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Tishani Doshi is a poet, journalist and dancer from India. She has published some books of poetry and fiction. She has been widely appreciated for her essays, poems and short stories. She has travelled a lot and her most exciting journey was to Antarctica.
Theme
The Journey to the end of the Earth from Vistas book for Class 12 is an enlightening account of the author’s visit to the coolest, windiest and driest continent in the world. Tishani Doshi holds the opinion that in order to understand the Earth’s present, past and future, one must go to Antarctica. The study of this region is useful to us because the world’s geological history is trapped in Antarctica. She accompanied a team of students visiting the continent. She had a thrilling experience of the ice-mysteries of this ice-region.
Journey to the End of the Earth
Six years ago, Geoff Green, a Canadian, started the “Students on Ice” programme. Under this programme, high school students are taken on a trip to Antarctica and offer inspiring educational opportunities. This will encourage them in developing new awareness and respect for our planet. The programme has been a success because students can see the collapsing ice shelves and retreating glaciers with their own eyes. They realize the threat of global warming is real.
Antarctica has a simple ecosystem. It lacks biodiversity. Hence, Antarctica is the perfect place to study how little changes in the environment can have big consequences. The author too got a chance to work in the coldest atmosphere of the Antarctic continent.
The narrator of Journey to the end of the earth heads towards Antarctica aboard ‘Akademik Shokalskiy’, a Russian research vessel with a group of students. She commenced her journey 13.09 degrees north of the Equator in Madras. She crossed none time zones, six checkpoints, three oceans and many ecospheres to reach her destination. After travelling for a hundred hours, she finally reached the Antarctic continent. She felt relieved and wondered about the isolation of the continent and the historic time when India and Antarctica were a part of the same landmass.
The narrator says that six hundred and fifty million years ago, Antarctica was a part of a giant amalgamated Southern supercontinent called Gondwana. There was no existence of humans on the planet at that time. The climate was warm then and there was a huge variety of flora and fauna. The supercontinent of Gondwana existed for 500 million years and then the landmass broke. With the extinction of dinosaurs, the landmass separated into different countries shaping into the globe that we know today. From the continent of Antarctica, we can get an understanding of the evolution of human existence on this planet and where the humans are heading now. It also enlightens about the significance of Cordilleran folds and pre-Cambrian granite shields; ozone and carbon.
The narrator stayed for two weeks in Antarctica, where 90% of the Earth’s total ice volumes are stored. Midges, mites, blue whales and limitless expanse of huge icebergs surrounded her with no existence of human life. The surreal twenty-four-hour summer lights and eerie silence often interrupted by the breaking sound of an iceberg was mind-boggling.
The narrator says that human beings have been on Earth for about 12000 years. In this short span of time, humans have changed the face of the environment for worse. Humans have dominated the Earth by establishing cities and megacities, which have led to the encroachment of Mother Nature. The rapid increase in population has added to more distress. Human beings are battling with each other for limited resources. The average global temperature is rising and the blanket of carbon dioxide around the world is increasing.
The narrator is alarmed by many unanswered questions about climate change like what if West Antarctic ice sheets melt entirely or if the Gulf Stream Ocean current will be disrupted or will the world come to end one day. Antarctica has a crucial role to play in this debate. The Earth’s present and future lie hidden in Antarctica.
The greater lesson to be learnt is little changes in the environment can have big repercussions. The microscopic phytoplankton is nourishment for marine animals and birds in the region. The depletion in the ozone layer will affect the activities of these grasses. This will also affect the lives of the others in this region and the global carbon cycle. The narrator says that her experience at Antarctica was never-to-be-forgotten. At 65.55 degrees South of Equator, the narrator and the students were told to get down. It was a breathtaking experience to see crabeater seals sitting in the periphery.
Tishani Doshi is overwhelmed with the beauty of balance in play on our planet. She has many questions in mind that are still unanswered but she is optimistic that next-generation children are full of idealism to save the Earth.
A Short Summary of the Chapter – A Journey to the End of the Earth
The story is based on a travelogue written by Tishani Doshi. The story is covered in the Class 12th book of “vistas”. Tishani Doshi, the author, makes a tour to Antarctica which contains 90% of the total ice of the earth. She mentions that she travelled 100 hrs in order to reach Antarctica. The moment she got her feet on the landscape, she got a feeling of major relief as the journey was too long.
Six years ago, Geoff Green, a Canadian, started the “Students on Ice” programme. Under this programme, high school students are taken on a trip to Antarctica and offer inspiring educational opportunities. This will encourage them in developing new awareness and respect for our planet. The programme has been a success because students can see the collapsing ice shelves and retreating glaciers with their own eyes. They realize the threat of global warming is real.
