Chapter-6: About My Antarctic Voyage 17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition Punta Arenas, Chile

Chapter-6
About My Antarctic Voyage
17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition
Punta Arenas, Chile


8th February, 1972
To
Professor P.R. Pisharoty,
Physical Research Laboratory (PRL),
Ahmedabad-380009,
India.
Respected Sir,
I am writing you this letter as an up-to-date Report from the port of Punta Arenas, Chile where we may have a halt for about a week as our ship Navarin has to have the fuel and fresh water and so many other food provisions from here.
6.1 Joining the 17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition
As already intimated to you, I joined the Soviet Antarctic Expedition at the port of Fremantle in Perth, Australia on the 28th of December at 4.30 a.m. (local time). At the airport, I faced a small problem because as prescheduled, Dr. Ananjev, Group Leader of the Soviet Antarctic Expedition did not leave any message with the Malaysian Airlines as to where he should be contacted. Now guessing that the team must have gone to the Fremantle port itself, I hired a taxi from Perth and directly went to the port where I was glad to find the Russian ship ‘Professor Viese’ waiting for me.
I boarded this ship and received a warm welcome of strange looks. I must mention that I was given a special honour in the ship. This ship ‘Professor Viese’ left the port on the evening of 28th December 1971. Now arose another problem as to how to send my return airticket together with excess coupons of 10 kg back to the PRL, Ahmedabed, India because my stay in Antarctica was likely to exceed one year, and after one year the ticket would have been invalid. I met the Captain of the ship who arranged to send the same back to the PRL through the ship's Agent Mr. D.C. Bonnet, Traffic Manager, James Partick and Company Private Limited, 1 Mouat Street, Fremantle, W.A. 6160, Australia.
I intimated to you his full address in my first telegram so that you may remind him in case he forgets to send these documents. Kindly confirm whether you have received my open return airticket alongwith Give a spacing 10 kg unused excess luggage coupons or not? Mr. S.C. Shah may kindly be directed to get this ticket cancelled as next year I would be reaching Lenignrad or Murmansk ports of the USSR by ship from the Antarctic station Molodezhnaya and the ship may not go to the Fremantle port at Perth in Australia at all.
6.2 Meeting with the Leader of the 17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition
I would now write here a text of my meeting with Dr. A Ananjev, the Group Leader of the 17th Soviet Antarctica Expedition, 1971-1973. I handed over four letters to him while on board the ship ‘Professor Viese’ and explained to him everything that I knew. He asked for a special certificate given to me by Medical Doctors and Specialists certifying my adaptability to the extreme climate of Antarctica. I, immediately gave him my International Health Certificate but he was not at all satisfied by that and asked whether I had undergone a tough physiological and psychological check-up before my selection to work in Antarctica where the temperature in winter falls to -60*C to -90*C.
He told me that in the Soviet Union a man is selected only after conducting a tough medical check-up determining his adaptability to a temperature of as low as -90*C but still many of our people die of some accidents or sometimes of extreme cold weather and very strong winds of the Antarctic mainland and thus never return from Antarctica.
I told him, “Sir, I am not at all afraid of death because it is something which nobody has been able to predict so far and neither I fear from the coldest winter of Antarctica. If your people can live in such low temperatures, there is no reason why I cannot. Although, I have not undergone any tough medical check-up of that sort, yet I assure you with my full confidence that I would work at your station without any trouble of any type” . He became very happy with my rigid determination and remarked, “If it is like that, you would be the first Indian ever to winter over the South Polar Ice Cap in Antarctica”.
As you might be knowing that before flying to Perth, I had a short meeting with Mr. T.V. Holland, the Australian Deputy High Commissioner in Bombay, India. He gave me a lot of knowledge by showing me many slides of the Australians engaged in doing substantial scientific research in Antarctica. He had also asked me about a special Medical Examination I should have undergone before leaving for Antarctica but I had just laughed that away.


