Fire fighting in the mock-up for the last couple of days... it's nice. Complete setup, enclosed decks... don your breathing apparatus, get in, fight the fire, get the injured person (dummy) out and then get out. Today, interestingly, we had a first aid lecture by the same medical officer who conducted the comprehensive first aid course for us last week. This guy is a complete unique package in the sense that he will bring a movie scene as an example of a demostration of first aid or.. he'll make up a situation of you and your girlfriend... and put up a first aid scenario.
Today during the class, he's discussing about asphyxiation. So he brings about a scenario wherein you've just signed off the ship and you've landed in India. First call you make is to your girlfriend to tell her you're back and that you want to meet her and that you would like to meet her for dinner. Plans made... you go home. Now you freshen up... get ready for your night out. You wait for her outside the restaurant. She arrives on time and you DRAG her inside. (I'm just quoting the guy!) You sit and the table across her and the only thing in between you two is the table which you wish would disappear. You order for two plates of chicken biryani. You both are engrossed in talking. You tell her about your sea life. She listens with eyes wide open. Your chicken biryani arrives.You are not interested in the chicken in your plate. You are more interested in the 'chicken' across you. You keep talking. You keep eating. You do two things together and you choke on your food. You start gasping for breath. If your girlfriend knows first aid, good for your future. If she doesn't, good for her future!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Work ethics...
Advanced Fire Fighting is the course i'm currently attending this week...
Today a lecture was taken by one of the Chief Engineer's out here... just talking about the safety attitude that Indian seafarers have towards work on board. Supposedly a study carried out by an international organisation (cannot be named for reasons best known to him), people all over believe in God which is good for one's peace of mind. But Indians don't believe in God, rather they DEPEND on God. Indians supposedly have this belief that if they have to die then they can die even in their sleep and that if they aren't supposed to die then even if a crane falls upon them, they will come out unscathed! It even happens for exams.
Another affliction affecting our fellow Indian seafarers is ego, or so he claims. When a person flunks all his papers he says "naseeb kharab tha" or rather "wasn't in my destiny". On the other hand, when a person clears his papers... "damn I was good! studied so hard!"
He even went on to describe the different types of people present in the workforce and how they are classified.
--> I am ok, you are ok
--> I am ok, you are not ok
--> I am not ok, you are ok
--> I am not ok, you are not ok
The Indian workforce commonly falls in the 2nd classification.
Lecture over. Frankly speaking, he was a good orator and had a way with words. But sorry to say the class, well what the heck, I didn't agree on most of his points. People change and mentalities do change as well. Not everyone comes into this field with a negative mentality. Then again, you do come across your share of morons.
All in all, you see the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Hmmm movie mood now. Damn Sri Lanka - New Zealand semifinal WC match is on now and i'm willing to bet ALL the TV's in the hostel will be occuppied.
Well, hopefully the payphone will be free... 'phone a friend' is always available out here. For a price of course!
Today a lecture was taken by one of the Chief Engineer's out here... just talking about the safety attitude that Indian seafarers have towards work on board. Supposedly a study carried out by an international organisation (cannot be named for reasons best known to him), people all over believe in God which is good for one's peace of mind. But Indians don't believe in God, rather they DEPEND on God. Indians supposedly have this belief that if they have to die then they can die even in their sleep and that if they aren't supposed to die then even if a crane falls upon them, they will come out unscathed! It even happens for exams.
Another affliction affecting our fellow Indian seafarers is ego, or so he claims. When a person flunks all his papers he says "naseeb kharab tha" or rather "wasn't in my destiny". On the other hand, when a person clears his papers... "damn I was good! studied so hard!"
He even went on to describe the different types of people present in the workforce and how they are classified.
--> I am ok, you are ok
--> I am ok, you are not ok
--> I am not ok, you are ok
--> I am not ok, you are not ok
The Indian workforce commonly falls in the 2nd classification.
Lecture over. Frankly speaking, he was a good orator and had a way with words. But sorry to say the class, well what the heck, I didn't agree on most of his points. People change and mentalities do change as well. Not everyone comes into this field with a negative mentality. Then again, you do come across your share of morons.
All in all, you see the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Hmmm movie mood now. Damn Sri Lanka - New Zealand semifinal WC match is on now and i'm willing to bet ALL the TV's in the hostel will be occuppied.
Well, hopefully the payphone will be free... 'phone a friend' is always available out here. For a price of course!
Monday, April 23, 2007
My weekend jump to Goa and back...
