feel of the weather. There was a bone chilling breeze blowing. The temperature was in the vicinity of -25ºC. I started feeling cold instantly as I was not properly dressed. I started to go inside but then I saw something strange. It was exceptionally bright outside. It was as if a thousand tubelights have been lighted up in the sky. The moon was exceptionally bright. We could see all the familiar, distant landmarks very clearly. The moonlight was being reflected from the snow deposited during the recent blizzards. If it were not windy, we could easily have gone for a walk without torch. The frozen surface of Priyadarshani lake was shining as if it was emitting light. All of Antarctica was bathed in the moon light. It appeared lighted up as if there was some festival coming up. Actually there is- The Mid- Winter day on 21st June.



The moon was so bright that I noticed myself squinting to see it. There was also a multi-coloured corona around it. It was exceptionally well marked today. It has come off beautifully in the photograph

The Polar Night Birds

The polar nights come with their own set of problems. Most work comes to a standstill and all are mainly confined indoors. In such a closed community which is similar to a jail, people tend to get on each other’s nerves and many are highly irritable. Homesickness makes its presence felt. Everyone is jobless. So some activities have been devised to keep everyone active and also to utilize their time fruitfully.
4 hours in the morning from 9 to 1 have been allotted for work. The Ramayan serial is on these days in the afternoons for about 1 hour. After the series is over some more serials like Mahabharat and Krishna have been lined up. In the evenings, some games competitions have been lined up. They are mainly indoor games like chess, carom, scrabble, TT etc. some people have come up with ingenious ideas like push ups competition, arm wrestling, skipping, abdominals etc. Gym timings are over booked. Yoga is going houseful. Some educational programs have also been started- like computer classes, spoken English, and typing. So everyone is busy with something or the other and no one has time to waste. A lot of parties have been planned on the slightest of pretext. The Russians are coming over on the 21st for the mid winter day (night) celebrations and we will be going over to Novo on the 22nd for the same. After that the countdown to the end of the polar nights will begin. So for the moment, Maitri is bustling with activity and all is fine with the world. Its peace and quiet all around, while the rest of Antarctica hibernates