6.3 Soviet Incentives for Working in Antarctica
The text of my meeting with Dr. Ananjev is not yet over because the meeting lasted for several hours. He then started asking about various financial commitments with the Hydrometeorological Service (HMS) of the USSR. I told him that HMS (USSR) would be providing me with (i) Special warm clothing, (ii) Living accommodation, (iii) Medical facilities, etc., free of charge. However, provisions for my food, etc., would be paid later on to the HMS (USSR) directly by my Institute (PRL). He said, “I know all about that but I am not clear about one point as to who would pay you the special daily Risk Allowances”. “I don't know anything about such allowances, please elaborate,” I asked. He continued, “As you know, working in Antarctica in a temperature of as low as -90*C where strong winds blow with tremendous speed is not an easy job and every moment there is a risk of life and it is, therefore, that our Government, in return, pays us a huge lump sum of money apart from our salaries”.
“For example, all our Soviet participants of the Antarctic Expeditions get (i) Food, (ii) Living accommodation, (iii) Special warm clothing, (iv) Medical facilities, (v) Personal telegrams transmission at a very small payment with the official ones being free, and (vi) Travel etc., free of charges, apart from our full salary which directly goes to our families. Besides this, all the Soviet Members of the Antarctic Expeditions get a Risk Allowance of fifteen to twenty five Roubles per day with an ordinary worker getting fifteen Roubles per day, a scientific worker and an engineer getting twenty Roubles per day and so on whereas the Chief of the Station or the Director gets twenty five Roubles per day while in Antarctica. However, while on board the ships all our Soviets get free food, etc., plus full salary plus a daily allowance of approximately twelve to fifteen Roubles plus some foreign money and so on.
All these incentives and allowances are paid to the Soviet Expedition Members by the USSR in Gold Roubles where one Gold Rouble is equal to 10 Roubles and is much stronger than a US Dollar. I told him that as far as I know the HMS (USSR) would not be paying such allowances to me, but my Institute (PRL) may, however, pay. I continued, “For you people, you have such Expeditions every year and the present one is your 17th one and also the biggest Expedition, therefore, your Government has definite written rulings for the Soviet participants in such Expeditions.
For my Institute (PRL), it is a very special and also the first case and, therefore, my Institute does not have any specific and written rulings for such rare cases. What I can do is that I can simply inform my Laboratory that you want all these clarifications regarding such Risk Allowances and it is upto my Institute to decide the same and as soon as I get any such information from my Professor-in-charge, I would let you know. He was very eager and anxious to know all such clarifications about which I knew nothing. I, therefore, had to give you another telegram in which I had made a mention of this topic. Later, everyday he asked me about a reply from you regarding this topic and, in turn, I had to say that the decisions cannot be so prompt, they do need some time. Naturally, It was very difficult to write all the details of the text of my meeting with Dr. Ananjev, the Group Leader of the 17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition, although I made a brief mention in my telegrams to you.
Kindly do the needful regarding this matter so that I may not face any problem of any kind while working in Antarctica throughout its harsh winter. Dr. Ananjev also told me that the Government of USSR does not encourage the foreigners participating in the Soviet Antarctic expeditions to spend the winter in Antarctica because of the extreme climate and thus all the foreign participants return home after spending a month or two in the summer itself. In response, I just remarked that I would be ready to spend even two winters as I am not at all afraid of the coldest weather. He disclosed that the Soviet Union has a rule that none can spend two consecutive winters in Antarctica, although one is allowed to spend one winter and two summers continuously which I will also be doing there. This is, however, a brief text of the meeting.
6.4 Reaching Antarctica and Arranging for Cameras
I reached Antarctica on 6th January at 11 p.m., (local time) and found myself surrounded by Ice when I landed there. The surrounding ocean was completely frozen but still the ship ‘Professor Viese’ could manage to sail through the ice being a special scientific vessel and thus we reached the Soviet Antarctic Observatory ‘Mirny’. I noticed that everybody but me was having at least one camera and many were having two cameras, one for the slides and the other one a movie camera. I realised that the biggest blunder I made in my journey to Antarctica was that I forgot to take a camera with me. Every moment, I felt an urgent need of the camera so as to enable all the other fellow Indian citizens to visit Antarctica through the slides without, however, actually feeling the coldest climate but what to do and, from where to get the camera.
Then, I learnt about the ship ‘Krupskaya’ sailing to Antarctica around 20th January so as to take back home all the Soviet personnel of the 16th Soviet Antarctic Expedition. I immediately gave you a telegram intimating you about this ship and requesting you to send me a camera and films through this ship as Dr. Ananjev had told me that in Molodezhnaya the camera may not be available. I was very much worried about it till I received your telegram getting a confirmation of the arrangements made by you regarding the camera to be provided to me in Molodezhnaya.
