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Sailing through
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| Perviz Dara Bhote |
| The last two decades have seen Chennai metamorphose
into a highly cosmopolitan society. “Except for the climate
which is hot, hotter and hottest, this is a wonderful metropolis,”
says Sushma Kapur. Having lived in Mumbai all her life, she is amazed
to realize that she has actually begun thinking of Chennai as home!
Ever since the city became a major centre for the shipping industry,
there has been quite an exodus of the marine fraternity from other
port cities like Mumbai, Calcutta, Goa and Cochin. Migrant mariners
to this city get lucrative jobs, enjoy a high standard of living,
and a homogenized socio-cultural outlook. Anjali Bhatia, whose husband
is a shipping executive says, “I preferred to settle in Chennai
because unlike the hustle and bustle of other metros, this city moves
at a moderate pace, it’s cleaner and safer too”. As for
me, there is no place in the world like Chennapattanam – my
adopted home. Where else would you get the fantastic combination of
fluffy idlies, crispy dosais, aromatic filter coffee, rustling silks
and a whole season of cultural fiestas? |
| Besides a large ‘sailing crowd’ present
in Chennai, there are those who were Marine Officers earlier, but
have now taken up shore-based jobs in Shipping Companies, Shipping
Agencies, and Ship Repair Works etc. Though the ‘sea-dog’
has turned ‘landlubber’, one cannot fully overcome the
feeling – ‘once a mariner, always a mariner’. Adaptability,
acquired through seaboard experience, enables this group to settle
down almost instantaneously, within any social set-up. While accepting
the local warmth, colour and flavour of their adopted city, they also
share with its people the richness and variety of their myriad experiences
of life at sea and in distant lands. So when Captain Anup Kumar who
is a pilot with the Madras Port Trust was asked whether he missed
his family that lives in Jhansi, he promptly replied, “One tends
to make a family wherever one settles down. Certainly, one does miss
one’s siblings and parents, but if your heart is big enough,
even the neighbours can turn into family. Especially in the staff
quarters that are provided by the Port Trust, every family unit has
come down from somewhere else. But we’re so close that even
when we menfolk are away on duty, we’re certain that someone
will be around to help our family during an emergency”. |
| Maintenance of international standards is a must
in the shipping industry if one wishes to survive in this highly competitive
arena. There are associations like ‘The Institute of Marine
Engineers (India), ‘The Company of Master Mariners’ ,
and ‘The Merchant Navy Officers’ Association’ (MNOA)
which conduct seminars, symposia and publish journals for dissemination
of knowledge and to keep abreast of the latest developments. Social
evenings and get-togethers are also organised to foster inter-personal
relationships between members of the marine fraternity. Such evenings
provide opportunities for marine families to get together, and because
of common experiences of ‘life at sea’, there is an instant
bonding. ‘Mariners’ Nite’ is an evening that most
people look forward to, for catching up with old friends and making
new acquaintances. |
| The MNOA organises periodic get-togethers specially
to celebrate festivals like Diwali and Christmas so that mariners
who live away from their kith and kin, do not miss the warmth of family
ties during such times. The MNOA has frequently helped families in
times of distress and emergencies also, when the ‘man of the
house’ was away sailing on the high seas. |
| Some mariners are members of social organisations
too, and the excellent organisational skills honed on-board ships,
enable them to make meaningful contributions to the activities they
are involved in. Many wives of mariners who had to shelve their careers
during their sailing days, have now settled down in jobs like teaching,
party-catering and event management. Some have even picked up the
threads of professions like medicine, law, architecture and the fine
arts. And there are several entrepreneurs too amongst them who have
set up boutiques and beauty-parlours, and also handle interiors. When
Sarla Shanker was asked how she felt getting back to her law practice
after such a long spell, she volleyed back, “Well, it’s
all a matter of self-confidence. Law hasn’t changed for years,
but I have certainly changed. After the exposure of travelling on
board the ship and meeting so many people, one definitely gets to
be sure of oneself, and our insight into reading people’s nature
and character also improves”. |
| Life on the high seas is a totally different experience
when compared to life ashore, especially for the mariner’s wife.
While commenting on her life as a Shippie wife, Geetha Shankar says,
“There are no domestic chores to be done on the ship, except
the laundry. It’s a totally hassle free life, no cares about
provisions and stocks, or what menus to set. On the ships, the roles
are reversed, and it is the (male) officers who have to bother about
these mundane matters. We lead such a care free life, and with husbands
earning well there was no question of counting the pennies when we
set foot ashore and went berserk while shopping”. |
| Children on board the ship have the advantage of
having their fathers around them all the time. Arjun Bhatia who spent
his early years on the ship recalls nostalgically, “Pappa was
just a shout away. We spent so many hours in the cabin playing together.
But now he has an office job and comes home pretty late and tired.
And by the time I finished my homework and had dinner, it was time
to go to bed. So now, I can play with Pappa only on Sundays”.
Not so for eight year old Rashmi Balaram whose father still sails.
“I miss my daddy especially when he has just gone, or when he
is not with me to celebrate my birthday. Also, when I see my friend’s
father playing with her. But after sometime, I get used to it. But,
I speak to my daddy often over the phone, and I give him a long list
of books and toys that he must bring for me. And then when he comes
home on leave, we have him all to ourselves”. Her sister Nitika
who is four years old pipes in, “When daddy goes on the ship,
mummy is our mother and father”. |
| There are other changes to grapple with too. As
Shalini Pillai jocularly commented during a discussion. “It’s
a constant change from ‘master mode’ to ‘mistress
mode’ for the wife. She learns to wear the pants in the family,
and just when she has learned and perfected the ropes, the ‘He-Man’
comes home on leave, and to her utter chagrin, he begins to assert
himself and calls the shots”. |
| The saving grace is – distance makes the heart
grow fonder! |
| (The author is the wife of Capt. D J Bhote, President-Marine
and Commercial, Sanmar Shipping Ltd.) |
| (Parts of this article were first published in
‘Metro Plus’ a supplement of The Hindu) |
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