The Edge of the Earth

摘要

This is an interesting book right from the beginning. The book has been authored by a native Bengali written in Hindi and translated in English by a native of Allahabad, whose native language is Hindi. The author Dr. Sharadindu Mukerji served in the Geological Survey of India for 37 years, out of which he was involved with geological investigations in Antarctica for about 26 years. The book is based on his experience in Antartica presented bit by bit starting from his excitement when he was selected as a team member in the Fifth Expedition team to Antartica in 1985 till the end in December 2009 as an Indian representative to the Antarctica expedition team of Brazil. The sea journey described by the author starting from Goa till the edge of the earth in Antarctica reminds me of the poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Coleridge: "The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around; It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd, Like noises in a swound! At length did cross an Albatross, Through the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, Wehail'd it in God's name."