Well, well... what a weekend! Had my heart pounding the last couple of days when I couldn't find a couple of my certificates with me. had to make a short yet highly necessary trip back to Goa in order to get them. And so, on saturday, 21st April 2007, at 1400hrs, I left the institute along with Keegan and Joel. The two of them had to go to Mazgaon Dock. So some reason the ferry wasn't available that day and so we waited for the local State Transport bus. An hour into waiting for the bus, we hear this loud marriage music from behind us and we watched as a marriage procession walked by us. The band had 4 people playing the drums and 1 guy playing the keyboard. Nice. The groom proudly walked by as everyone waited in the sweltering heat to board the buses lined up for them. For some reason they all seemed to be waiting for someone. Then all of a sudden there was another band playing behind us and we saw this group of ladies energetically jumping about and so we assumed the bride was coming. But lo and behold! Another groom! Now, maybe it was the heat or maybe it was just the frustration at not getting a bus for so long but at that moment... we just looked at each other and went "holy shit! a gay wedding???" Of course, we did look at it later and figure out that it was 2 different weddings but at that moment... well lets just say it happened in the 'heat' of the moment.
Got the State Transport bus another 45 minutes later and we ended up outside the Panvel bus station. Grabbed a rickshaw and got to Panvel railway station where there was this incredibly huge snake-like queue. Well, to make a long story short we finally got the tickets after about 30 minutes in the queue and got a train within no time (thank god for high frequency of trains!) These guys get off at Mazgaon Dock and poor lil me travels further on to C.S.T. where I finally get a bus ticket at 1830 hrs for a 1900hrs bus. Needless to say, since the tickets were last minute bookings I managed to get an incredibly cramped bus with NO leg room (Isn't that a common occurrence now?). Reached Panjim, Goa by 0845 hrs and home by 1000 hrs.
Certificates! Found them and peace of mind has been achieved! Well, now that I'm back in Goa and have a few hours to myself I decide to get a haircut that's pretty much been overdue for a while. All done, it was then time to leave at 1930 hrs in order to catch the 2100 hrs bus from Panjim back to this institute!!!
Got the bus and informed the driver I needed to get off at Belapur. He said the bus doesn't pass that side. So I was like okkkk, Panvel would be nice. He looks at me like I'm some weirdo and says that the best he could do for me was the by-pass junction. I had absolutely no idea what that was, but for reasons beyond my comprehension (or maybe coz of the fact that I was just plain tired) I said ok. Bus moves on to Mapusa where I get to witness a pretty incredible fight wherein the passengers (or rather would-be passengers) are thrashing up the owner or rather operators of a bus. Situation calms down and we finally move on.
At 0630 hrs I get a wake up call from my fellow passenger who informs me were at "the junction". I'm unceremoniously dumped from the bus and I have absolutely NO idea where I am! More careful examination of the surroundings reveal a board indication this is the Pune-Mumbai bypass highway which goes under the flyover (If that means anything to anybody!). Wait there for about 5 minutes trying to figure out my next move when incredibly enough there's a State Transport bus moving towards me with a signboard in hindi (thank god I paid attention to studying the language back in school!) which indicated it was going to Belapur Station! Grabbed it... reached the station and at 0745 hrs there was a local bus from the institute which used to come there to pick up people wanting to go to T.S. Rehman.
Man that was some travelling over 43 hours!
Got the State Transport bus another 45 minutes later and we ended up outside the Panvel bus station. Grabbed a rickshaw and got to Panvel railway station where there was this incredibly huge snake-like queue. Well, to make a long story short we finally got the tickets after about 30 minutes in the queue and got a train within no time (thank god for high frequency of trains!) These guys get off at Mazgaon Dock and poor lil me travels further on to C.S.T. where I finally get a bus ticket at 1830 hrs for a 1900hrs bus. Needless to say, since the tickets were last minute bookings I managed to get an incredibly cramped bus with NO leg room (Isn't that a common occurrence now?). Reached Panjim, Goa by 0845 hrs and home by 1000 hrs.
Certificates! Found them and peace of mind has been achieved! Well, now that I'm back in Goa and have a few hours to myself I decide to get a haircut that's pretty much been overdue for a while. All done, it was then time to leave at 1930 hrs in order to catch the 2100 hrs bus from Panjim back to this institute!!!
Got the bus and informed the driver I needed to get off at Belapur. He said the bus doesn't pass that side. So I was like okkkk, Panvel would be nice. He looks at me like I'm some weirdo and says that the best he could do for me was the by-pass junction. I had absolutely no idea what that was, but for reasons beyond my comprehension (or maybe coz of the fact that I was just plain tired) I said ok. Bus moves on to Mapusa where I get to witness a pretty incredible fight wherein the passengers (or rather would-be passengers) are thrashing up the owner or rather operators of a bus. Situation calms down and we finally move on.
