: Tishani Doshi :

Tishani Doshi FRSL (born 9 December 1975) is an

Indian poet, journalist and dancer based in Chennai.[1] In
2006 she won the Forward Prize for her debut poetry
book Countries of the Body. Her poetry book A God at
the Door has been shortlisted for the 2021 Forward
Prize under best poetry collection category.[2] She was
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in
2023.[3]
Early life and education :
Doshi was born in Madras, India, to a Welsh mother
and Gujarati father. She completed a bachelor's degree
in the United States, at Queen's College in Charlotte,
North Carolina. She graduated with a master's degree in
creative writing... from the Johns Hopkins University.[4]
Career :
Doshi works as a freelance writer and journalist. She
has worked with choreographer Chandralekha.[5] Her
short story "Lady Cassandra, Spartacus and the dancing
man" was published in its entirety in the journal The
Drawbridge in 2007.[6] Her poetry collection,
Everything Begins Elsewhere,[7] was published by
Bloodaxe Books in the UK in 2012 and by Copper
Canyon Press in the US in 2013.

Books :
 2006: Countries of the Body (poetry)
 2008: Conflict and Instability (with [Tobias Hill]
and Aoife Mannix)
 2010: The Pleasure Seekers (fiction)
 2012: Everything Begins Elsewhere (poetry),
Bloodaxe Books, UK, 2012; Copper Canyon Press,
United States, 2013.
 2013: Fountainville (fiction), Seren Books
 2013: Madras Then, Chennai Now (with Nanditha
Krishna)[16]
 2015: The Adulterous Citizen: poems stories essays
(House of Nehesi Publishers)[17]
 2017: Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods (poetry),
HarperCollins, India;[18] Bloodaxe Books, UK,
2018; Copper Canyon Press, United States, 2018.
 2019: Small Days and Nights (Bloomsbury)
  2021: A god at the door

: JOURNEY TO THE END OF EARTH :

Journey to the End of the Earth is a chapter that talks
about environmental issues, the complications in nature
caused by human activities, and how can youth dedicate
some part of their lives to conserving it. It is an incident
from the author’s life where she goes to Antarctica with
a Russian research group.
About the Author:
Tishani Doshi is the author of CBSE Class 12 English
Vistas Chapter 3 ‘Journey To The End Of The Earth’.
She is an Indian journalist, poet, and dancer. She is an
award-winning freelance writer whose works have been
published in various journals and publications across
India and the US. She has also worked with
choreographer Chandralekha.
About the Story/ Synopsis of the Story:
The story is about the author’s experience in Antarctica.
It explores the concept of the richness of history,
beauty, and mystery that Antarctica unfolds in front of
her. She believes that if anyone wants to learn about the
Earth’s past, present, and future then Antarctica is the
place to be. Check the summary below to know what
made the author fall in awe of Antarctica.
Theme of Journey To The End Of The Earth:
The chapter aims at convincing people to respect the
showering of our mother earth and understand the
impact of human activities on climate change and
environmental damage caused to the Earth and its
natural phenomena. The author tries to impart that Earth
has a rich history, an important past, and an essential
future which can be best understood by visiting
Antarctica. She says that humans, especially
students/youth must visit Antarctica to understand how
was earth formed, what is happening to it at the present,
and what consequences we might have to face in the
future if we don’t stop polluting our natural resources.
Character Sketches:
Author (Tishani Doshi)- She
is a thoughtful, adventurous,
and enthusiastic woman who is full of life and
excitement. She is cheerful about knowing Antarctica
and exploring it to her wits. At the same time, she is
also thoughtful about the deteriorating condition of the
earth and warns readers about the same. Despite all the
challenges she had to go through during the trip and the
heart-wrenching experience of having a close look at
the degrading state of nature, she was determined and
resilient towards completing the trip and later on
informing young people about the damage caused by
human activities.
Summary (Important Points):
 The author finds out about a Russian research
vessel, Akademik Shokalskiy, that was traveling to
the coldest continent of the world, Antarctica.
 After traveling for 100 hours when she touches the
land of Antarctica, she finds herself relieved and
amazed by the beauty, loneliness, and mystery of
Antarctica. She was shocked by the fact that India
and Antarctica were part of the same landmass.
 The description of how countries were formed- Six
hundred and fifty million years ago, a giant
amalgamated southern supercontinent, Gondwana
existed near For 500 million years Gondwana
thrived, but around the time when the dinosaurs
were wiped out and the age of the mammals got
underway, the landmass was forced to separate into
countries, shaping the globe much as we know it
today.
 She says that Antarctica is a reflection of the past,
history, and the future that will come ahead of us. It
is significant to understand the Cordilleran folds
and pre-Cambrian granite shields; ozone and
carbon; evolution and extinction.
 Description of Antarctica- It’s like walking into a
giant ping-pong ball devoid of any human markers
— no trees, billboards, buildings. You lose all
earthly sense of perspective and time here. The
visual scale ranges from the microscopic to the
mighty: midges and mites to blue whales and
icebergs as big as countries. Days go on and on and
on in surreal 24-hour austral summer light, and a
ubiquitous silence, interrupted only by the
occasional avalanche or calving ice sheet,
consecrates the place.
 Human Impact- The rapid increase of human
populations has left us battling with other species
for limited resources unmitigated burning of fossil
fuels has now created a blanket of carbon dioxide
around the world, which has increased the earth’s
average global temperature. Climate change,
melting of ice sheets, disruption of ocean currents,
and more can take place in the near future.
 Since Antarctica displays history, and is a crucial
element in the present and reflection of the future,
she says that Antarctica is the place to be for
knowing Earth’s past, present, and future.
 Students on Ice was the student program she was
in. It is aimed at taking high school students to the
ends of the world and providing them with
inspiring educational opportunities that will help
them foster a new understanding and respect for
our planet. With Students on Ice, he(head of the
program, Geoff Green) offers the future generation
 of policy-makers a life-changing experience at an
age when they’re ready to absorb, learn, and most
importantly, act.
 It became famous because it’s easy to be blasé
about polar ice caps melting while sitting in the
comfort zone of our respective latitude and
longitude, but when you can visibly see glaciers
retreating and ice shelves collapsing, you begin to
realize that the threat of global warming is very
real.
 Phytoplankton, are those grasses of the sea that
nourish and sustain the entire Southern Ocean’s
food chain and they help in producing the process
of photosynthesis. Scientists warn that a further
depletion in the ozone layer will affect the
activities of phytoplankton, which in turn will
affect the lives of all the marine animals and birds
of the region and the global carbon cycle.
 Antarctica, because of its simple ecosystem and
lack of biodiversity, is the perfect place to study
how little changes in the environment can have big
repercussions.
 Before putting an end to their program, they
decided to walk on the ocean. They walked on a
stark whiteness that seemed to spread out forever.
Underneath our feet was a meter-thick ice pack,
and underneath that, 180 meters of living,
breathing, salt water.
 As the program was about to end, she realized that
the youth might have the enthusiasm to end the
 environmental misery. She says, “But after
spending two weeks with a bunch of teenagers who
still have the idealism to save the world, all I can
say is that a lot can happen in a million years, but
what a difference a day makes!”.

