Wild Encounter not so wild

 

The other day while talking to a friend, I am not sure how our conversation turned to polar bears and Arctic. My friend wanted to know if I had any close calls with a polar bear, which we often refer as the most dangerous predator on planet. I have had several, I mumbled, but she insisted if any of them were funny. I wondered, funny for whom, me or the bear! That’s a million dollar question. And then it came to me, a really silly wild encounter on a very commonplace evening, what made it funny for me that I wasn’t even trying anything remotely adventurous or risky. It was just the place and the timing and I happened to be at the right place at the wrong time. Here is the story that I related to my friend.

 

The year might have been 2008 in the middle of January I found myself in a place that only an insane would venture at that time of the year. No need to explain why, to me it seemed rather natural. The place was the capital of Svalbard, Longyearbyen. The northernmost airfield in the world and housing the densest population of polar bear, Svalbard is a truly wild place even in the middle of summer. Summer in such a place is a relative term. Temperatures hardly ever reach double digits in the summer but frequently in the winters (in minus that is). Arctic winter is a cold, bleak, sunless phenomenon. Only very few, who have nowhere else to go or is forced by their occupation, would remain in Longyearbyen during the winter months. Yet there I was feeling rather chirpy and warm on the freezing evening. I had just had an evening dinner and discussion with a friend who was a polar expert and with whom I was planning some winter exploration. My hotel was only 3 km from her house. Mercury hovered at around 30 C below zero. She kindly offered to drive me in her snow mobile but I brushed her aside. I loved walking and detested any kind of machine. She insisted that at this hour of the evening it wasn’t safe. Totally ignoring her warnings I took to the frozen road. A thick sheet of hard ice encrusted the tarmac. I didn’t have traction on my shoes hence had to be very careful. One slip could be significantly disastrous.

 

I was covered from head to toe in down and I softly whistled watching my expelled breath turn into mist in an instant. As I neared my hotel, barely across the road, and its inviting swing door, on the other side of which the temperature must be soaring to 30 deg C. and as I was about to change side, I heard something heavy and ominous behind. It sounded like footsteps and shuffles of something big. And the only thing big that moved in the winters was our white predator. I had enough experience to know that it must be looking for food as some times one odd bear would enter human habitation in search of food, especially in the winters when their natural prey is hard to find. I did a mental math. The hotel door was roughly 50m away on the other side of the road. I could make a dash for it, but then the bear would surely see me and give chase. They are really fast, I had no traction so I would be slow and cautious. If I slipped and fell, I would surely be attacked besides having couple of broken bones. I was close to my refuge but not close enough. I spied a sizeable tree right in front which might offer some protection.

 

I tiptoed like walking on egg shells and very gently stepped behind its trunk. Only then did I dare to peek behind, very slowly. It was a massive polar bear sniffing on ground next to some trash bins. It didn’t seem agitated or alarmed. Which meant it hadn’t sensed me yet. Which was a relief. I had no option but to stay still holding my breath as much as I could and keep behind the tree. As I was motionless now, the cold started to invade me. Soon I didn’t feel I had any layers on. My nose and other extremities were frost nipped. As my body temperature plummeted further I realized that very soon I would be hypothermic and at that stage my body would start jerking and shaking in incontrollable spasms. It’s body’s survival mechanism when the core temperature drops below the threshold to shake the body to generate some internal heat. And if that happened then my teeth would chatter, my whole body would start shaking as if in tempest. And then the bear would surely notice me.

 

I started all my survival experience for generating body heat, yogic breathing, suryabhedi, vayu mudra, etc. I had to slow down my breathing, calm my mind and keep telling my core to not go hypothermic. As the cold kept on its onslaught I had an out of body experience. My mind was almost numb, my thoughts literally frozen and my nose nonexistent. I couldn’t rub my hands or stamp on ground or deep breathe, all would be a giveaway to my hideout. The bear was now even closer.

 

What seemed eternity later, just as my teeth were beginning to get out of control, the bear, having found nothing of interest ambled away with a royal swag of its ample posterior. I wanted to sprint but my limbs were ice by then. I had to unfreeze them, which took several minutes and then I sped as quickly as I could under the prevailing situation. I dashed through the hotel main door and the sudden heat hit me like Thor’s hammer. My face burnt. The receptionist cum owner, a bespectacled fellow of indeterminate age, who might have been watching the drama outside, greeted me heartily the hour of the day. His smile was cordial but also conspiratorial. As if he implied ‘I told you so, you should have taken the lift with your friend’. I was in no position to argue my case. I ran into my room and ran the tub with hot water. Dropping my clothes I dived into the hot fluid and felt my extremities coming alive.

 

What makes this entire episode funny to me is that it was just a normal regular day and I was on a post dinner evening walk. I had no forethought that it could turn dangerous or life threatening even. For once no one could blame me for taking undue risk or doing something stupid or irrational. I love walking, Longyearbyen is a modern settlement with excellent roads, and everything seemed just fine. It was a lesson for me that nothing should be taken for granted or lightly.