BOOK REVIEW: KADAL OTTAKKU KSHANICHAPPOL (MALAYALAM TRAVELOGUE) BY ABHILASH TOMY

TITLE: KADAL OTTAKU KSHANICHAPPOL

AUTHOR: Cdr. ABHILASH TOMY

GENRE: MALAYALAM TRAVELOGUE

OVERVIEW:

“Kadal ottakku kshanichappol” is a Malayalam travelogue of solo circumnavigation led by Abhilash Tomy, the lieutenant commander of the Indian Navy. Book portrays the exhilarating experiences of this risk-ridden journey.

The journey was a part of Indian Navy’s “Sagar Parikrama project”, an idea put forward by the retired commander Manohar Avatti. Sagar Parikrama-1 was the first voyage under this project. Cdr. Dilip Donde had designated for this, in which Abhilash Tomy was a companion. This travelogue is of Sagar Parikrama-2. He set up his sail in the yacht named INSV (Indian Navy Sailing Vessel) Madhei, which had built in India (Goa Aquarius Fibre Glass Company).

Abhilash Tomy began his journey in Mumbai, from the Gateway of India on Nov 2012. He sailed through the Indian Ocean, the Pacific ocean, the southern and Atlantic ocean. He covered cape Lewin in Australia, Cape Horn in South America, Cape of Good Hope in Africa. The journey took 151 days, sailed 23,100 nautical miles and mission accomplished on 31 March 2013.

The travelogue is equally exciting and informative. It summarises Yacht designing and significance of accuracy in the same. He emphasises the need for mental health especially in a journey like this. In the book, he mentioned that “it is more difficult to control mind than the yacht”. Human minds are always vulnerable to the turbulent waves of hardships in life. He used to do meditation on a daily basis during the journey to reduce mental struggles.

Through this book, readers can familiar with the customs and traditions of the Indian navy. About those ceremonies commemorate sailors on crossing a cape, and line-crossing ceremony, which commemorates a sailor’s first crossing of the equator. Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL Mysore, India) specially prepared, the preserved food materials (wide varieties!) for the journey. I have fascinated by the modern technologies in the Yacht from high-tech communication systems to an onboard reverse osmosis water treatment plant for purified water.

He faced many hardships during the voyage, one of the sailcloths of yacht got ripped, adverse climatic conditions, shortage of drinking water due to the failure of osmosis plant. Of all these setbacks, he never loses hope and tried alternative methods to overcome these problems. An unusual visit of a whale to the ocean surface ahead of the yacht, makes reader’s hair stand on the end!!!.

Each time he explores new oceans, the reader can know more of the fauna and climate changes on that geography. He got the rare privilege of celebrating two new years in 2013. On behalf of this brave journey, he was awarded the Kirti Chakra (second highest peacetime gallantry award in India). Unfortunately, the book has not translated to English, so a majority of readers loses the opportunity to experience this great piece of work.

MY REVIEW:

A well-written travelogue and a visual treat too. It has also included the photographs Abhilash Tomy captured during the journey. I read this book in 2014, when I was reading it one thing kept on coming to my mind was a sentence from the book “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it” and that is much evident in the book. More than a travelogue it’s a motivational guide for those who need – to overcome inner fear, to lift the self-confidence, to manage hardships in life. It’s an inspirational book for those who love adventures as well as exploring new places.

Now, Abhilash Tomy packing his bag for the next solo circumnavigation under the special invitation from the organisers of the Golden Globe Race 2018, which will take off from France in July.

MY RATING:

4.5 stars out of 5 stars. I took 0.5 because reach of the book is limited only to a particular region.

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Neslin Reads