In The High Ranges

Journey starts from EGRL office buidling

When I started the engine at 06.30 pm on March 27, 2015 from the Equatorial Geophysical Research Laboratory (EGRL), I was doubtful if I could do the 800 kilo meters in a 15 years old Hyundai Santro, Sujaii (meaning hero in my local dialect of Malayalam) - that is how I call him, with five men. Is Sujaii healthy enough so that it can carry five heavy asses through the High Ranges of Western Ghats? The car was old enough to stop working any time, especially on the steep curvy roads of the High Ranges. Before leaving, I took my Sujaii to Amir, a young car mechanic at Seydunganallur to have a formal check up. He told that the car is fit for the journey, but there is a minor oil leak, I will have to change an elbow pipe soon after coming back. I paid him 100 rupees for the check up.

Coffee/tea time en route Theni

The men were ready with bags, water filled can and bottles, some emergency medicines and a cotton roll, a few packets of snacks and fruits, cameras and songs. After about an hour, we reached Sankaran Kovil, passed Sri Villiputhur (sounds familiar? Yes, it is the town of the famous temple, 1000 years old. The temple tower of Sri Villiputhur is adopted to be the official symbol of Tamil Nadu government), Usilampatti and finally reached Theni where we got a dormitory for night stay. On the way, we had a nice cup of tea each, and more importantly a rejuvenating pissing too. The hotel was right at the main junction in the town of Theni. There was no parking place, so we had to park it on the road side, there was enough space there.

Theni town shot from the dormitory

The main worry was that one of its side window handle had been over rotated with lots of effort by a respected fellow traveler in the beginning of our journey and the glass drifted down over time even though we close it. This gentleman kindly added another nice color to our journey by breaking the handle catch of front left door the very next day while in Munnar. My Rihla was an old bloke who would work properly only if handled properly.

The night went quiet peacefully with a lots of cockroaches celebrating human occupation  in that dormitory after so many days, or may be even weeks. We just closed our eyes, ears and noses. It was not a very bad sleep. Mosquitoes got a feast after so many days of starvation. Yeah, but with just 750 rupees for five people, we couldn't expect more. In short, it was a terrible night for me.

At the eastern side of Western Ghat

Early morning 06.00 O'clock Sujaii headed west to see the Western Ghats from distance. The color of the surroundings shifted from pale yellow in the previous evening to green. Lots of cultivation, flowers and trees appeared. The Ghats was visible at a distance far away and the curvy roads motivated the driver in me but the steep roads reduced confidence on the performance of Sujaii. He was struggling to make the hairpin curves on the ghats. 'Dear Sujaii, I gave you this name with some hope, please don't spoil your name', I told Sujaii silently! This side of the Ghats was yellowish mostly, being in the rain shadow region. But the roads were recently tarred and narrow. It gave a unique driving experience. It was less crowded so the drive was with less strain. A few new cars and SUVs passed by. I didn't see any older cars climbing the ghats. May be Sujaii is the oldest car going up that day. Sujaii has already run 1.1+ lakhs of kilometers in the last fifteen years; mostly through the cities in the plains of East coast of South India.

Before the breakfast!

20 km more, we saw a small kitchen attached to a big hotel in the hillside surrounded by tea plantations. Had hot dosai and chappathi for our breakfast and a cup of hot tea.Those who wanted to do one and two did so and relaxed for some time. I read a Malayalam daily news paper there probably after several months.

We have already entered the tea estates of the High Ranges. Breathtakingly scenic locations, this is a perfect place for spending holidays with family, friends or even alone! Hundreds of years before, people started cultivation of tea in Munnar and surrounding hills. There was rope ways and railways for porting tea down to west coast and to the plains of Tamil Nadu. Kannan Devan Hills may be the largest producer of tea in Munnar, they are even running a tea museum two kilometers away from the town.

