The Hindu Business Line : Goa's polar woman

I am the first polar woman from Goa," says Dr Devyani Borole, 55, who recently returned to India after spending 15 months in Antarctica, where she had gone on a scientific expedition organised by the Department of Ocean Development, Government of India.

As part of the contingent, Devyani explored the possibility of Antarctica — with 90 per cent sweet water — becoming liveable in the distant future. Incidentally, all experiments carried out by scientific expeditions since 1981 — geomagnetic, seismic and geological — are aimed at finding out whether living in Antarctica is possible. There is, however, a treaty under which human habitation is banned so that the pristine nature of the icy continent could be preserved.

Talking about her designation as `polar woman', the doctor explains that any person who is in Antarctica on June 21 is either known as polar man or polar woman. June 21 is the mid-winter day of the two-month-long dark season — when there is no sun at all. Devyani happens to be the second polar woman from India. "It is the first time someone my age braved a trip to this continent and stayed through winter," she says.

In Antarctica, the entire winter stretches over 10 months from February till November-end. It is a time when the continent freezes and everyone burrows in till summer. The only woman to have appeared for the selection interview, Devyani eventually took off for the expedition from Cape Town, South Africa, on board a Russian military-operated ALCI (Antarctica Logistics Council International). Touchdown was breathtaking: there was snow as far as the eye could see and "till the horizon". Recalls Devyani, "We wore our polar clothes before getting off the flight and into the piston bulley, a tank-like vehicle used for commuting."

Eight days after touching base, Goa's first polar woman celebrated her 54th birthday (on February 28) at Maitri, India's permanent station set up in 1998 when the premier station Dakshin Gangotri was abandoned as it was getting buried under snow. Maitri has 30 cabins — each the size of a railway coach — in addition to a dining hall and a sprawling lounge. Giving the expedition company were the occasional squas — a white bird the size of a kite — and penguins.

In fact, Devyani had the good fortune to celebrate another birthday in Antarctica a year later, but this time at Bharti, India's new station set up in Larseman Hills on the coast. Bharti commenced functioning two summers ago and is a seven-day journey from Maitri.

With members of the 25th Indian Antarctica Expedition. COURTESY: WFS

During her stay, Devyani also monitored her team's health, attended to minor injuries brought on by frostbite and assisted in a difficult medical procedure. "There was a big accident — an army man crushed his palm towing a vehicle," Devyani says. The expedition called in the surgeon from Novo, the nearby Russian station, and the lacerations were sutured. A fortnight later, surgery was performed to align the crushed metacarpal bone. "We put a nail in and eight days later, I began physiotherapy and he soon returned to work," she says.

Also held in high esteem were her culinary skills — meals on Sundays, the cook's day off, were highpoints for the rest of the team. "I was given an assistant and depending on his region of origin — it would be a Tamil, Telugu, or even a Rajasthani menu. I cooked dal baati as well as hot, steaming idlis," she laughs. So Kolhapuri chicken, ladoos, and neuris (the Goan dessert made of coconut and jaggery) found their way to the table in Antarctica. "I even celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi by making modak," she smiles. Interestingly, the rations, which were frozen, were replenished whenever a flight or scientific expedition landed. From green coriander to spices, everything was available.

Movies were also available to keep the expedition entertained. "There were four Tamil-speaking members, four Telugus, four Maharashtrians, four Malayalees and nine from north Indian states... So you can be certain our films catered to all linguistic minorities," she says. During her stay, Devyani also became computer-savvy, played table tennis, embroidered and even knitted at Maitri.

As a woman, Devyani never felt handicapped. "My male colleagues were chivalrous. A woman should never doubt her strength... I performed well and was respected by everyone," she adds.

Having returned in time for her younger son's graduation from the National Defence Academy, she is back to her life in sunny Goa. Her older son is a software professional. Incidentally, her husband — a geological oceanographer with the National Institute of Oceanography — had once cruised past Antarctica. Back in her private consulting room in upscale Dona Paula, Panaji, Devyani now feels that managing a family is not a big deal. Her experiences in the southern-most tip of the world have made her discover her inner strength. She considers herself extraordinarily lucky to have spent 15 months in approximately minus-30 degree temperatures and in the midst of an expanse of snow with just a satellite phone as a link to the rest of the world. "It was clean, clear, enjoyable, thrilling..." — an experience like no other.

Women's Feature Service

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