Blog 161 - Marine Musings - A Letter from Someone who Walked the Same Corridors 55 Years Ago

The Cap and the Logo

The Formative Years Then

I am writing this at the behest of 4th Year Cadet Mr Kush Rana, who wanted me to write something ‘inspirational’ for the cadets.

Me, inspirational. Ha.

Although I have tried to make this letter as inspirational as possible, I could not but help lapse into, at times, my own personal experiences. At other times, I have stated facts about employment that can be considered negative.

You, the reader presently in the hallowed halls of DMET, may not realise the depth of renown, how eminent and celebrated this institution is in the Maritime World - solely because of the contributions made by those who have filed out of the doorway of the College during each year's Passing Out Parade.

The old Logo of DMET

Once the four years of College would be done and dusted, within a decade those same cadets would be claiming positions of prominence. 

At the heart of every shipping company is the ship, interdependency between ship and company defining each other’s roles.

At the heart of it all is the Chief Engineer - and other Engineers - without whom nothing moves. 

Some step ashore to often own and, mostly, manage Ship Management companies having a fleet of 600 odd ships.

Some turn to the elitist of the shipping profession - a Surveyor for a Classification Society, progressing to “Director, Global Business Development”.

Not only did we power the world, some moved on to jobs ashore.   

There were no country's borders that we did not penetrate. We became ship owners, took up top positions in prestigious Classification Societies, became consultants for top shipping companies, advisers to law makers such as IMO, owners and CEOs of top ship repair workshops and dry docks and even Chief Engineers of top hotels.

Everyone knows about a caterpillar metamorphosing into a beautiful creature after two to four weeks, passing through several stages - egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis or cocoon) and adult butterfly. The caterpillar stage, where the larva eats and grows, can last a few weeks. The pupa stage, inside the chrysalis or cocoon, also takes a few weeks. 

(Google)

Almost all, when they turn into butterflies, awe the human visitor with their beauty, their grace, as they flit hither and thither. Were he to catch one and hold it at its wings, the pigmentation on the wings - that nature has provided in adding to its beauty - transfers itself to the fingers of the human.

Transpose those same stages to a human teenager, wanting to set out on his own to tread his own path, raw, uninitiated, having within him the patterns of moulds of his own parents on one side and that of his school and society on the other.

At that stage, he knows not his path to tread, his visions vague, his ambitions confused and sometimes guided - or misguided - by his circle of parents, relatives, friends, peers, sometimes anointing himself with the halo of other greats and - wrongly - placing himself on the same pedestal.

Knowing not how he will achieve it, he professes the same answer to all who question him as to what he wants to do with his life, the pompous answer being “Gain fame, gain fortune”.

In the last stages of schooling, very few would have thought of taking up Marine Engineering as a profession, as it is well known that the profession required a tremendous amount of different types of sacrifices, while subjecting yourself to the fears and rigours of vast seas. More than others, Mothers will be the stumbling block.

Before we go further, let us take a quiet look at the societal changes that have taken place over the last sixty years. Then (6 decades ago), very few jobs were available to engineers and even the medical profession. 

The sure fire means of getting a job after completion of graduation or training were if you joined the Armed Forces or DMET or Dufferin, IITs being excluded from the gambit of most due to its exclusivity and exalted status. 

The way into the Armed Forces - NDA, IMA - were stricken with physical fitness tests, obstacle courses and psychological tests with a 99% drop out rate, along with a  certain ‘cut off’ percentage in Pre University. The selection would mean that parents would have no more financial obligations to spend on their children.

DMET and Dufferin conducted separate entrance exams for 100 and 60 slots respectively, with 2 lakh applicants, followed by an interview for those meritorious enough  to rank within 120. The selected cadets’ financial obligations were heavily subsidised by the Government of India.  

The Armed Forces, DMET and Dufferin saw, mostly, an influx of boys from lower middle income families and mid middle class families due to the financial obligation of the parent being reduced to zero or reduced considerably. (During my cadetship, my monthly payment to the College was less than Rs 400).

The Formative Years Now

The socio economic condition of the cadets of today differs vastly from that of 4 decades ago. They have a plethora of other choices but have chosen Marine Engineering, despite the escalation of fees to a formidable amount. 

Although all 4 years are tough to varying degrees, I would argue that the 1st year is the most difficult. 

