BLOG 24 - MARINE MUSINGS 4 - Food on Board, Recreation and a Short Leave

Fourth Engineer's Epaulettes of Rank. Note the blue stripes above and below the gold stripe, signifying an Engineer. A 5th Engineer's does not have the diamond, only has one horizontal stripe. Epaulettes are worn with the prescribed uniforms and very rarely, with boiler suits.

As one rises in rank, one stripe is added to the epaulettes. Finally, in the rank of Chief Engineer, you remain with 4 srtipes and a diamond. More stripes and they change orientation and become tigers or zebras, the latter being closely related to donkeys.

In other words, one should not allow the post to get into one's head. Rather, it should be that the head must get into the post. This observation may sound inconsequential, but I have seen bloated egos that show themselves with elevated posts.

My apologies if my narratives hark hither and thither, as they represent memories of happenings and instances of 50 odd years ago. Sometimes, at times, I may have repeated myself. They may not be sequential, but they are definitely factual.

My 'Chennai Perumai' days will, probably, be my longest narrative as, firstly, they were my formative years and, secondly, it was the ship on which I had the longest tenure of my entire sea career - nearly 26 months (2 years+) of continuous service, except for a short break of 15 days. It was the period when my milk teeth turned into molars, with wisdom teeth starting to show themselves towards the end of the tenure.

Chapter 8 – Rest and Recreation, Dining

Entertainment and Relaxation on board: In the days of the beginning of my career and till around 1983, we worked as long as it was called for. So, periods of rest for watch keepers was the prerogative of the 2nd Engineer. This led to 12 to 14 hour work days at times, with a minimum of 12 hours per day. As the months of my first year at sea went by, I became more adept at time management vs work load.

It was probably 7 to 8 months into my sea career that I started frequenting the Officer’s Smoke Room a bit more often, after the night watch. I literally discovered a treasure trove of musical albums that were hardly ever used and were in pristine condition..

The ship having been built in West Germany (the collapse of the Soviet Union, the breaking of the Berlin Wall and the amalgamation of East Germany into a Unified Germany was to come more than twenty years later), the music system was a top notch Grundig Radiogram integrating a powerful radio, a ‘spool’ tape recorder and a record player, the quality of which I have yet to come across. To my lasting regret, I had not yet entered the age of affordable music cassette recorders or spool tape recorders. Otherwise, I would have recorded all 78 and 33 rpm records for posterity. I had the opportunity to do it, as I eventually spent more than 2 years on that ship – but not the means.

And, in the shelf beside the Radiogram were a fantastic collection of 33 rpm LP records, starting from Carnatic music to Shlokas, Western Classical, Jazz and all the LPs of pop songs of famous singers.

Amongst the best were:

MS Subbulakshmi: Quite a number of her LPs were there. I relived old All India Radio programmes with ‘Ranga Pura Vihara’, ‘Pakkala Nila padi’ in Raga Karagarapriya, ‘Akhilandeswari’ in Raga Dwijavanti (one of my top favourites), ‘Nithisala Sugama’ in Raga Kalyani, ‘Brocheya vara varura’ in Raga Khamas, ‘Jnamo saga radha’ (a piece that my Mother learnt during our Wellington stay), ‘Sitamma Mayamma’ in Raga Vasantha and several classics written in Tamil. There were quite a number that I have to leave out of this narrative.

NC Vasantha Kokilam, ‘Veenai’ Balachandar and Chitti Babu on the violin: A few LPs were from these stalwarts, readily devoured.

The Officers’ Smoke Room was sound proof. Listening at odd hours of the night with no one around, and listening to music recorded in Studios, rather than a ‘live’ recording in front of an audience, was heavenly. You have to listen to Balachandar on the Veenai and Chitti Babu on the violin in such surroundings and from such LP records to fully realise the virtuosity of these musicians.

During this period, I committed to memory the complete ‘Venkateswara Suprabhatam’ (‘Kousalya Su Praja Rama Purva Sandhya Pravarthe the….’ from the great lady herself, 'Bharat Ratna' Shrimati MS Subbulakshmi.

I listened to Western Classical music for the first time, with orchestras playing Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin and was able to appreciate the wider view that such music afforded, rather than the conservative, parochial upbringing of my childhood and teen years.

My friend, Second Mate Rajkumar, was instrumental in making me like and appreciate Country Music and the slow, melodious, lyrical songs of the Fifties and Sixties. In those days, each hit song would be released on 78 rpm records, of which we had plenty.

Jim Reeves ‘Put your sweet lips a little closer to the phone. Let’s pretend we’re together all alone’.

Paul Anka singing ‘Diana’ (I’m so young and you’re so old),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh0doCIySw4

The Beatles - "She was just seventeen", "I wanna hold your hand".

Neil Diamond "Sweet Caroline"

Shirley Bassey "I'd like to run away from you" came into my life a few years later.