Antarctica has a simple ecosystem. It lacks biodiversity. Hence, Antarctica is the perfect place to study how little changes in the environment can have big consequences. The author too got a chance to work in the coldest atmosphere of the Antarctic continent.
The narrator of Journey to the end of the earth heads towards Antarctica aboard ‘Akademik Shokalskiy’, a Russian research vessel with a group of students. She commenced her journey 13.09 degrees north of the Equator in Madras. She crossed none time zones, six checkpoints, three oceans and many ecospheres to reach her destination. After travelling for a hundred hours, she finally reached the Antarctic continent. She felt relieved and wondered about the isolation of the continent and the historic time when India and Antarctica were a part of the same landmass. The narrator says that six hundred and fifty million years ago, Antarctica was a part of a giant amalgamated Southern supercontinent called Gondwana. There was no existence of humans on the planet at that time. The climate was warm then and there was a huge variety of flora and fauna. The supercontinent of Gondwana existed for 500 million years and then the landmass broke. With the extinction of dinosaurs, the landmass separated into different countries shaping into the globe that we know today.
From the continent of Antarctica, we can get an understanding of the evolution of human existence on this planet and where the humans are heading now. It also enlightens about the significance of Cordilleran folds and pre-Cambrian granite shields; ozone and carbon. The narrator stayed for two weeks in Antarctica, where 90% of the Earth’s total ice volumes are stored. Midges, mites, blue whales and a limitless expanse of huge icebergs surrounded her with no existence of human life. The surreal twenty-four-hour summer lights and eerie silence often interrupted by the breaking sound of an iceberg was mind-boggling.
The narrator says that human beings have been on Earth for about 12000 years. In this short span of time, humans have changed the face of the environment for the worse. Humans have dominated the Earth by establishing cities and megacities, which have led to the encroachment of Mother Nature. The rapid increase in population has added to more distress. Human beings are battling with each other for limited resources. The average global temperature is rising and the blanket of carbon dioxide around the world is increasing. The narrator is alarmed by many unanswered questions about climate change like what if West Antarctic ice sheets melt entirely or if the Gulf Stream Ocean current will be disrupted or will the world come to end one day. Antarctica has a crucial role to play in this debate. The Earth’s present and future lie hidden in Antarctica.
The greater lesson to be learnt is that little changes in the environment can have big repercussions. The microscopic phytoplankton is nourishment for marine animals and birds in the region. The depletion in the ozone layer will affect the activities of these grasses. This will also affect the lives of the others in this region and the global carbon cycle. The narrator says that her experience at Antarctica was never-to-be-forgotten. At 65.55 degrees South of Equator, the narrator and the students were told to get down. It was a breathtaking experience to see crabeater seals sitting in the periphery.
Tishani Doshi is overwhelmed with the beauty of balance in play on our planet. She has many questions in mind that are still unanswered but she is optimistic that next-generation children are full of idealism to save the Earth. The story revolves around the fact that biodiversity is hampered and how due to some small mistakes the ozone layer is depleted. The author of the trip was led by Geoff Green. They started the journey in a Russian vehicle. This was an educational trip with the help of this trip they were able to discover the end of the earth. Before humans arrived, Gondwana used to have larger biodiversity including flora and fauna. It used to flourish by that time.
The story offers an overall overviewing description of the ecosystem of Antarctica. The whole educational team encounters the inhabitants of the area like the sea animals and birds. They learn the impact of the global carbon cycle and how a small step can help you with large changes. The memorandum also tells about the contributors which affect climate change which includes the burning of fossil fuels and more. Antarctica only has 24 hours of austral Summer light and is full of silence. The author wonders about the time when India and Antarctica were the same landmasses. After the extinction of dinosaurs, the land was separated into countries as we know it today. Finally, it gives a brief explanation of ozone depletion and the lack of biodiversity. The harm that can be posed is also shown in the travelogue. The story ends with the author peacefully watching the seals Sunbathing on ice. She wonders whether anyone will ever be interested in reserving this wonderful beauty of nature or the future will be catastrophic.
Significance of the Chapter – A Journey to the End of the Earth
The story depicts a huge change in climate with passing years. The place has lost a lot of flora and fauna. Moreover, for over 500 million years, Gondwana flourished. The extinction of the huge living beings,i.eThe dinosaurs, Antarctica and India got separated. This story is a brief encounter of everything that would happen and that happened. An overview of how it can affect mankind to a larger extent.