: KEY LEARNINGS :
1. How do geological phenomena help us to know
about the history of humankind?
Answer. Six hundred and fifty million years ago, a
giant amalgamated southern supercontinent —
Gondwana — did indeed exist, centered roughly around
present-day Antarctica. Things were quite different
then: humans hadn’t arrived on the global scene, and
the climate was much warmer, hosting a huge variety of
flora and fauna. For 500 million years Gondwana
thrived, but around the time when the dinosaurs were
wiped out and the age of the mammals got underway,
the landmass was forced to separate into countries,
shaping the globe much as we know it today. These
lines from the chapter indicate geological phenomena
have to be studied to know about the history of
humankind.
2. What are the indications for the future of
humankind?
Answer. Various environmental changes such as the
increasing temperature of the earth, melting of glaciers,
climate change, increase in the rise of carbon
compounds, depletion of the ozone layer, etc. are
various indications for the future of humankind to
improve the health of our environment.

3. ‘The world’s geological history is trapped in

Antarctica.’ How is the study of this region useful to
us?
Answer. To visit Antarctica now is to be a part of that
history; to get a grasp of where we’ve come from and
where we could possibly be heading. It’s to understand
the significance of Cordilleran folds and pre-Cambrian
granite shields; ozone and carbon; evolution and
extinction. The visual scale ranges from the
microscopic to the mighty: midges and mites to blue
whales and icebergs as big as countries (the largest
recorded was the size of Belgium). Days go on and on
and on in surreal 24-hour austral summer light, and a
ubiquitous silence, interrupted only by the occasional
avalanche or calving ice sheet, consecrates the place.
It’s an immersion that will force you to place yourself
in the context of the earth’s geological history. These
extracts from the chapter are enough to show that the
world’s geological history is trapped in Antarctica.
4. What are Geoff Green’s reasons for including
high school students in the Students on Ice
expedition?
Answer. With Students on Ice, he offers the future
generation of policy-makers a life-changing experience
at an age when they’re ready to absorb, learn, and most
importantly, act. Geoff Green focuses on providing
them with inspiring educational opportunities that will
help them foster a new understanding and respect for
our planet.
5. ‘Take care of the small things and the big things
will take care of themselves.’ What is the relevance
of this statement in the context of the Antarctic
environment?
Answer. This statement means to say that if we take
care of our small habits and actions that exploit human
resources and deteriorate our mother earth, and the big
things such as climate change, glacier melting, increase
in the temperature of the earth, extinction of wildlife,
etc will take care of themselves. It aims at imparting the
knowledge about protecting the environment.