Welcome to Marine Musings 

Capt PM Abraham bought his own sextant in 1959 in Hamburg and carried it with him on every ship that he sailed on. Cost - around Rs. 700....

Since I have written a few lines on sound powered telephones and voice pipes in this narrative, both of which are anachronisms today, I...

This narrative is more technical and engineering-oriented than normal. Non seafarers may not relish it, but I have tried to keep it as...

I have always found happiness in the humour in the late PG Wodehouse' books. The love affair with his books started when I was around 14...

Fourth Engineer's Epaulettes of Rank. Note the blue stripes above and below the gold stripe, signifying an Engineer. A 5th Engineer's...

Chennai Perumai Storms at Sea: Perhaps the innate vulnerability of Mankind is best exposed when facing the fury of Mother Nature. It...

Chapter 7 – The Pacific and West Coast of USA Our next trip was to the West Coast of the USA, to Portland, Oregon, to load grain, under...

Flashback: My first concrete memory was about Avadi, a place near Madras (Today's Chennai). I distinctly remember the 1954 Congress...

The perceptive reader may have noticed that my narratives start with 'Marine Musings 3', from the time I was 16+ years of age. 'Marine...

This particular narrative will, in all probability, be 'old hat' to the experienced seafarer. It is written with the object of showing...

21+ Sorry, the narcissist in me prevailed, hence my 21 year old CDC photograph. It is in total contradiction to my normal persona, which...

The narrative below depicts the organisational structure as seen by me when I joined my first ship in 1970. Slowly. things started to...

The (seafaring) reader is requested to bear with me when I state the obvious in these narratives. I am expecting many non-seafaring...

In two of the previous blogs, I had mentioned the names of batch mates who were close to me. There were also a few seniors whose names I...

This particular narrative is about the 'ragging' case that 7 of us were involved in, where we had to stand trial in a Sessions Court. The...

Friendships are defined by one’s childhood upbringing, reading of Literature and the input of those who influence you during your...

Blog 12 This blog is about the more pleasant times of my stay in Calcutta, encompassing what I enjoyed - food and movies. Having come...

Academically - for an Engineering College - I was a weak student, having finished schooling in a medium which, later, I discovered was of...

Blog 10 Chapter 4 LIFE IN THE HOSTEL AND CLASS ROOMS: FIRST YEAR Life as a first year was miserable for the first two months due to...

Blog 9 Prior to the 1970s, recruitment into the Merchant Navy as Cadets or 5th Engineers were made from very few sources. A) Through 3...