Later, Dr. Alexandrov also confirmed through a telegram that I would be supplied a photo-camera and films at Molodezhnaya in Antarctica without any payment provided I return the same at the end of the Expedition before leaving Molodezhnaya. As I am planning to visit all the Soviet stations in Antarctica to know what sort of work is going on at the stations other than Molodezhnaya as well, I would like to keep the camera with me so as to have the slides of the scientific work being done at all such stations. I may, therefore, be allowed not to return the camera at Molodezhnaya itself but to carry the same along with me.
If, however, a movie camera were also available at the Soviet Antarctic Station Molodezhnaya, I would like to make a short movie of my work at Molodezhnaya station and also of the various scientific fields in which the Soviets are engaged at the South Polar Ice Cap in Antarctica Dr. Alexandrov has already agreed to provide the photo-camera, but about the movie camera, I am not sure. I think that all the PRL staff members and all the other fellow citizens of India would certainly like to see such a movie on Antarctica , if I happened to bring one with me. However, I would let you know about the camera issue as soon as I reach the Soviet Antarctic Station Molodezhnaya. If a movie camera besides the photo-camera were also available at Molodezhnaya, I am sure you would make all possible arrangements through Dr. Alexandrov in getting me the same.
I have noticed that even a very common Soviet man is carrying both such cameras with him. I would be the first Indian to visit and to winter over the Antarctic mainland, I should have, therefore, equipped myself with all such accessories beforehand, but because of the Indo-Pak war panic and hurry, I forgot everything and felt their need only here where it is a bit difficult to get them. I heartily thank you for the arrangements you have made and also you would make in order to help me in getting such accessories at the Molodezhnaya station in Antarctica itself.
6.5 My First Impressions About the Antarctic Continent
I would now write just a few lines about my first impressions of the Antarctic mainland. One can very easily assume by just sitting in his own house, how would the Antarctic mainland be looking like. It is ice and ice all around and the surrounding sea is also completely frozen. All around there is mist and frost, the sun remains in its clothes and would seldom be seen. All the time it is day or night, each of six months duration. One has to wait for six months when the day disappears and the cold polar night sets in for the next six months.
People say that it is summer but the temperature outside never knows whether there is something by the name positive in this world, and to know that it has to visit the Kelvin's grave and ask for his help as the tempratures are always negative and are below the freezing point. Very strong winds blow, thereby giving a blow to the temperature still more to the negative. The summer temperature which I observed was about -40*C. I put on my special dress and went far away from the ship all alone and carved on the frozen surface of the ocean the name of our own motherland ‘India’ and enjoyed doing so. When we reached Antarctica, it was 11 p.m. and the sky was also a bit clear.
Although, it was not dark at all, yet in the sky I found some red patches and I immediately guessed that it must be the sun-set and the time was 11.45 p.m. I kept watching it and to my great surprise, I found that the sun was not setting in but it was rising. It is here for the first time in my life that I witnessed a sun-rise at midnight in a nightless sky. I observed that the difference between the sun-rise and the sun-set was hardly 45 minutes or even less than that.
6.6 Changing of the Ship and Circumnavigation of Antarctica
On 16th January, I changed over from the ship ‘Professor Viese’ to the ship ‘Navarin’. From Mirny Observatory, the Meteorological station ‘Molodezhnaya’ is about 2000 km and it was first planned that an aircraft would take the Expedition members from Mirny to Molodezhnaya. However, later with the arrival of the ship Navarin in Mirny, the aircraft plan was cancelled and I, therefore, had to change over to the ship ‘Navarin’.
The 17th of January was historical day for me as after taking the lunch, I set out for a nearby mountain island. I placed my footing at 12.50 p.m. (Moscow time) there and became the first Indian to set foot on the Antarctic mainland. I picked up some rocks from here to carry them alongwith me to India at the end of the 17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition. It was quite high Mountain and it was very difficult to climb over it but somehow I managed to climb right upto its peak where I found so many penguins and their small babies and a few were sitting on their eggs. They were many but I was alone and enjoyed their attack when I approached their babies. I named it as ‘Indian Antarctic Island’ and wrote it there by a stone, may be after some time the snow would wash it away or the penguins would rub it off by laying eggs on it but their babies out of these eggs would be the Indian penguins because of their taking birth on this ‘Indian Antarctic Island’.