Ancient Dolmens of the Mount of the Spirit

The hills of High Ranges have been occupied by human beings from very long back. Ancient graveyards called Dolmens of Marayoor (about 40 km away from Munnar), dated back to 1500 B. C., are still seen spread through out the place. A few of them could be spotted at the Mount of the Spirits in Marayoor. Moreover, paintings as old as 6500 B. C. and even more have been discovered by archaeologists. Marayoor is also famous for its invaluable sandalwood forests. For one who has no interest in this archaeology business, its a waste of time and money to go to Marayoor. As there is nothing much more than in any forest. Also, climate there is not so pleasant.

En route Marayoor, we stopped Sujaii for lunch near a small road side hotel run by a Tamil couple. There was a stream flowing behind it. We went there and had an excellent bathe. Then we had a hygenic lunch there with mouth watering fried fishes for very less prices. The hotel man gave contacts of a young man for arranging our night stay in Munnar. Except petrol, everything in Munnar seemed cheap, which is not expected in a tourist place. May be because we were there just before the season starts. Petrol was costlier than any other part of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Where we got the night stay in Munnar

Before the sun sets we came back to the hotel man and met the young chap introduced by him who had already arranged a well-furnished and newly built house adjacent to the tea estates ready for us. It was a few kilometers away from the Munnar town. 1000 rupees was a really nice rate for the facilities he gave to us. He gave hot water for drinking and bathing. In the night we took a walk through the road, the energizing fragrance of tea that emanated from a tea factory filled the air. We purchased lots of tea packets and a few other spices from a nearby factory outlet. That was a really nice night with a deep sound sleep. Morning 06.00; we left the house happily. Set out our journey to Munnar town very slowly. Driving through the curvy roads of tea estates early morning through the mist-filled High Ranges, all the window glasses open, with light music in the car; its a magical experience one should experience for himself.

The Kannan Devan Hills plantation company's tea museum is our next place to visit. It will be opened only at 09.30 am.  So we headed to Munnar town and had our grand breakfast. We reached the museum exactly on time. It is a must visit place for someone going there. There won't be many who don't have at least a cup of tea in a day. The museum is a place of immense first hand information and knowledge on tea, its history and the science and emotions attached with it. The company itself have a lot of stories to tell us.

There are so many other places, view points, dams and waterfalls in Munnar and surrounding places. Those are beautiful but not very special to have a mention here. Time runs very fast when we are with someone special or when we are engaged in something thrilling. We have to reach back to work next day morning. 400 km is not any less a distance to travel through the hills.

Sujaii started its race down hill afternoon after lunch! Sun set before reaching Pooppara town itself. Some hours of driving we reached down the plateau at Bodinayakanur. Then to Usilampatti, Tirumangalam and then through the national highway NH 7 Sujaii crossed 100 kmph. It was early morning 02.00 O'clock when we reached the institute. In the journey through hills, we had two encounters with the Kerala Police; one immediately after fueling Sujaii, I was caught for not wearing a seat belt and had to pay Rs. 100 for it. Next while returning back through the narrow hill roads, a police jeep was coming with only one head lamp on.  Sujaii proceeded its usual way thinking it was a motorcycle. But realized it was not a two wheeler after getting a heavy abuse in Malayalam. They had to go out of the road and while passing them I saw POLICE written on the jeep. Luckily there was no place for them to turn jeep. Sujaii dashed in the maximum possible speed so that even if the police manage to follow us, we could cross the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Somewhere in the plains of Tamil Nadu, we had our dinner before finally reaching Aaraichi Mayyam, the research center!

Route Map of the Journey

Looking Back From Top: A Summer View of Navi Mumbai

New Panvel as viewed from Nevali hill

This is not a post on philosophy nor this is a retrospection as the title may suggest. It is about an interesting but short trekking we had made few days back. Morning was really early: at 3.30 am, around Brahma Muhurtham according to ancient Indian culture! Me, Sunil, Dupinder, Sukanta and Sreeraj all the five packed and walked straight to the top of the hill we used to see every day and night from our institute. The hill is east to the institute and stand like a protecting fort to the city of Navi Mumbai. Panvel area, where our institute is located, is the eastern most part of Navi Mumbai.

