Two eminent personalities have written comments on colonel Ganesan's book It is posted here.
Sweating
even in snowfields.
( Antarcric experiences of a
wintering Station Commander.)
Colonel
P.Ganesan,V S M
This book was originally published in Tamil by
M/S Palaniappa Bros in 2007.In these 13 years it is possible that more editions
would have come.However the author decided to bring an English version with
little improvements.
The Author-the book.An introduction.
By
Mr.C K Gopalakrishnan,B.E.
Chief Engineer, P W D (Retd )
This book is a compilation of a single
assignment experience of a highly patriotic and dedicated military officer who
was physically strong and mentally robust. An event creates different impact on different people’s mind. Because
people are not of the same caliber. Every human being comes with different
socio, economic, educational back ground and different expectations in life. So
their understanding and approach to a particular assignment is bound to be different.
A military officer was allotted
land in the Madras metro Politian Development scheme for construction of house
in 1977 in the Annanagar Development
scheme. He was somewhere in the western border of india. After a gap of
5 years the Tamilnadu Govt issued notices to all the allottees to immediately
start construction or else the allotment would be cancelled. One fine morning a
military officer came to me seeking procedures for house construction. And that
was then Major P. Ganesan. (Now Colonel )
The very first introductory meeting
itself was sufficient to understand this absolutely straight forward and upright officer. He was in PWD of
Tamilnadu Govt early in 1961-63 and had very unpleasant
experience in service. He threw the salary into the flowing river and had
resigned his job. Fortunete for this country that he was reminded of the
National Emergency in the country after the brutal Chinese attack and was persuaded by his superiors to
join the Army. That was a turning point in his life.
Very active, fine sportsman playing
all type of games and highly patriotic person getting into Army service was like a fish being led
into deep sea. No doubt that he had
demonstrated new dimensions to officership in the Army. His past experience and great
love for this country led him to the selection as Station commander of Indian
Antarctic Research station, Dakshingangotri.
From the day of selection in
April-May 1987 till the day of departure from this country in November
1987,Ganesan had six months time to interact with earlier expedition members,
go through old files, documents and to select and settle his family. With all
these he was to hand over command of his beloved 4 Engineer Regiment. His
preparation went on smoothly. and he had mentally lived in Atarctica before
even boarding the ship.
Guidelines for Expedition Members.
Department of ocean Development, New Delhi under ministry of science
and technology was co ordinating Indian Antarctic expeditions.National
Institute of Oceanography,Goa was a base for all such activities.The Govt had
prepared a hand book about programme of activities for the 7 th Antarctic
Expedition and 5 th winter team. Ganesan
was Dy Leader of 7 th Expedition and commander of 5 th winter team. The ship
will sail from Goa and stay in Atarctica for about two months and leave the 5
th winter team in isolation and return with the 4 th winter team who would have
finished their about 480 days of wintering.
The winter team selected will make
sure that all their personal
requirements are met and at the same time ensure stores and equipments are
carried for completion of their programme.
Co ordination Meetings.
Number of co
ordination meetings were held before departure of the expedition.The strength
of winter and summer teams depends upon the task ahead .The strength of winter
team will always be restricted to the accommodation available at wintering
station.All these details are based on the feed back the department gets from
Dakshingangotri. Unfortunately no leader
was willing to bell the cat.The wintering stations was commissioned in Feb 1984
and since then year after year modifications,improvements or life saving
alterations were carried out and this was not updated by the
Derpartment.Ganesan was briefed and given direction all based on 1984 details
only.
The Reality.
With all fanfare, farewell and Parting messages the 7 th Antarctic
expeditin left Goa on 25 th Nov 1987.They reached Antarctic coast on 21
Dec1987.Ganesan had given detailed account of the sailing and activities in the
ship.It is worth reading the philosophical quotes and great Indian literature
quotes Ganesan uses at appropriate places.
When the ship captain announced the
reaching of Atarctic coast Ganesan ran
to the Bridgeboard of the ship and had the first look of the greatest mystery of the
earth. 14.5 million sq km totally covered by ice without any landmarks. The next day Three
members, the Expedition leader .Dy leader, and pilot of MI-4 Navy helicopter
took off for Dakshin gangotri to greet
the 4 th wintering Leader.
There Ganesan was
shocked to see the reality.The authorities have fooled the members and the
Nation by not exposing the real Antarctic conditions. The Station was fully
buried in ice and a life saving escape shaft had been constructed for the
members to go in and out. Ganesan Had an option to fight with the authorities. But
then he will miss a great lifelong opportunity to demonstrate to all Indian
members and to the world about “how to
conduct an wintering at Antarctica “.So he made silent oath and promised to his
own conscience that his wintering would open the eyes of all those involved in
Antarctic Expeditions.
