In God we trust. The rest we verify.
Can a 2000 year old wooden boat design from Ajanta caves, even float, let alone undertake an intercontinental voyage.
A year ago, I had the honour of a guided tour of Ujjain by some of India’s most eminent historians. The tour included a design of the 80m long wooden ships built by Vikramaditya and details of inter continental voyages from Ujjain to what we now call Europe and back. Carrying hundreds of people and tons of cargo – these boats were apparently built in a shipyard on the banks of the now dry, Kshipra river.
It was mythology. And most took it with a pinch of salt. Of course, I personally have been studying the airplane that Ravana used to ferry Sita from Bandhavgarh to Sri Lanka without refueling – but am still struggling to get the plan together – leave aside the prototype. What I have figured out though is that laminar flow airplanes with egg shaped cabins are not just practical but are in fact ideal. A startup has actually built such planes and got regulatory approval for the same.
So when Shanker Sanyal from the first batch of IIT Kanpur mentioned that his nephew Sanjeev Sanyal had not only built a wooden iron-free ship but also sailed it from Porbundar to Muscat – and even sailed back. I was completely intrigued.
We set off in the evening to attend a talk on the incredible journey of the INSV Kaundinya at the IIC at an event hosted by my fellow IITB alumnus Shobhit Mathur and Rishihood University. I guess it helps their cause to prove that Rishis knew a thing or two more than scientists think they do. The presentation was mesmerising and Sanjiv who pretends to be the Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister by day – actually has a hidden side – that of being a sailing enthusiast – besides being a Rhodes Scholar etc. His father, an IAS officer who brought river rafting to India during his stint in the Tourism ministry and helped invent the SEZ framework in India was also present.
We are now all set to build Ravanas plane. The take off airport is ready at my IIT batchmate Srinivas Rachakonda campus – almost walking distance from the point where Ravana took off from. We just need to figure out exactly where he landed in Sri Lanka.
Though I still wonder why the a tigers in Bandhavgarh didn’t eat up Ravana.
In the interim, do read this book
To learn about MS Porrima – the solar yacht made in Goa from a single piece of aluminium which is sailed using ai controlled flying Sails and powered exclusively by solar panels. The boat has now completed two trips around the globe. And lived to tell the story.
Another book in the IIT Alumni Council series – Ayurveda Revisted – validates the ancient science in the context of modern breakthroughs like the Nobel award winning concepts like fasting induced Autophagy – which seems to have been known thousands of years ago.
All going on to prove that Ravanas plane may actually fly.