You come in with your head in the clouds and are brought down to earth with a thud. No more illusions. 

The first three months are the hardest, having to contend with overbearing seniors (ragging), finding your feet, adjusting mentally, psychologically and physically. Many come in to the first day as pampered Mother’s pets, only to be rudely woken up to the realities of life. The more affluent boys would have thought - “Do I have to endure this? I can go back home and live a life of comfort”. The less affluent’s thoughts go another way “I have nothing to go back to. At least, if I stay here and endure whatever is thrown at me, it will ease after a while, giving me a chance to forge a career”.

It must be remembered that, for the boys from less affluent families, their forging a career such as in the Merchant Navy, elevates family fortunes and makes affordable a wide range of basic necessities that we, in life, need to spend on - sister’s education and marriage, a much needed home of your own - for your family - rather than the dismal rented apartments where you have to quietly swallow unsavoury words that the house owner may use, where your family has the comfort of having a nest egg for emergencies.

(I belonged to such a background and was able to pull the family up by its bootstraps to a better standard of living within 5 years of being at sea. A plot of land and a house came along after ten years. In today’s world, in spite of the wages being high, I have my doubts if you can buy land and construct a house in a metropolitan city.).

There were several occasions when I did think of quietly leaving the premises and taking the train back home. So what coerced me into staying put and facing whatever the system threw at me?

There were two factors.

One was stubbornness. To run away from something was anathema to my psyche. Never.

The second was I had nothing to go back to. My family had pooled in the last vestiges of their combined finances to send me to DMET which they, clearly, could not afford.

(We were supposed to carry at least 4 trousers - long pants, as they were then called. I had to make do with my elder brother's altered ones. The inclusion of a wrist watch, in the list of items we were to carry, stymied us, till my Father just took out the one he was wearing and gave it to me. That emotional moment lived with me for the rest of my life).

If I were to go back, leaving the only practical means of a future job, I would never have been able to live with myself.

Let us face the truth. In my first year, it took me only a few months to realise that, come what may, all I had to do was obtain the minimum marks to pass the exams, after which I would be on the same platform as the ones who positioned themselves in the merit list or obtained a President’s Gold Medal.

We would all get a job, starting as 5th Engineers.

We all would start with the same starting salary which, at that time, was a total monthly emolument of Rs. 940 in an Indian company.

But this letter is not about me. It is about the thousands who tread these hallowed corridors and an attempt by me to still the fluttering fears of an uncertain future.

A ceremonial ‘Fall in’ - in Tunics and Buck skin shoes, in the Hostel Quadrangle

The four years inculcates in you a sense of duty, discipline and devotion that never leaves you for the rest of your life. That devotion to duty - the hallmark of a dedicated engineer - comes from discipline.

One of the psychological traits that get instilled into you, willingly or unwittingly, is to come back more strongly after every fall - a trait that forms the backbone of every seafarer. That trait strengthens you, strengthens your resolve and becomes part of a never-say-die attitude. 

To slightly digress, this trait will prove to be the one underlying factors that gives you spine when faced with problems, of which there will be plenty when you are at sea, technologically and psychologically. 

Take it from me. The four years that you are spending in this hostel, in this institution, will appear before you time and again, for the rest of your life. This will be the single most large scale memory that you will carry throughout your career, throughout your retirement, throughout your life.

Fond memories of the many city leaves. Fonder memories of the many times where  you had a simple dinner of parathas, sabji and tea in the opposite CPC colony, when your pockets were threadbare. Nostalgic memories of 4th year breakfasts at 7 am in the dhaba of the CPC Colony of hot jilebis, samosas and a litre of masala milk.

The friendships forged now will remain for the rest of your life. In fact, the bonds strengthen as the years go by, especially after the first decade has passed.

Enjoy the four years. Nothing will come close to it for the rest of your life - not marriage, not the high position that you will gain in your job, not the high status that you will achieve in society, not the fancy cars you will drive, not the Suzuki Hayabusa that you are already dreaming about.

Enjoy the four years. But in doing so, do not forget your commitment to the profession - that of study. Adsorption is not an option. Absorption is a necessity and a must.

Unlike decades ago, when all I had to do was pass all subjects and obtain my II Class Part A (MMD Exam) Certificate to obtain a call as 5th Engineer in several companies, the trends have reversed now. Jobs are scarce and the cadets with higher marks are preferred.