Khanda Colony

At 3.40 we checked out at the institute gate and walked through the quiet streets of Khanda Colony. CIDCO has constructed the city beautifully in rectangular plots and sectors. Crossing the railway line and moved ahead, again crossed the Mumbai - Pune express high way. This well admired Mumbai - Pune express highway acts like a border between the city and rest of Maharashtra. We have to move a little more, say 1.5 kilometer, to reach the village of Nevali, at the foot of our destination: the Nevali Hill.

As we crossed the highway through below the Mumbai - Pune Express Highway, it appeared as if we are entering a different country. In a few meters, everything changed. Roads became a series of potholes. Surroundings empty as against the sky scrapper forest that we just left behind. We were entering a village from city. The most important lesson that I learn from my country is that, good facilities in life are meant for a different class of people. Villagers and city dwellers have different duties: villagers are there to produce food for city dwellers and city dwellers are there to decide the financial and industrial fate of the country. The benefits of what villagers do always go to the city dwellers but the benefits of what city dwellers do never go to villagers very often! In general, the flow of the fruits of development is unidirectional in India, according to me. People may differ to me. Gandhi might have told that the soul of India is in its villages. If that is true, the soul of this nation is not very healthy, it is ill.

As we continued to walk forward, a cement mixing transport truck stopped and asked us if we want to go with them. We nodded no and they left us. We continued and reached the village Nevali at foot of the hill at around 4.40 am. It was still dark. We needed a cup of tea, but tea shops had not been opened yet. Dogs barked all the way from the time we entered the village. We started climbing up the steep rocks. I have never climbed such a steep hill before. Dogs, did not stop barking. But Sukanta, Sunil and Dupinder had already came here last monsoon. Activating its water falls and blanketing in green, the hill and village are very beautiful during monsoon. Few miles away from our institute, we could see the silver line water falls in the hills during monsoon. But sadly, in this summer, the hill was dry. We reached at the top of the hill after one hour, exactly at 5.40 am. Sun had not risen up. We removed our shirts and fell down to relax at the top of the hill! It was quiet a tiring ascend through the steep slopes of Nevali! The city was looking great. The express highway was still busy. We tried to spot IIG but could not do so as it was still dark. Dupinder was busy with video graphing and photographing. As time passed, we saw that light was spreading slowly and Sun appeared behind us. From the top, the city looked like a port where so many cargo boxes have been kept one above another. Then there was the mighty Panvel creek, the mighty wetland of Navi Mumbai that interspersed the mainland.

At that table-top hill, there was a small village too. There were cattle and chicken and a few trees. Then we saw women fetching water to their houses, they were carrying 3 - 4 pots one above another carrying water! We could spot a tiny dam where these people fetched water and washed their clothes. There were small patches of vegetable cultivation too. After eating some bread and banana, we wanted to go back. We entered the village and asked if any road was there. They showed us a muddy road leading down to the village. The hill was being eaten up by quarry miners! So many tipper lorries are already in queue and granite crusher have already started working. We could feel how the city was growing and the village decaying!

At 9.00 am we reached Nijo hotel at Khanda Colony by an auto that we got from down hill the village. Hotel is on the other side of the railway track where the autowallah dropped us. There was the huge pipe line that supplied water to the city. Water was gushing out through a crack that some one created with immense effort. A tea shop was there close to the pipe and the shop woman is getting water through a small hose inserted into the crack! We crossed the railway track and had our grand breakfast at Nijo hotel. Our legs were paining and we all were tired. Our clothes became dirty in the early morning itself! After an hour, we reached back at hostel and fell into bed and sank into deep sleep.

With Love From Antarctica

Last week, I got a call in the morning from some Gopal! Deep in sleep I could not realize that the only Gopal I know would call me at that time, because he was living in the southern most continent of the globe! At the volleyball ground a fat man appeared in the evening, and it was Gopal to my surprise, my friend and a technical person at EGRL, Tirunelveli. He is back from Antarctica after spending more than a year there. I was keen to listen to him to know how the life at the most harshest continents of the globe was! He gave me a huge volume of photographs and videos. I would like to share some of them here so that my friends can get a glimpse of the nature of life and activities at the icy land.

