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Photo: P Sridhar

Ice Ice Baby An iceberg in Arctic

He was the nice guy on a packaged tour. He organised the itinerary and games, cracked jokes and patched up egos. The handy, man-next-door, married, with kid tagging along.

Till someone pointed out, “That guy? He is P Sridhar, MD Pyromatic India. He makes heat transfer equipment for engineering labs and chills out at the poles.”

Pardon me? “Yeah, he was in the Arctic. Last August.” Really? He sensed the disbelief. “Come to my office,” he commanded.

There, he unveiled 2,000 photographs of the Arctic landscape, of midnight sunlight and melting icebergs, brilliant in colour and composition.

He showed a write-up on him by a local reporter, and rattled off information that a Greenlander might grope for. “A Greenland adventure tour operator said I was the second Indian to explore the Arctic Greenland,” he said.

“I’m definitely the first Chennaivasi to do so. My co-tourists were surprised that I had come alone from India.”

His expedition to the Arctic Circle was the latest step in his wanderlust-filled life, something he promised himself when left behind with grandparents as a young boy.

While in Prashanthi Nilayam, Puttaparuthi, for a degree course, he made his father pay for a trip to Singapore. “Since then, I’ve travelled alone in the six continents. The next will be Antarctica.”

This trip, however, was different. Preparation began a year ago with three-hour workouts — shuttle and ball badminton games and weightlifting at the gym.

He shopped for special trekking shoes, two pieces of thermal wear, a woollen coat, waterproof jacket, lengthy muffler, two pairs of gloves, sleeved shirts and pairs of cotton jeans. Dark glasses and a cap in hand, he was ready for the cold unknown.

So, off to Copenhagen via Helsinki, where he switched to Air Greenland for a four-and-a-half-hour flight to Kangerlussaq. Developed by the U.S. Defence Department in 1960, it’s the only airport in north Greenland (Arctic region) which can take in large aircraft.

No, you don’t have to shack it up there. Hotel Kangerlussaq, attached to the airport, has a three-star rating. Food could taste strange, unless you routinely bite into raw musk ox, whale, reindeer and seal meat. Indian food can be arranged, but carry what you can.

The ice cap is 40 km to the East. “Spectacular,” is the first of the Arctic guy’s string of superlatives to describe it.

“You’ll see herds of musk ox, reindeer, Arctic ranger, and a few falcons and ravens.”

No polar bear? “The last one sighted was reportedly killed in Kangerlussaq in 1960. No one has seen them since. Bow tail whales are a possibility. And, overfed sea gulls.”

The sun doesn’t set in summer, giving Greenland the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ tag. You’ll see 320 degrees of light, a stunning spectrum on the horizon. Winter is dark, lasting from November 1 to January 13. On January 13, the people of Ilulissat clamber up the mountains for a glimpse of the new sun. On January 14, the sun spreads to the plains.

“Surprising, isn’t it? On January 14, we celebrate Pongal/Sankranti and pray to the Sun God. Did Vedic life originate in the Arctic along with the food cycle?”

On a midnight cruise, you can make out ponds, lakes, fjords and rivers in the ice. Tall ice fjords push 20 million tonnes of ice every day into the Atlantic Ocean.

Dazzling ranges of ice drift some 40 metres a day, changing contours and colour with wind and light. They crack, and air escapes in a thunderous boom.

As you watch, icebergs tumble into the sea. One of them got the Titanic. Remember the icicles in the water? That’s minus 38 degrees Celsius.

“During June-August, tourists throng to see the ice cap melting. Plants grow for a short time in this season. Our guide said, “Here’s a forest of Greenland,” and pointed to shrubs - grass cotton flowers, Arctic blue herbal flowers and Niviarsiaq (maiden), a beautiful purple flower. There are no trees in Greenland.”

A Dash 7 aircraft drops you at Ilulissat (iceberg), one-and-a-half hours away. Jakobshaven, the port, is an infinite icescape. Not surprisingly, Sermermiut, a world heritage site there, was abandoned 4,000 years ago. Beyond its whale skin-and-bones houses is the Bitches Gorge, where the older generation would jump off to save food for the young. “I suggested they call it Nun’s Gorge,” Sridhar said.

The helicopter flies low on the Ilulissat glacier for a fabulous view of the birds. The pilot lands on the glacier’s edge for 30 minutes.

“I stood on the freezing ledge to record the fantastic scenery on camera. You cannot find a more beautiful place anywhere. Every square inch of the Arctic is architecture by the Almighty.”

Call 98400-31277. Sridhar will answer if he isn’t exploring Antarctica.

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