Colonel Pavadai Ganesan arrives at Antarctica.
History is nothing but collection of
Yesterday’s events suitably weaved. Autobiographies may give the true picture
of one’s own mind and its reactions to events and situations. Emotional feelings
of an individual can best be recorded by himself only provided he had the
intelligence and expressive capacity. However people of same frequency of mind
can interact better. Throughout the book
Ganesan had given wonderful messages
from the angle of a citizen who whole heartedly loving this country and his
fellow beings.
Expedition of a National mission
cannot be taken like any other assignment. Firstly the authorities in charge of
such missions should be highly dedicated for the improvement of this country
and truthful to himself to deliver the
goods. Promises made are to be fulfilled or deeply regretted if it could not be
carried out. There cannot be any politics in full filling National mission. But
unfortunately after independence politics entered in every walk of life. A highly patriotic
Military officer can under no circumstances serve peacefully under a political
leader who has no National ambition.
Ganesan’s wintering starts in
an unusual circumstances. We all know that thoughts are dynamic and vital; It
is creative and changes conditions.There are ample proofs in this book to show
that.The 7 th Expedition leaves the continent without a Farewell meeting with
the wintering members who are going to be in total isolation for the next one
year or so. But the winter team welded with their leader to create history for
the posterity.
Wintering activities.
On the day the winter team
received message that the summer team leaving the continent without meeting
them Ganesan holds a ‘”open mind”
MEETING OF HIS WINTER TEAM ANG GIVES OUT HIS YEAR LONG EXPECTED PRORAMME.He
gave in writing an assurance to all members that he will be totally dedicated
to the safety,honour of all members.He assures that each member’s family will
be taken care in india with his personal influence and contacts so that the
members will be free to concentrate on their works.There is no wonder that one
of the member from J&K who did not have even a telephone contact was in
uncontrolled tears when he spoke to all his family members for 23 mts.More
datails can be read in the book.
In all the 5 th winter team functioned
like a well maintained machine without any disturbance.It is an excellent
narrative in the book.
The milestones of 5 th winter team.
From the day of departure at
Goa till they landed back on the same port after their wintering Ganesan has
brought out excellent record of activities.The Engineer –in –Chief of the
Indian Army Lt Gen P S Rai who selected him for the Antarctic mission had sent
an official letter in appreciation of Ganesan’s work and mentioned that “your service to the Nation will go down in
the annals of history and you have added another glorious feather to the Corps
of Engineers “ .The 5 th winter team had conducted an International
inspection of our station and got tremendous appreciation from the leader of
the inspecting team Dr A N Chellingaro,Dy Chairman U S S R Committee of
Hydrometerogy.
Ganesan
also had done “Para Sailing “at Antarctica and became first man in the
world to have done so.
Conclusion.
Adventure activities about
Antarctica had been going on since 1819 and many records have been created. There
are many books in English.But This book will stand out as a testimony for the
present day youth.It is worth keeping this book as Non detail to a main course.
I wish Colonel Ganesan long life
and success.
Chennai-600
102
C K Gopalakrishnan.
(Mr.C K
Gopalakrishnan is 1927 born graduate of Guindy Engineering college of 1947
batch. Professionally highly competent Officer. when he was serving as chief
Engineer ,P W D selected by the then Chief Minister M G Ramachandran as
Managing Director of Pallavan Transport corporation. He retained this
appointment for 9 years with an assurance from CM that No politicians should
enter his office.)
FORWARD
S. Subramanian I A S
Colonel Ganesan is known to me
for the last about 20 years.He was allotted a housing plot in M M D A Annanagar
scheme,and it was very close to my living. Before starting construction, whenever
he came on leave from his military station he used to visit me for few minutes
and exchange views on general matters. After starting his house construction he
used to come on long leave and had spent considerable time with us.
I was extremely happy when I came
to know that he is going on a National Mission to Antarctica,a right selection
by the Govt. To the best of my knowledge Ganesan is an outstanding Army Officer,
physically,mentally and psychologically a patriotic soldier. I was very sure
that his leadership would certainly bring great honour to this country.
There was news about his departure
as part of 7 th Antarctica Expedition.His wintering activities were not known
to the world. Ganesan and his 5 th winter team had spent about 480 days at the
Icy Continent and returned along with 8 th Expedition in March 1989.After
settling down he came one day and spent
hours with me and my family explaining about his wintering. It was really
thrilling when we saw the videos and heard Ganesan’s emotional narratives. I
thought that this must be presented to a wider audience. I was president of a
Public Administration Forum where senior serving and retired officers are
members.