At 0630 hrs I get a wake up call from my fellow passenger who informs me were at "the junction". I'm unceremoniously dumped from the bus and I have absolutely NO idea where I am! More careful examination of the surroundings reveal a board indication this is the Pune-Mumbai bypass highway which goes under the flyover (If that means anything to anybody!). Wait there for about 5 minutes trying to figure out my next move when incredibly enough there's a State Transport bus moving towards me with a signboard in hindi (thank god I paid attention to studying the language back in school!) which indicated it was going to Belapur Station! Grabbed it... reached the station and at 0745 hrs there was a local bus from the institute which used to come there to pick up people wanting to go to T.S. Rehman.
Man that was some travelling over 43 hours!
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Finals come and go... and I'm not around...
man! tumultuous past few days... tango finals came and went... and I never made it to the hall on the final day. Let's see, practices were on full swing... 3 days in a row... we worked hard on our dance. On the day of the finals... me and my partner met outside in the morning... discussed the sequence properly.. went to the cybercafe to check out a dance video on the song we were supposed to dance on... i forgot the name of the song, it's the tango dance sequence from 'Scent of a woman'. She was like completely excited about the song and all... and so we decided to meet a couple of hours earlier in the evening and have a final practice before the final dance.
I went home, felt a little tired and lay down and BAM! all of a sudden I'm burning up with this fever and a headache banging around my head like a jackhammer! I decide to give it sometime and do a recheck on my health by 1600 hours. 1600hours and i'm no good. Called her up and said I wouldn't be able to make it. She was upset. I could feel it in her voice. She kept saying it was ok and that I should just make sure I get better soon. I felt real bad about letting her down... but I could barely talk by then... had to cut the call.
In the end... we spoke a few days later... no hard feelings. She was upset about not being able to perform but yeah... nothing that could have been done.
Jive has started since then... She joined it.. she's got another partner since i cannot go for jive. Me is currently in mumbai doing a few courses which would take me about 3 weeks. By the time I get back jive will be almost over. She was a lil mad at me for not coming for jive. But yeah... things have worked out fine.
Fine for her... jive is fun. For me? BORED TO DEATH! THIS PLACE IS A HELLHOLE! Cellphone range is minimal.... nothing to do. Classes are BORING! And today is just my second day! SAD... looks like a long long 3 weeks ahead.
Oh yeah, hate all this nonsense going on about culture being attacked by the actions of Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty. Kudos to Shilpa Shetty for coming out the way she did and taking on the opposition. Loved her style.
I went home, felt a little tired and lay down and BAM! all of a sudden I'm burning up with this fever and a headache banging around my head like a jackhammer! I decide to give it sometime and do a recheck on my health by 1600 hours. 1600hours and i'm no good. Called her up and said I wouldn't be able to make it. She was upset. I could feel it in her voice. She kept saying it was ok and that I should just make sure I get better soon. I felt real bad about letting her down... but I could barely talk by then... had to cut the call.
In the end... we spoke a few days later... no hard feelings. She was upset about not being able to perform but yeah... nothing that could have been done.
Jive has started since then... She joined it.. she's got another partner since i cannot go for jive. Me is currently in mumbai doing a few courses which would take me about 3 weeks. By the time I get back jive will be almost over. She was a lil mad at me for not coming for jive. But yeah... things have worked out fine.
Fine for her... jive is fun. For me? BORED TO DEATH! THIS PLACE IS A HELLHOLE! Cellphone range is minimal.... nothing to do. Classes are BORING! And today is just my second day! SAD... looks like a long long 3 weeks ahead.
Oh yeah, hate all this nonsense going on about culture being attacked by the actions of Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty. Kudos to Shilpa Shetty for coming out the way she did and taking on the opposition. Loved her style.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Aaaah... what a weekend!
Busy busy busy... back from an Easter-fun-filled-weekend at Bangalore! Man! was it fun or was it fun! Caught up with a few cousins who had come down from UK... one of whom I don't remember ever seeing before... while the other two... lets just say I last saw them over a decade ago.
Also finally managed to catch up with some of my pals who are working in Bangalore... been 2 years since I last caught a glimpse of them. Damn it was fun!