Bharati: India's station at Antarctica

Maitri: India's station at Antarctica

View of Moon from Antarctica

National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt. of India is the responsible agency of Indian Antarctic programs. India has three stations at the continent: Dakshin Gangothri (1983), Maitri (1989) and Bharati.
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A Bit of History:

The first Indian to set his foot on Antarctic continent was Lieutenant Ram Charan, a meteorologist in the Indian Navy, who joined an Australian expedition in 1960. Indian interests in Antarctic research goes back to 1970's. As a result of some Indo - Russian agreement Indian scientists could join Russian team to Antarctica during those period. The research activities of India's polar studies got momentum when the first Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1981 was conducted under the leadership of Prof. Syed Zahoor Qasim.

The team landed in Antarctica on 9th January 1982 and hoisted Indian flag on the icy continent. India's first station at Antarctica, Dakshin Gangotri, was set up after two years of the first expedition. Later the station got buried under ice. It was restored and is being protected as a historic site. Another name in the history of Antarctic program of India, as a student, is Dr. Dinabandhu Sahoo. He was the first Indian student to reach Antarctica, who joined the seventh of Indian Antarctic expedition. India's third station Bharati is at a distance of 3000 kilo meter from the second station, Maitri! People who want to go to Bharati from Maitri sail to Cape town in South Africa and then to Bharati (if not in a helicopter or air craft)! How vast is Antarctica!

Courtesy: The Hindu

Having established the scientific capabilities of India at the Southern most continent, the first Indian team set out to visit the South 'Pole' which was still thousands of kilo meters away from Indian station Maitri! The team was led by 62 year old Dr. Rasik Ravindra! Mr. Ajay Dhar, a technical officer in the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism was lucky to be part of the team in the year 2010.

A Visit To The Legendary Alibag Observatory

Old Alibag magnetic observatory.
It is still working!

In 1900, the British Indian government decided to electrify tram service in Bombay and it was a threat to the magnetic observations at Colaba observatory.

Dr. N.A.F. Moos found an alternative place at Alibaug, 30km away from Bombay - a pleasant place in Raigad district of Maharashtra. Most of the IIG staff and family members and research scholars came to the observatory.

Cricket at Alibag beach.

After a cup of tea and snacks we started playing cricket at the beach women folk were engaged in some other games. Alibag is a tourist attraction due to various facilities available and its green and pleasant atmosphere.

The observatory campus houses magnetometers and some other instruments like any other IIG observatory. It has a lot of coconut trees inside the campus. Most of the buildings are almost a hundred year old! 

Old building: The ground floor
houses the museum.

The greatest attraction here is the museum set up. It preserves a lot of instruments and tools used in IIG at various times. There are lots of varieties of magnetometers and telescopes. There was an old chair used by Dr. Moos too!

At Alibag beach: an old fort used
 by Sivaji is seen in the background.

For a few years, the Colaba and Alibag observatories were run together to compare the observations at these two sites. If any mismatch in observations were seen, it could not be used as an observatory. But fortunately the magnetic observations at Alibag was as good as it was at Colaba.

There were no one to explain the story of old instruments in the observatory museums, as so many visitors came together. All I could understand was that those instruments were used a hundred years ago. Each instrument must have a story to tell. I don't know which magnetometer recorded the historic aurora at Bombay! I feel there is a need to preserve and document a lot of things at IIG. Not only mere instruments; the story of each instrument should be documented well. The historic aurora was recorded manually at the IIG since magnetometers were not recording the measurements automatically. But nobody knows who recorded that! May be Indian scientists are not good in documenting the history of Indian science!

Aurora At Bombay!

1. A beautiful aurora.

Aurora, the beautiful display of light that the nature presents! Those who live in high-latitude countries enjoy aurora very often. Those in the tropical regions enjoys the photos and videos of aurora. People living in tropics always wanted to watch an aurora directly, but nature did not show mercy always.

Once during a conference I heard that in the past an aurora had been visible even in Bombay! I could not even believe this news at first. Then I tried to know what had actually happened.