MEMORIES OF EARLY MORNING BREAKFASTS, BOOKS AND MUSIC

For part of the time as 5th Engineer, I kept watch with the 3rd Engineer, who was in his mid thirties, uncertificated as he had given up trying to get his 2nd Class certificate after many attempts, and had resigned himself to remain a 3rd Engineer as long as regulations allowed him to do so. He was a very practical engineer who could repair and assemble intricate parts. He could show how it was done but could not explain it verbally. We made a good team.

He used to go up at around 3AM, prepare some dishes for the two of us and the 2nd Mate and come down to hand over the watch at 4AM to the 2nd Engineer. Meanwhile, I would complete the log book readings and wait for him to sign.

In the early days, these uncertified 3rd Engineers formed the backbone of the Company and the Company drew its reputation from these stalwarts. Without any ego, they taught their juniors everything they knew, knowing fully well that those very same juniors, in a few years, will go a few ranks above them and give them instructions and orders. As regulations on the need of certification for each rank became more predominant, they died a silent death. Some took up workshop jobs. Sisco employed a number of them as Assistant Superintendents for quite a few years, benefiting from their experience. My salutations to them.

At 4AM, we would go up, have a quick shower, change and meet up with the 2nd Mate in the duty mess and have breakfast, mostly chapathis, anda burji, milk. That is when I started becoming close to Raj, who was the 2nd mate.

During port stays, when he and I used to be on night watch, we used to share whatever was available at 4AM. He assumed the role of 'Chief Cook' and would make fried eggs or omelettes. Our friendship grew on arguments about books, music and the like, with each imbibing the other’s likes. It continues, more than 50 years on.

DINING ON BOARD:

One of the excellent aspects of SISCO was the food on board, due to which many a seafarer joined this Company. Most of the dining was done in the Officer’s Dining Hall, where all had to wear uniforms with epaulettes of rank. After the formal dining hours, the Dining Hall was normally closed.

There was also a Duty Mess, supposedly to be used by those on duty – for example the Engineers, who would be wearing boiler suits. During normal working hours, a steward would be on duty. The ‘fridge in this Duty Mess would be well stocked with bread, eggs, milk, cheese, jams, juices and the like for the hungry ones who had just finished their night duties. Coffee or tea ingredients would be available at all times - one needed to only prepare it. This Duty Mess used to be frequented by all and sundry and was the 24 hour Coffee Shop of the ship.

When down for my exams, I used to be reminded about the Duty Mess atmosphere, when those studying for exams would frequent the Coffee Shop around midnight, during which heated technical discussions used to take place.

Chapter 9 – A Short Leave

Short Leave: Having been almost 13 months away from home, I asked for a short leave of 15 days to go home to Madras and return to the same ship. In the 13 months of service, I had accumulated more than 4 months of leave. Maritime Union agreement was ’10 days of leave to be guaranteed to every Officer for every month of service on Articles aboard a ship'.

The Ship’s Articles constitutes a more-than-200-year-old solemn promise between the Owner / Master of a vessel, by which the seafarer is guaranteed certain privileges on board, in return for his services. In 1926, the International Labour Organisation spelt out the guarantees in a Charter which was accepted by member nations. It has far reaching legal aspects and protects the seafarer from an unscrupulous Owner.

A book, colloquially known as a ‘Seaman’s Book’ and titled ‘Continuous Discharge Certificate’ was mandated to be issued to all authorised Seafarers by means of a Merchant Shipping Act in the British Parliament in 1854. It contains a record of each ship that the seafarer sails on, Master’s comments on his ability and conduct and signed by the Master on his discharge from that particular ship. It is the most important document that a Seafarer carries and remains so even after more than 160 years. This is along with all the Certificates of Competency and various training sessions that he attends, all of them mandated by law in each country. To a Seafarer, the ‘CDC’ is more precious than a passport.

You may well ask ‘Why a short leave instead of a more extended period’. A short leave gave me the opportunity to join back on the same ship before she left Indian shores, otherwise I would have had to wait at least 3 months or more for another SISCO ship to come to India, as they owned only 5 ships at that time, all sister ships, all built in the same Shipyard in Germany, all registered in Madras, all their names starting with “Chennai”.

The other, and more important, reason was that I had less than six months of sea service to go, before I could attempt and appear for my ‘Second Class Part B’ exam, which would have qualified me to work as Second Engineer on any ship. I wanted to appear for the exams as soon as my ‘Article Time’ and my ‘Propelling Time’ were sufficient.

(‘Article Time’ is the time / number of months / days that I was signed on to the Articles of the ship. ‘Propelling Time’ was only for Engineers and constitutes the number of days the propeller / Main Engine was in operation).

‘Propelling Time’ certificate was given by the Chief Engineer. To qualify for the examination, we had to have served at least 18 months of Article Time’ and 2/3 of it as Propelling Time or minimum of 12 months.