But, be assured, better days are ahead. Shipping will soon boom. Instead of the giant carriers that you see today, shipping will return to smaller and more efficient ships, thereby increasing the number of ships worldwide, thereby increasing the prospects of employment for cadets.

In the coming decades, demographics will define destiny. Make sure you are part of that demographic that defines. There are only two countries that have a young, employable cadre - one is India and the other is the Philippines. So the tussle is not only domestic but also global. The market that had swung away from India will soon return.

The College workshop presently provides you with some basic skills and the rudiments of machinery overhaul.

But that is not enough.

When you join a ship as a Junior Engineer, many a Senior Engineer - in today’s world - (wrongly) expects you to have the practical and theoretical skills of a Fourth Engineer. 

The only solution to counter such an opinion is to immerse yourself into the job of a Junior Engineer, assisting the Third or the Second at every possible opportunity, in spite of your tiredness.

As much as the First Year of College was difficult, so will the first year at sea seem to be difficult.

But remember, you have an added advantage. Your computer skills would empower you into the working group. Use it as a leverage to learn skills that you realise you do not possess, of which there are hundreds..

Along with coping with learning about all the machinery surrounding you, you will have to cope with loneliness, homesickness, sea sickness.

Overcome loneliness and homesickness by delving into Instruction Manuals.

In fact, from day 1, I would suggest two things - One, a diary of every day events, what you learnt, any offensive or courteous behaviour, any breakdown or overhaul that you were involved with. Two - a 200 page foolscap notebook where you take down notes from instruction manuals. Example : If you are part of a service gang that cleans a purifier, take the purifier manual and study it. Make notes. Make small sketches associated with what you have seen. Be sure to mention - notes wise and sketches wise - how the problem was solved. These notes will help you in your advanced certificates.

I am not certain if my example will be considered an anachronism in today’s hi-tech world, but I will, anyway relate my own experiences and you can pick on the kernels of that experience.

I was never a brilliant cadet and would probably rate myself as below average. But I made up for it by working 14 or 16 hour days on board. Fortunately or unfortunately, I found myself on a ship that was a junk, with breakdowns before one even blinked and turned around. We were all kept busy. That is when my 200 page long notebooks slowly multiplied into 12 notebooks filled with descriptions, sketches and details of breakdowns.

I spent 2 years continuously on that one ship, before I got down for my II Class Part B. But not before having main engine piston cracks, liner cracks, main engine jacket cracks, worn fuel injectors’ needle valves and guides, badly worn pumps and no spares in sight. You learnt to make do with the little that you had.

It was a learning curve that not only bolstered my chances of clearing my exams first shot - mostly because of the notes that I had accumulated, which proved extremely useful and invaluable - but stood me in good stead for the decades of my service on board. So, if you get a troublesome ship as your first one, fasten your seat belts and plunge in, never regretting it.

When you think that you have achieved the amount of knowledge for you to be termed a good engineer, you are likely to slip into a comfort zone, which will be the start of your decline. Instead, promise yourself that you will learn something, one thing, new - about the Engine Room - every day. It will keep you grounded.

Those two years on my first ship and the 6 years that I spent in my first company proved to be the perfect foil for my later experiences.  

Marine Engineering is one of the few professions that is satisfying, gives complete job satisfaction. A comparable profession of the same class would be, to my knowledge, an ISRO Scientist.

Under the present scenario, your Final Year academic results matter a lot. Campus interviews and the selection therein will matter in being the early bird.

It is one of the saddest testimonials to the plight of shipping that many shipping companies have dispensed with obtaining 'Fifth Engineers' or ‘Trainee Engineers’ for their fleet - in order to spend less on the budget for a ship - and, instead, advertise for a ‘Fourth Engineer with 1 year experience’. And, where, pray, will that Fourth Engineer emerge from?

A few companies have a more forward looking vision and sponsor some cadets for further on board training. Too few, too few.

Please feel free to ask me any questions and I will try to answer them to the best of my ability. Please do remember that I have been out of touch with the employable part of the industry due to having retired more than a decade ago. Technical questions are welcome.

I am available on e-mail : ranganathan.blog@gmail.com

The best of luck to all.

A Ranganathan

1275