2. Aurora recorded at Colaba in 06-Feb-1872

It was in 1872 February 06 that the following news report appeared in the Times Of India.  "Will it surprise our readers to learn that the Aurora Borealis was plainly visible in Bombay Sunday last? Such was indeed the case and its effects were felt too. After sunset on Sunday, the Aurora was slightly visible, and constantly kept changing colour, becoming deeply violet, when it was intense about 3 o'clock on Monday morning. It was distinctly visible until sunrise on Monday. The influence of this atmospheric disturbance was unpleasant both for our person and our correspondence. The cold was unpleasantly keen, and all telegraphic communication was stopped for some hours.

"Both before and after its height, the aurora affected the working of both sections of the British-Indian Submarine cable, [one] section running east and west and the other North and South. At 8 o'clock yesterday morning the magnetic disturbance in the telegraph offices was very strong. The extent of this disturbance may be gathered from the fact that all the lines to England in connection with the British-Indian submarine cable were affected for hours and so were the Government lines. At Aden, the aurora was brilliant in the extreme." (Courtesy: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2011SW000686/pdf)

3. Aurora Australis, a satellite derived image.
(11 September 2005)

The historic aurora occurred on 04th February 1872. It was reportedly observed in the middle eastern countries too. The aurora was observed by many of the people of Bombay, including NAF Moos who, several years later became the director of the Colaba Observatory. The observations were done manually during that time and therefore Colaba observatory had a record of the magnitude of the storm happened then. Many observatories world wide could not record the event since the recording pens crossed the limits of the paper on which the geomagnetic values were recorded automatically!

Another event, a stronger one also happened in the year when Moos was born, 1859. This storm was first observed, recorded and studied by Richard C. Carrington, and therefor called as Carrington storm. Several such strong events of magnetic storms continues to happen. But not much about that is known except the magnetic record in Bombay taken then.

Such events are not to be recorded only in a magnetogram. The experience should have written well with documentary proof. The Indian Institute of Geomagnetism should move towards recording and preserving its history since it is one of the oldest scientific organization in India.

History of science has a lot of charm in it, that most of the Indian scientists don't appreciate. I believe that there should be some serious efforts towards recording the history of the pursuit of science that will amaze the generations to come.

Note: This article need to be updated later. If any one have something interesting related to it, please share that with me.

Reference:
wikipedia
agu
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/
http://www.solarstorms.org/SRefStorms.html
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/TE041i004p00397/abstract

Brief Historical Note On Colaba Observatory

An old photograph of Colaba Observatory

This afternoon I met Prof. Ram for our weekly discussions. Our discussion got diverted at one instant of time and I was amazed by the stories Prof. Ram told me about the pioneers of Indian geomagnetic studies. I wanted to know more about the history of geomagnetism in India. There are interesting pasts for every scientific endeavors being pursued today. Even though geomagnetism is a centuries old subject of research, still this is an active subject of research, amazing and so fantastic! Every geomagnetic observatory has a story to tell you.
1826 was an important year in that the East India Company established the Colaba observatory in Bombay (now Mumbai). Its original purpose was astronomical observations and time keeping. In 1841 Arthur Bedford Orlebar, an Astronomy professor in Bombay, started meteorological and geomagnetic measurements at the Colaba Observatory. Initial observations were made manually, but in 1845 after the introduction of self-recording photographic magnetometer by Charles Brooke, the magnetic measurements at Colaba was also upgraded. This instrument was installed in Colaba Observatory in 1871 when Charles Chambers became the director of the observatory.

After the death of Charles Chambers,  Dr. Nanabhoy Ardeshir Framji Moos became the director in 1896, who was the first Indian director of the Observatory. During his period as the director, the Observatory got world-wide fame.

N.A.F. Moos

In 1900, the British Indian government decided to electrify tram service in Bombay and it was a threat to the magnetic observations at Colaba. Dr. N.A.F. Moos found an alternative place at Alibaug, 30km away from Bombay. The observations were carried out both at Colaba and at Alibaug for two years from 1904 to 1906, and it was confirmed that both the stations gave the same observations.

In 1971, the Colaba-Alibaug observatories were converted into an autonomous research organization called the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG). Till then it was part of IMD, the Indian Meteorological Department. At present, the IIG runs over ten observatories acrosss India.