Early days!
Hey guys.. i started off this blog with a poem which was a touching and meaningful one!!( of course its not my creation )..I wanted to put something of my own...Talking about the sea life, in these past 3 years i had good,bad and horrible experiences.. Being a sailor was something i wanted from my teen days.. I actually had a dream of joining the royal Indian navy... but life has its own mysterious ways of playing games.Fortunately i came close to my dream as becoming a mariner..I had my schooling done in one of the military institutions where i had a residential school life for 7 years,which actually inspired me to choose this adventurous field of profession.So after finishing my schooling I had my graduate degree done in one of the maritime college in mumbai.Winding up the brief intro about me I will get into my experiences ..
I had my first appointment order to join a RO-RO vessel ( ship ) on 26th august 2008.Well a RO-RO vessel or Roll on - Roll of vessel/ship is a kind of ship having a ramp on its aft ( back ) or on its sides enabling the loading and discharging operations of cars,rollers,trucks,and even locomotive compartments on rollers.I had the opportunity to even load some helicopters and yacht,I had my joining from the port of Singapore.That was the time when i was airborne for the first time!I could really feel my heart pounding so hard when i saw the airport lights getting closer & closer..It was a real situation for me to leave my family and go to a place where i have just heard or seen in photos..as the luggage check in began..it was a more or less like sme BEAN movie.. I did stuffs so stupid that i still laugh about it thinking!! after that hilarious episode I cleared my security check quite comfortably and had boarded the flight.I was very happy to get a window seat as this was my first ride!Firmly buckled up the flight was ready to take off.While writing this I still remember that night when I saw the lights of the airport fading away as we started going higher and higher.
Well the flight experience was a remarkable one. Fortunately one of my school mate was doing his college @ Singapore. The Singapore airport was far beyond explanation when compared to the cochin international airport! I mean tats the time when i felt the sting of how backward my country and my people were..Its not just the case of a mere airport but the fact of having such postive mentality in each citizen to see his country meticulously maintained.I had my friend Arjun, who was one of my best friend from school days waiting for me near the main exit.I was completely excited to see him and much more relieved.First thing was a phone call to home making it clear to my mom that i have landed safely @ Singapore. As waiting for my agent who was assigned by my company i accidentally discovered that i had a family also joining with me. Well that was a real relief.. and was happy that i will get sme real good bengali food rather than a half boiled pork by some filipino cook.. who catches anything that crawls or any damn animal, soon the agent came and picked us,well the travel was indeed a splendid one.I started seeing the fabulous mela of those expensive bmw's and Ferrari's just swoooooooopppping past my pick up van and enroute was that giant wheel which u see in all advertisements.The coastal line was just so packed with ships and boats which reminded me of the time when i used to battle a huge crowd to get a first day first show ticket for my favourite movie. I mean THAT ws a scene worth watching.. these ships were just so stacked and tightly packed.NO wonder why Singapore is the busiest port.Other scenes on road was of course the matter which i discussed earlier.The CLEANLINESS.That small element actually personifies the effort the govt has put in to maintain it in shape.U dont see people like in our country just doing "STUFFS" so publically even if a well built toilet is near by..I mean that sense of development has not gone into the roots of INDIA.By then i was nearing the port and all I can see in front of me was an unending stretch of brand new Ferrari,BMW's,Volkswagen,Volvo cars just beaming at me !I saw a huge red ship having its Ramp down and cars were going in and out like ants!.. My heart had slipped for a fraction of second thinking about the new prospects and obstacles that i am about to face @ sea.Having a small prayer said in my mind like seen in movies where u see the bride stepping into the new wedded home having here right foot first and then the other one, i also did the same having my right foot placed first!! I can still see myself standing in front of that huge ship wearing a orange shirt,cream colored trousers and a red tie with a huge luggage.Initally I had one filipino crew walking to me and greeting me very happily,i wondered for a moment as to the respect they give to a trainee.Later on i found out that he actually had mistaken me for some port officer b coz of my costume.People rarely join the ship with executive outfit, that too with tie and stuffs, Thank god i did not end up with a blazer!!
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