A 23-year-old girl from Gurgaon, Mallika Arya, just went on an expedition to the remotest place in the world, Antarctica. The Gurgaon girl was part of the International Antarctic Expedition 2017, an 82-member group led by renowned climate change expert Robert Swan, that visited the frozen continent in March. Mallika, who is currently on her break year, spoke with a travel magazine after her return from Antarctica to Gurgaon.
Sharing how she happened to be a part of this adventure, Mallika said,
“I had taken the year off for travelling and was doing a month-long trip to south India. During the trip, I met a girl who had been on an expedition to Antarctica. She suggested that I try for the 2017 expedition. So I wrote to Robert Swan, the head of the expedition, last August, and he replied that he would love for me to join, provided I could raise funds for my journey.” Consequently, Mallika set up a crowdfunding platform for her trip, where she raised around Rs7.5 lakh. “I needed around Rs12 lakh for the expedition, and after putting in most of my savings, I was still quite short on the funds. So I set up a crowdfunding platform and raised the rest through that over the next few months.”
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Mallika conveyed that her family was quite supportive of her plan. Her father is a photographer and mother, a school teacher, and she says that both completely supported the idea. “My family has always been supportive of my love for travel and they were completely behind me through this too,” she says.
Travelling to Antarctica was a beautiful experience in itself, says Mallika, but she also added that nothing can prepare one for the sheer beauty of the frozen continent.
“I think the most special moment of the entire trip was when I saw an iceberg for the first time. It was something so beautiful, so untouched, and pure that I could not stop tears rolling down my eyes. It is a sight that very few people have seen, and I was privileged to be among those few. It was an emotional high for me.”, she said.
The expedition was part of Mallika’s travel goals to visit all seven continents as a zero-waste traveller. Elaborating on this concept, she says,
“Zero- waste travelling involves minimising the use of any processed or packaged food and leaving as little a waste trail as possible. I visited three contients on this trip apart from Antarctica – Europe, North America and South America. And I only purchased two-three plastic bottles in the entire trip. It is a challenge, particularly in the developed world, where all food and water is in the packaged form, but I feel this is what I can do on my part for the environment.”
Mallika was serving as a volunteer in the Teach for India initiative in Gurgaon for two years, prior to her break year. She says that her interest in environmental causes was a big reason that pushed her for this expedition.
“I used to teach kids about the environment and sustainability, and I felt that this was my chance to walk the talk. I decided to use the expedition to further my focus on zero-waste travelling. Also, I will be making a short film based on my observations and experiences on the expedition that I will take to classrooms across the country. I think it will be an effective tool for teaching kids about environment rather than just sticking to textbooks.”
She might have had the best time of her life in Antarctica, but Mallika says that she has no plans of going back anytime soon, and will also discourage others from doing so. She explains, “After going there, I have
“After going there, I have realised that there is a reason the place is so beautiful. It’s because it is untouched, and it should stay that way. So I would say people should not go there a lot or it will harm the ecosystem there. Less than 1% of the earth’s population gets to go there probably. So, I’m extremely lucky that I got to visit.”
Coming home to Gurgaon from the Antarctica was quite a change for Mallika. The Phase-III resident said,
“It did take me a while to adjust to Gurgaon after spending time in Antarctica. It’s not just the heat. Antarctica does not have a speck of dust, which is what we aren’t used to. And then you come back from one of the most remote places on the planet to possibly one of the most thickly-populated regions. It is quite a contrast.”