A meeting was organized .It was Presided
by Secretary, P W D of Govt of
Tamilnadu. Ganesan started with narration of an incident at
Antarctica.
“The new team to releave Ganesan’s team came
to Antarctica and brought some gifts and letters from the families of Ganesans team. A brother of one member from
Maharashtra had written to him.He was very proud that his brother had gone to
Antarctica. But he had not come home for
a long time.he requested him to take leave for at least two days and come home
from Antarctica.
All the members had a great
laugh. Ganesan was stiff and emotion choked voice started speaking.
Gentlemen,I
could not laugh on this.Every one may not be aware about Our country’s mission
to Antarctica. but it is a matter of shame that even educated youth are not
aware about the where about of Antarctica, leave alone knowing about winter
team activities. So I Made it a point to
create an awareness amongst my fellow countrymen about what India is doing at Antarctica.That is why I am
standing in front of you.
Ganesan spoke for about 45 mts.The
audience were spell bound.
This book is not just a compilation of
events.but an emotional outburst of a highly patriotic Army Officer who had
close acquaintance of casual and lethargic way a National mission is carried
out.
The National spirit
On reaching Antarctica Ganesan
was clear that the organizing authorities were far beyond the realities. He had
planned in greater details about wintering. .His close and detailed studies of
great expedition leaders like R F Scott, Shackleton,and Amundsen had given him
the courage and confidence that he will certainly create history inspite of all
odds. So he kept himself controlled till taking over the Leadership of the
wintering station. The Antarctic weather was unusual and this also helped Ganesan
to understand the forth coming Polar nights.
The Wintering
Ganesan had complete
control of the situation when the summer team left Antarctic coast. The members
were in total agreement with their leader. All Ganesan’s creative ideas and
inspiring talks were put in use. It is obvious that “The Fearless Fifteen ‘”(It is a 15 member winter team ) had all the
enthusiasm and spirit of adventure to complete their mission.
The wintering activities
narrated in the book reveals to the readers that the team which was in total
isolation from the entire world had an
excellent outings and did not have even a bit of home sick or personal grievances.
The entire credit goes to the team leader who was an out standing sports person
and a great psychologist. His approach to each individuals and setting up the
daily routine are of greatly accepted by
the team. Their co operation and whole hearted support to the leader is the
secret of their success. The rescue mission of the scientist who was lost in a
blizzard is certainly a miracle and it shows that the cosmic force is behind
their every activities.
The arrival of 8 th Expedition
During the wintering period
Ganesan had kept on giving feed back to
Department of ocean Development, New Delhi and certainly pointed out their
wrong decisions. This had irritated them as no one is willing to accept their
mistakes. But the sufferers are winter
team members. Hence Ganesan had no hesitation in calling a spade as spade. With
the result the new team was briefed to keep Ganesan at distance. But Ganesan as
a true leader and loves this country had given reception to the 8 th expedition
which was unheard in Indian Antarctic missions. The Indian National Flag was
flying at a height of 200 feet.M S Subbulakshmi’s “suprabhatham “was playing on
a speaker outside the station. The new team was wonder struck on seeing the arrangements.
The new team leader
Dr.Abhinav Sengupta spoke to secretary D O D Delhi about the excellent
reception and expressed that Colonel Ganesan is a jewell of this country.I will
leave it to the readers for further comments.
The Return and after effects.
On his return Ganesan was
posted as Battalion Commander M E G & Centre,Bangalore.It was a historical
move to organize President’s “Colour Presentation Parade “ in the 210 years history of M E G. Ganesan was the DY
Parade Commander.
Conclusion.
The book gives ample evidences that a
capable man cannot be sidelined by any external force.Ganesan had proved that human being
capability is beyond any measurement. When his recommendation for a Presidents
award was repeatedly turned down the retired Engineer- in –Chief wrote a letter
to the Chief of Army Staff .It ends with a request that “Not recognizing the services of Colonel Ganesan would amounts to
travesty of justice.”
The Defence secretary K A
Nambiar had sent a telegramme to col Ganesan on 25 th Jan 1994 that the
President is pleased to award”Vashisht
Seva Medal” for distinguished
service. The readers recognition would be a greater award I think.
This book should be widely made
available for the youth of this country so that they could develop themselves
for a greater Nation Building activities.
S .Suramanian I A S (Retd )