As things went, I was compelled to stay on board for more than 12 months after joining back. When the vessel next called an Indian port, I was just short of the required ‘time’ for my Second Class, exam, forcing me to do practically 7 months more than required, as the vessel did not come back to India during those months, and SISCO had a policy of not discharging staff at foreign ports if the vessel was likely to come back to India any time soon.

Back to my short leave. I had 15 days. Going diagonally across the country by train, north west to south east, from Gandhidam (closest railway station to Kandla, about 60 kms?) to Madras, would have taken me nearly 4 days., which meant lesser amount of time at home. So, I took my first airplane flight from Gandhidam to Bombay, an AVRO, propellered aircraft. At the flight counter at Bombay, I found there were no seats available on any flight to Madras for the next 3 days. Those days, all flights were Indian Airlines. No private airlines were in existence.

So, I took a cab from Santa Cruz to Victoria Terminus to look for trains. There was only one seat available on one train, leaving within the next two hours. It was an Exclusive AC First Class coach, costing slightly less than the Bombay – Chennai flight ticket. It was a luxurious cabin, with a double bed, a couch, a table and a small chandelier. I was literally pampered for the next 34 hours, as it was a VIP suite. I have never come across such hospitality in my later travels. This was the Bombay ~ Chennai Mail, leaving VT at around 2100H and reaching Chennai at 0500H the day after. First I had a good shower in the amply provided bathroom and then a hot meal. I slept like a log after the strain of ship board life. Next morning coffee, then breakfast with newspapers provided, then sleep, then lunch, then sleep, then dinner, then sleep – only to wake up as the train steamed into Chennai’s Central Station. Home at last.

In the meantime, on the home front, my Father had retired, built a house in Chromepet which, at that time, was considered as the 'outskirts' of the city and the family had shifted. Having only a suitcase and a kitbag, I walked from Central Station to Park Station and caught the local train coming from Harbour and going to Tambaram, Chromepet being one of the last few stops before Tambaram. Asking a porter for help with not only the luggage, but also the route to the house, I reached home.

Time flew with visits from and to relatives, having deep conversations with my Father and Brother. Practically all my relatives on my Mother’s side and a few from my Father’s side came over to see me. I was the first seafarer in my extended family. I still vividly remember a scene where all my cousins and I were on the open terrace in the night - where we were all set to sleep on 'charpoys', in a group - and I was weaving a web of word pictures of all the sights I had seen, life on board and such. To convey to a rapt audience the beauty of the sea, the wonders of the sea, unforgettable sunrises and sunsets, all the vagaries of the sea - cherished memories, as they were all my loved ones.

These get togethers became part and parcel of my life whenever I used to come home from a ship. It included small presents bought for each of them, but I would like to think that they came on my behalf. My Mother would always complain that I was too generous with my money - which seafarer isn’t? Calls to mind a quote from a French journalist and philosopher, Andre Gide

Complete possession is proved only by giving.

All you are unable to give possesses you.

“Charity begins at home”. Apart from sending money to a joint bank account held with my Father which, added to his retirement benefits such as gratuity and provident fund, he was able to complete building a modest house in the suburbs of Chennai. One cannot put a value on the happiness elicited on the face of a man who has struggled all his life, who feels he has accomplished something worthy in his life on building and owning a house of his own. I felt happy that I contributed to his ‘happiness’ factor.

But this incident set me on a different path for the rest of my life.

There is an old Tamil saying - “All a man needs in this life is a cow and a drumstick tree. He uses the branches to build himself a hut. He uses the leaves to feed the cow. He uses the twigs as firewood. He sells most of the milk produced and the drumsticks grown on the tree, keeping some drumsticks and leaves for his own family's food, buys rice and essentials and feeds his family”. Although a 'drumstick' is a vegetable, in today's 'Macworld' it connotates to 'chicken drumsticks'.

In essence, very simplistic, but an ideal that is in total conflict with today’s materialistic world of instant gratification.. Not that I aspired to such simplicity, but I felt that I should not hoard wealth.

Except for one, all my numerous male and female cousins were struggling in life, married to husbands whose incomes were very meagre, struggling and putting on a brave face for the world. All were elder to me and had been part of my childhood years. There is nothing in this world that beats the bond of kinship anchored by those childhood years. Their problems were, for the most part, financial in those years.. Suffice it to say that I started helping them in increasing ways as the years went by. Even the servant maid at home benefited - she got her daughter married. My parents were not aware of this.

In school, in the senior years, I read a book - “Magnificent Obsession” authored by Lloyd C Douglas - which influenced me for the rest of my life, which flow of thought I adopted.

I have held these secrets for more than 50 long years - it is time to unburden myself, now that the finish line is in sight. The recipients are dead and gone, their children happily doing well, not knowing about the past. Friends, strangers who became friends, also benefited, as my income increased.

Like I said, time flew and I had to join the ship again in Goa. This was in December 1971.

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