From teaching kids in government schools to going on an expedition to Antarctica, Shaivya Rathore’s life has a lot in common with the average roller coaster ride. Only 5,000 people from across the world get to go to the Antarctic every year, so Shaivya considers herself lucky to have ‘been there, done that’. Most people would have just been content to endure the expedition, but she instantly recognised that climate change is one of the most biting issues that children today need to be schooled about — which is why the 25-year-old started a campaign to bring that awareness right to them.
You’d think that someone who’s been to Antarctica and is now taking a troop of students to a village in the Himalayas, would have been in pristine physical condition growing up. Shaivya was the exception to that rule,
“Growing up, I wasn’t physically fit. I was a 75 kg child. But, I knew I wanted to do these things. For starters, I began cycling and trekking. I joined the Chennai Cycling Club and cycled for about 50km every week. I read about these expeditions in my ninth grade textbook. Experiencing adventures was always a big part of me,” says Shaivya, who like many others, pursued Engineering initially.
Attracted to Astrophysics after graduating top of her class, she worked as a maintenance planning engineer with Air India and SpiceJet. Although the experience of working around aircrafts was great, she didn’t find it fulfilling and the search for something new led her to Teach For India (TFI). Once she found her mojo as a teacher, she felt this huge responsibility within herself, to educate children. Given how much she loved science, she naturally encouraged her class to come up with simple solutions based on elementary science, to make the world more sustainable.
And then Robert Swan happened. Enamoured by the ideas propagated by the British Explorer — famous for being the only man to walk to both the North and the South Pole — to preserve natural habitats and really understand how dangerous climate change is, Shaivya started digging deep. She learnt about Swan’s then upcoming expedition and it’s aim to gather individuals from different parts of the world and travel to Antarctica to experience the effects of climate change. While she was excited about this mission, she wasn’t sure she could make it. “When I applied, I wasn’t sure I’d get selected. It was pretty big. I wasn’t sure I had the credentials,” she explains about her initial skepticism. But she did get in, and there was no stopping her from that point on, “Once I got selected, I always knew I’d manage to do it. I knew I was making sense as a teacher and an individual.”
Getting selected was just one of the hurdles that separated her from the land of polar ice. Shaivya’s major challenge was to raise `7.25 lakh in 12 days. She acted quickly and started a crowd-funding campaign following a friend’s suggestion and within twelve days she managed to raise the cash. “I didn’t believe I could raise the money so quickly. But I knew I’d go by hook or crook. It seemed like a distant dream, but I gave it a shot anyway,” says Shaivya, flashing back to the beginning of her journey. The expedition lasted 17 days including four days of air travel. After returning from her conquest, Shaivya has much bigger dreams and climate change in her cross hairs.
Excerpts from a freewheeling chat:
What does being a teacher and an educator mean to you?
As a teacher, I not only focus on academics but also look into values — exposing these underprivileged children to the world and keeping the lessons relevant. To me, every lesson plan means opening 10- 20 tabs on Google.
How’d you get so invested in climate change?
I wouldn’t have bothered if it weren’t for the Chennai floods. As long as something doesn’t affect us directly, we don’t care about it. I’d have read the articles and forgotten about it. Initially, I didn’t know the science behind it. As a teacher, I saw my school and children suffering and that’s what made me do something about it. I had to go and explain to them what had happened and get them to talk about why it had happened. It was an eye-opener, and I felt responsible for telling them about it.
So you got the kids to come up with solutions?
We came up with simple solutions; efficient waste disposal, making colour coated dustbins and distributing them in the community, and stuff like that. We also spoke about rainwater harvesting, water conservation and all kinds of application based solutions. I just had to give them a nudge and drive them to think about it. Now, I got them to make a script and visualize an expedition with Robert Swan through videos and pictures. They’re working on a drama that will be showcased in school.
Let’s talk about Antarctica. What was going through your mind when you got accepted? How’d your family react when you told them that you’d be going to Antarctica?
I honestly couldn’t believe it! I thought I’d gotten the wrong mail. I jumped out of bed and shouted out loud. I asked my dad to read the mail to make sure I’d been selected. It was a dream come true. Imagine going from reading about it in ninth grade to actually going there. The funny part was getting a personal mail from Robert Swan. He loved my ideas and thought the premise of raising awareness about climate change among young students was intriguing. Nobody had thought about Antarctica in my family. It was a place we read about in textbooks. They weren’t sure it’d be safe. They started being supportive after watching my fundraising video online. But, till I was back home, they kept wondering if I’d come back alive.
That moment when you finally got to Antarctica, what was that feeling like?
The feeling is indescribable. It was like a scene from Narnia. I couldn’t believe a place like this existed on our planet. I saw what a place without human intervention looked like, and it looked beautiful. Antarctica, to me, is a paradox and we need to save Antarctica, that’s our future.
Were there moments when it was you against nature? How’d that work out?
I walked a lot throughout the expedition. I felt sick and flustered while looking out the window on the plane. On the sea, I felt seasick. One day, things became really bad. We went to the Brown Bluff island and I fell off the cliff four times and hurt my knee. On the same day, the wind speed picked up and went from 10 to 50 nautical miles. My waterproof clothes were destroyed. My gloves were filled with water. The ship had to be relocated and there were whales around our zodiac (small boat). It was like I was facing death and in that moment, I regretted going there. If I ever get to go to Antarctica again, I’ll live in the Himalayas as practice and then go.
You did the whole Indian flag planting thing. Was it one of those patriotic moments?
You can take an Indian out of India, but you can’t take India out of an Indian. We carried many flags. I’m insanely patriotic. I joined TFI more for India than for the teaching. I want to make a difference in the country.
Now that you’re back from your larger-than-life mission, is there something that irritates you about it?
I just feel sorry for the way we’re living. I feel sorry for our collective ignorance of the fact that we could be the last generation on this planet. The worst part is, it’s people like you and me that contribute to the carbon footprint. We’re responsible for all this. Our generation is the first to see the effects of climactic change so intensely and we’re the last (generation) who can do something about it before it’s too late.
On Robert Swan
Robert was amazing; he interacted with me on a daily basis. He still follows up post the expedition, which is great. He’s a partner in my upcoming organisation.
ANTARCTIC TRIPPIN'
DAILY GRIND
The first couple days were about the history of Antarctica, its wildlife, the geology, etc. The Expedition Director woke us up at 6 am to watch the sunrise. Every day we were in a different place in the continent. We were separated into 14 teams of 10 people each and we’d land on the continent three hours each in the morning and afternoon
COLD FEET
Even though I had prepared leadership modules, representing India made me nervous. I have never experienced winter and I was scared about tackling climate change when I reach Antarctica. I’m really skinny, so I was worried about being amputated
COMMS DOWN
I was really happy without my phone. My body, mind, and soul were all in one place. Being with myself to learn, absorb and reflect was great. We had an option of buying the internet on the ship, 10 MB for $20. I didn’t feel the need, though
POLAR PLUNGING
On the last day, there was a unique tradition of plunging into -2 degree Celsius of water, called Polar Plunge. We were required to jump off the ship into the water; I can’t swim! It was one of the most terrifying moments of my entire life that I’ll always remember