A 45-year-old mechanical engineer, Ramanan Selvam, has brought out a book on his solo trip to Antarctica.
The trip materialised after six months of planning and in November 2017 he wandered amidst penguins, seals and krills, fulfilling his dream.
A student of Government Higher Secondary School in Vettavalam near Tiruvannamalai, he was among the first batch to graduate in BE Mechanical Engineering from MNM Jain Engineering College in OMR. He passed without arrears and got a job after graduation. He later completed his MBA and joined the automobile manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra. He is settled in Paranur, Chengalpattu, and has a daughter and son.
As a child he wanted to see the seven wonders of the world and started out with the Pyramids of Giza. He has since travelled to Angkorwat in Cambodia, watched the Aurora Borealis in Iceland and visited Masai Mara in Kenya, trekked in Madagascar and Nepal. Last week he was in Central Vietnam to view the lantern festival.
Could commoners visit Antarctica? “I thought Antarctica needed more mental power and strength. Age was on my side,” he says. His search threw up interesting information about the continent and also introduced him to a retired IAS officer from Chandigarh who became his co-passenger in the expedition.
A vegetarian he had no difficulty in finding food: “I eat eggs so I could manage. There are plenty of vegetarian options. There is always the salad,” Mr. Ramanan said. It was his struggle to find good books that led him to pen his experiences. “A personal loss during COVID-19” pandemic led him to write the travelogue.
How did his family accept his decision to embark on the expensive trip? “The family knows I don’t spend on myself. My wife understands my passion for travelling,” he explained. In 2018 January, he took his family to Gulmarg in Kashmir to give them an experience of snow. “That season there was more snowfall in Gulmarg than even in Antarctica,” he recalled.
He said he put his management education to practice. He has conducted seminars on preparing for projects in Anna University’s MIT campus for students.
The 15-day trip cost him around ₹6 lakh. He has spent ₹5 lakh on publishing the book. By mid-March, the English version of the book would be available. Already a college in Chengalpattu has placed an order for 200 copies of the English translation.