On the 18th of January, our ship Navarin left for Molodezhnaya in Antarctica. Now since the ship is exhausted and also running short of the fuel and fresh water, it is, therefore, first going to the port of Punta Arenas, Chile where it has to have all the necessary provisions, etc., and the expected stay at this port is about 3-4 days, say from 7th to 9th February. It would take about a month from this port to reach Molodezhnaya station in Antarctica and we hope to reach there in February end or in the first week of March. As soon as I reach Molodezhnaya station in Antarctica, I would intimate you the same by a telegram. Sending of letters from Molodezhnaya station and also from all the other Antarctic stations is not possible and only short telegrams can be transmitted via Moscow.
6.7 Learning the Russian Language
However, I have a language problem. The Soviets don't know English and I don't know much Russian. I am, therefore, spending most of my time in learning the Russian language these days. On board this ship Navarin, I have made friends with the Chief Navigation Officer Mr. Vitaly Evanovich Pashnichney who knows English fairly well. Besides being a very good officer, he is a very good friend as well.
He is my best friend aboard this ship and gives me coaching in the Russian language and I am sure by the time I reach Molodezhnaya station in Antarctica, I would be able to converse in Russian. Apart from guiding me in Russian language, the Chief Navigator Mr. Vitaly Evanovich has also trained me in steering the course of the ship which I do almost everyday for about three hours in the evening when he is on duty on the bridge of the ship and in the mean time he also gives me new Russian lessons.
6.8 My Antarctic Programme
Now I write a few words about my Antarctic programme. I would be reaching the Soviet Antarctic Meteorological Rocket Launching Station ‘Molodezhnaya’ in the end of February and would work there for one full year upto about next February. Antarctica has short summer lasting for about 2-3 months which, however, is colder than any of the coldest places in India. In this short period, the ice partly melts away and also the frozen sea becomes soft and allows only the specially designed ships to pierce through its white ice covered surface and it is during this period that the Expedition teams are changed when the new members come and the old ones go home.
For exchanging the Antarctic Expedition members, it takes about 2 months to reach Antarctic stations and about two months to return to home places and thus for each participant the total period becomes more than one and a half years. The Soviets are having six stations for conducting scientific research in Antarctica and this year they are planning to open another one on the shore of the Amundsen sea. The names of these stations are (1) Meteorological Centre ‘Molodezhnaya’, (2) Mirny observatory (3) Vostok, (4) Leningradskaya, (5) Bellingshausen and (6) Novolozarvaskay, and another one is Emery which is only a seasonal station. Out of all these stations, Molodezhnaya is the biggest one where about 120 people work, and the 2nd biggest station is Mirny while at all the other stations not more than 20 people work. All these stations form a Soviet network in Antarctica and surround it almost completely.
After completing my work at Molodezhnaya in Antarctica, I wish to visit all the Soviet Antarctic stations spending about a month or so at each station so as to collect the maximum wealth of knowledge that I could do. The Soviet station Vostok is deep inside Antarctica somewhere in the middle of the sea coast and the South Pole. I have a plan to work at this station as well.
There is an American station exactly at the South Pole. It is said to be a well developed American station which often exchanges its members with those of the other foreign stations in Antarctica. This American station is, however, not very far away from the Soviet ‘Vostok’ station. Just near the ‘Vostok’ station there is another American station and an aircraft flies from this station to the American station at the South Pole. I am very much ambitious of visiting this South Polar American station to know the work being done there and also to collect some meteorological data from there.
So far as the visiting of the Soviet stations is concerned, I think that there would be no difficulty because in the short summer either the ships or the Soviet aircrafts move from one station to the other. However, visiting and collecting the meteorological data at the American station situated right at the South Pole may require some pre-correspondences with the concerned American personnel of this station. Kindly find out if some arrangements could me made regarding my working at this South Polar American station for sometime in the summer. Its official name is Amundsen-Scott South Pole station, and I want to visit and work there for some time during this Soviet Antarctic Expidition.
