Poles Apart

He now screens his film Amazing Antarctica at schools across the city. Recently he showed them at Lonkar Madhyamik Vidhyalaya in Mundhwa and Panditrao Agashe School on Law College Road. “I try to increase the students’ awareness about Antarctica,so I tell them about the terrain,the climate and my experiences over there,” says Khutwad.

“Antarctica is practically untouched by humans and is the perfect place to study Earth ‘s history. The world will remain a mystery till we learn more about the Antarctic. If some of the students I meet are inspired to take up science and research the Antarctic,I will feel fulfilled,” he says.

Through the movie,Khutwad tells students how he survived in temperatures that ranged from minus 15 ° to minus 40° Celsius,and how researchers have to melt ice to obtain water for drinking and all other purposes. Khutwad recalls that for the first month at Antarctica,they had fresh food from the ships that had carried them there. From the second month,however,they had to survive on frozen food for the entire year. They also struggled with months of continuous sunshine in the polar summer from November to January and then months without any sunshine from May to July. “It gave us all sleep disorders but we managed to adapt in the end,” he says.

“Children ask me about food and water all the time and I tell them that this is what we did. What gave us more trouble,however,was being isolated from the rest of the world and this is not easy to understand unless you’ve experienced it,” he says. In recent years,IMD’s Maitri facility at Antarctica has been connected to the internet. However,Khutwad emphasises that there is no physical transportation or communication available to the mainland,especially in winter. “If something were to go wrong,there’s no way to return,” he says. “This is a humbling thought.”

In the end,he still promises the children that it is all worth it. “Which other place in the world is so untouched and undiscovered?” he asks. “Where else would you see the beautiful scattering of lights we call the aurora?”