To Antarctica and back

It all started when I saw a friend of mine sharing a photo from his Antarctica expedition. I found out about the International Antarctic expedition 2015, applied and got through.
The expedition was led by Robert Swan, first person on the planet to walk to the North and South Pole. He is also an United Nations Ambassador for the youth.

I had to raise around Rs 17 lakh which I did in three months, thanks to a report in the Deccan Chronicle. The expedition was all about transforming young people into ambassadors for climate change, protecting Antarctica and promoting renewable energy. There were around 80 people from across the globe coming from different walks of life, who were part of this expedition.

We met at Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, where we had an induction session about what awaited us. We also trekked on the glacier, another first in my life. The whole town of Ushuaia gets its drinking water supply from the glaciers. And the town is bound to run out of it in the next 10 years, if global warming continues. We left Ushuaia and I was excited about the journey — to be on a ship, surrounded by seals, whales, penguins and icebergs, surviving in a temperature that dropped to -20 degrees.

Our daily schedule on the continent mostly comprised awareness programmes where we were taught about how global warming was affecting the planet and how renewable energy could be a boon. Besides these, we were also taught about public speaking, leadership qualities and climate change. We realised that we can’t say “No” to thermal power unless we find a more economical and large-scale way to use renewable energy. The idea was to have a young ambassador, who could come back to his country and raise awareness about the same. While I was there, I saw a part of Larsen B Shelf, a 250-mile iceberg which got separated from the peninsula. It was the first time I was witnessing the impact of global warming with my own eyes.  

I will be going on a South Pole energy challenge this December. I will be skiing along with Robert Swan for 120 miles to the South Pole. For this, I need to raise '60 lakh and I’m currently looking for sponsors.

— As told to Neha Jha