Kindly have correspondences with Dr. Alexandrov, Chief of the HMS (USSR) and also with the concerned American personnel for enabling me to visit all the Soviet Antarctic stations including Vostok and also finding out if I could work at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station in the Antarctic summer in order to collect the meteorological data there. I am requesting you to make all such arrangements so that I may make the best use of my stay in Antarctica. Also, after a year I would become used to the extreme cold climate of Antarctica with temperatures as low as -80 to -90*C, and thus I won't find it difficult to work right at the Geographic South Pole where there is American station, viz., Amundsen-Scott South Pole station for sometime. Kindly have the necessary correspondences with the concerned personnel regarding this issue.
Next year sometime towards the end of August, I hope to reach the port of Murmansk or the port of Leningrad in the USSR by some Soviet ship from Antarctica. These special Soviet vessels usually belong to their companies in Murmansk (North Russia) and, therefore, often sail from Murmansk to Arctic and Antarctic and back. I may stay in Leningrad for sometime with a view to having a know-how of the work being done at the important Meteorological Research Centres there.
After that I would be in Moscow and would, therefore, wish to work at the Central Aerological Observatory (CAO) of the HMS (USSR) for some time so as to bring the maximum meteorological data from all the Soviet Meteorological stations including Molodezhnaya in Antarctica along with me to PRL in India where I expect to reach sometime towards in the end of the next year. This is, however, my provisional programme and I hope that you would finalise and confirm it by having the necessary correspondence with the concerned personnel of the concerned nations.
6.9 Antarctic Communications
As I have already mentioned, there are no provisions of sending letters from Antarctica. It was just by chance that our ship Navarin because of running short of various food provisions, fuel and fresh water, etc., had to come to Punta Arnes, Chile for taking the same and I could, therefore, write this brief Report to you. However, there are provisions of sending official telegrams via Moscow and the telegraphic messages of any type forwarded thorough the Institute can be received while on board the ship and also in Molodezhnaya in Antarctica.
I would keep in touch with you by sending short telegrams of my progress twice in a month which would obviously imply that I am keeping up good health. Kindly send a copy of all such telegrams and Reports including the previous ones to my father (Sardar Mohinder Singh Sehra, G-80, P & T Colony, Jalandhar City, Punjab, India) alongwith a forwarding letter from your side telling about my welfare so as to keep my parents in high spirits.
My sister Rani Parminder Kaur’s marriage is scheduled in this very month, viz., February, but the exact date is not known to me. Before my leaving for Antarctica my father tried his best and pressed the other party to mature my sister's marriage in December itself but the other party did not agree perhaps due to the Indo-Pak war panic. Thus we became so helpless in this respect that my parents asked me to go ahead with my Antarctic Expedition programme. Kindly do inform me about my sister's marriage.
My elder brother S. Manjit Singh, student of M.Sc. (final), Department of Botany, Sardar Patel Unversity, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat, India is appearing for the 4th and the final semester examination for the Degree of M.Sc. in Botany in March-April. He had a plan of doing Ph.D., after his M.Sc. (Botany) at the Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, India or elsewhere. Kindly intimate to me his M.Sc. examination result as soon as it is over and also his future plan as to whether he goes for some job or succeeds in getting a scholarship for doing his Ph.D. Degree.
As I had hinted you once that my mother Shrimati Satwinder Kaur does not keep up a good health. She is suffering from rheumatic pains and later she had a dog-bite about six months back due to which she was in bed for a long period. Everyday, she has to take some special medicine (4-5 tablets) to keep her self temporarily relieved from the rheumatic pains, etc. The day I had left for Antarctica, she had not yet completely recovered from the dog-bite effect, and to get even some temporary relief from the rheumatic pains with those tablets. Later on, someone told me an Ayurvedic medicine and I wrote about the procedure of preparing this medicine to my father for giving the same to my mother.
I do not know about the results of using this medicine. Sometimes, I become very much worried about her. Please inform me about the result of using this Ayurvedic medicine and also kindly wire me about her welfare once every month. I can be in touch with my parents only through you. I, therefore, request you to wire me all the important and the urgent news concerning my domestic affairs and the welfare of all our family members at home once every month at the Antarctic station ‘Molodezhnaya’. I hope that you would surely accede to this humble request of mine and would definitely keep me in touch with my parents which, however, is possible only through you.