Then again I've noticed myself tending to boil over quite easily these days when I get pissed off with someone. A rickshaw driver got the brunt of my verbal volleys when he decided to act smart on charging the fare... and then today.. this smart aleck on a scooter waits till I come near a junction on the road to decide that he wants to cross the road at that moment. Swerved and avoided him but he decides that he was correct and asks me if i'm gone mad (in konkani of course). That did it for me. I'm on the main road, that chap was on a side lane... he has to check the traffic before crossing... and he has the audacity to ask me if i'm gone mad? Gave him a good dose... and quite loudly too I might add coz I had stopped a few metres away from him. Damn was I furious! I mean I found it absolutely incredulous that this guy had the nerve to stop and accuse me, when he didn't check the traffic and just blindly rode across the road.
Dance finals for Tango tomorrow. Suman's claiming she's nervous. I am too. I mean I was nervous for salsa but then again for salsa I could do any step and Lily could follow by my hand signals. Here... We haven't got hand signals... we literally talk and tell each other what steps we're doing next. We haven't got the sequence in order!!! Well it's gonna be a long night tonight. Sit, sequence the steps... oh yeah, most important, CHOOSE A SONG.
And lemme see... what's been pissing me off today... oh yeah... before the euphoria of the courts sentencing a serving politician to jail for breaking the seals on sealed shops in Delhi could even sink in... now we have a social activist coming to the forefront to file a case against Sachin Tendulkar for cutting a cake in the shape and colour of the Indian flag ???
Damn! Don't people have anything better to do? So what if he cut a cake in the shape and colour of the Indian flag??? You call that disrespecting the Tricolour? PUHLEEZ! Go save your protests for the innumerable tricolour flags that are thrown away and trodden upon after the end of EVERY Republic Day and Independence Day event. In that case... we need to file cases against every sports fan who puts the tricolour on their cheek coz they haven't put the chakra on the flag and hence have desecrated it (p.s. for the uninitiated, note the sarcasm) Desecrating the National flag... I still find it offensive that we can't put the image of the national flag where we desire... I believe the sports players (and i'm not talking about just cricketers) had to ask for permission to put the national flag on their helmets and even after that they were denied the opportunity to do so. What a load of crap! It's funny the system even entertains such cases.
Also finally managed to catch up with some of my pals who are working in Bangalore... been 2 years since I last caught a glimpse of them. Damn it was fun!
Then again I've noticed myself tending to boil over quite easily these days when I get pissed off with someone. A rickshaw driver got the brunt of my verbal volleys when he decided to act smart on charging the fare... and then today.. this smart aleck on a scooter waits till I come near a junction on the road to decide that he wants to cross the road at that moment. Swerved and avoided him but he decides that he was correct and asks me if i'm gone mad (in konkani of course). That did it for me. I'm on the main road, that chap was on a side lane... he has to check the traffic before crossing... and he has the audacity to ask me if i'm gone mad? Gave him a good dose... and quite loudly too I might add coz I had stopped a few metres away from him. Damn was I furious! I mean I found it absolutely incredulous that this guy had the nerve to stop and accuse me, when he didn't check the traffic and just blindly rode across the road.
Dance finals for Tango tomorrow. Suman's claiming she's nervous. I am too. I mean I was nervous for salsa but then again for salsa I could do any step and Lily could follow by my hand signals. Here... We haven't got hand signals... we literally talk and tell each other what steps we're doing next. We haven't got the sequence in order!!! Well it's gonna be a long night tonight. Sit, sequence the steps... oh yeah, most important, CHOOSE A SONG.
And lemme see... what's been pissing me off today... oh yeah... before the euphoria of the courts sentencing a serving politician to jail for breaking the seals on sealed shops in Delhi could even sink in... now we have a social activist coming to the forefront to file a case against Sachin Tendulkar for cutting a cake in the shape and colour of the Indian flag ???
Damn! Don't people have anything better to do? So what if he cut a cake in the shape and colour of the Indian flag??? You call that disrespecting the Tricolour? PUHLEEZ! Go save your protests for the innumerable tricolour flags that are thrown away and trodden upon after the end of EVERY Republic Day and Independence Day event. In that case... we need to file cases against every sports fan who puts the tricolour on their cheek coz they haven't put the chakra on the flag and hence have desecrated it (p.s. for the uninitiated, note the sarcasm) Desecrating the National flag... I still find it offensive that we can't put the image of the national flag where we desire... I believe the sports players (and i'm not talking about just cricketers) had to ask for permission to put the national flag on their helmets and even after that they were denied the opportunity to do so. What a load of crap! It's funny the system even entertains such cases.
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