6.10 Antarctic Expeditions Risks
On 26th January, I had given a telegram in the name of Prof. Vikram Sarabhai, Director PRL, congratulating all the PRL and ISRO staff members for our triumphant Republic Day. As I have already elaborated that I am, very often, interrogated regarding the financial commitments between HMS (USSR) and PRL (India) and, especially about the special Risk Allowances for working in the most difficult Antarctic conditions. Kindly discuss this issue with the Director of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahemdabad, India, and take up some suitable decision. As soon as a final decision is made, please intimate the same to me so as to calm down such interrogations. I would then be able to clarify everything regarding the finances to my station Director at Molodezhnaya in Antarctica so as to avoid any unnecessary troubles there.
Kindly convey my sincere regards to respected Prof. K.R. Ramanathan. I would bring some Antarctic rocks for him for his further active scientific investigations. Before concluding, I wish to give you some more news related to my Antarctic journey. While aboard the Air India plane after crossing Singapore, the weather became very bad and there was a lot of lightning in the sky. The Commander of the aircraft apprised us of the dangers ahead and warned all the passengers to keep alert. He also told us that he may change the course of the plane and may not go to Perth in order to have an emergency landing elsewhere. In the meantime, he kept fighting with the lightning by continuously lowering and lifting his aircraft till he succeeded in coming out of the dangerous zones and thus we could reach Perth at the scheduled time.
While I was on board the ship Professor Viese, one of the big transformers of this vessel got burnt, thereby causing fire on the ship. Immediately, the alarm bell was rung and everyone ran out for the dear life. But luckily, the fire was put off after fighting with it for about an hour and the burnt transformer was replaced. The ship continued smelling of the burnt material for about four days due to this fire till we reached Antarctica.
At the Antarctic Mirny station also, there was an accident in which, however, I was not involved. Because of a very low temperature, the sea surface remains completely frozen and on it move the special sledge-driven tractor-trains and also the special aircrafts but there are some invisible cracks on the frozen sea-crust often covered by snow called crevasses. One of the aircrafts was landing and when it landed, it was caught in a big crevasse and thus got sunk within moments alongwith the pilot before any help could reach there.
Such accidents do occur and I would, therefore, have to remain very cautious throughout my stay in Antarctica. Here the winds are so strong that they can very easily lift a man and put him behind the curtain by killing him but anyway, I am enjoying this adventurous scientific Soviet Antarctic Expedition and would try to make the best of this rare opportunity provided to me.
6.11 Other Requests
As usual, this year also I purchased books worth Rs. 500/- by taking an advance from the PRL. I have carried most of these books alongwith me to Antarctica. Before leaving, I had handed over the NCERT Book Award bills duly completed in all respects alongwith the vouchers and the money receipts of the books purchased, to Mr. Nand Kosher Vyas (Research Scholar) so as to send them to the National Institute of Education, National Science Talent Search Scheme, Department of Science Education, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi, India, after getting them countersigned by you. Kindly see that everything is nicely done.
Before leaving for the Expedition, I could not give any authority letter to the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) for collecting my salary. Now, I am enclosing herewith an authority letter in the name of my father so that in case he needs some money, he may collect the same from my salary. He may, however, demand no money but if and when demanded, kindly arrange to disburse the same to him.
Before ending this Report, I send my best regards to all the PRL & ISRO staff members including all the Research Scholars. Also please convey my sincere respects to my parents and as already requested, kindly keep me in touch with them. Obviously, it is difficult to rewrite this Report and send it separately to my parents and brother because there is no time for that. I would, therefore, request you to arrange to send one copy each, of this brief Report, to my father at his Jalandhar address and my brother at his Vallabh Vidyanagar address which have been given elsewhere in this very Report. I would feel deeply obliged to you for this favour. I send my sincere regards to Prof. P.D. Bhavsar and also to all the Project Leaders and all the PRL & ISRO scientis and everyone else.
Hoping to return to India by the end of the next year after accomplishing my Antarctic Expedition work successfully, With sincerest and heartfelt regards,
Respectfully yours
(Sd/-)
(Parmjit Singh Sehra)
(First person from the Indian sub-continent ever to winter over the South Pole and circumnavigate and explore the Antarctic continent by participating in the 17th Soviet Antarctic Expedition).
Dated : 8th February, 1972
Place : Punta Arenas, Chile, the southernmost city of the world.
Covering map shows the various Soviet Antarctic stations as follows:
(i) Mo - Molodezhnaya
(ii) Mi - Mirny
(iii) V - Vostok
(iv) L – Leningradskaya
(v) B - Bellingshausen
(vi) N - Novolazarvaskaya