Blog 43 - Chidambaram - Back to Chennai - on to Mumbai on a Foreign Company Job Hunt

Courtesy Google Maps – Distance 39 kms

My next trip was from Neyveli, which was now my temporary headquarters, to Chidambaram, the most important of Shiv temples in India and the primary one of the 5 Pancha Bootha Sthalas. It is dedicated to Lord Nataraja and he is worshipped here without the symbolic Lingam as an idol, the only one of its kind. And it is also the only temple in India where Shiva is depicted and worshipped in human form, as Lord Nataraja, the One who is performing the Cosmic Dance in Chidambaram. His consort Parvati is called Shivakama Sundari in this temple.

Courtesy https://cuddalore.nic.in/tourist-place/chidamabaram/

Read more at http://www.chidambaramnataraja.org/about_temple.html

There is something in that temple that mesmerised me on that visit and continues to do so even after 5 visits, spread over 40 years. There is an aura and unrelenting magnetism that is prevalent in this temple that cannot be forgotten. All you have to do is sit in some place in the temple and close your eyes. Even if there is a crowd around you, you can feel the ambience, the magnetism. There is only empty space in the sanctum sanctorum where other temples have idols. This empty space is the Maya within us. We are the cosmos. The cosmos is within us. He represents the infinite vastness of space. The alternate reality of Maya is represented by this space, where the world is nothing but an illusion.

The whole Temple is dedicated to dance. Everywhere I turned, each pillar that I saw had frescoes of dance poses. I was told that, of the thousands of such dance poses immortalised in stone, not one is replicated. These dance carvings in the temple form the bedrock of Bharatanatyam, the traditional dance form of the South.

There is a ceremony held at night to put the Deity to sleep, around 10PM. Something about that ceremony wrenches your mind more than your heart. Something primordial. Just a few minutes and it brings an expanse of peace into you. The all evading sense of peace may last only a few minutes, but revisiting those few minutes anytime later in life, brings back certain elements of your state of mind and fills you.

Years later, on a third visit to the temple, after having spent about 4 hours wandering around and admiring the architecture, I wanted a break. On my way out, I saw some video technicians setting up their cameras, some others using brushes and cleaning some of the dance poses depicted and a lady sitting on a platform and supervising the work. I sat a few feet from her and, curiously, watched the work going on. After a few minutes we started talking and, after a while, we spoke about everything under the sun. She just stated that she was making a documentary on dance and left it at that. More than a week later, I came upon an article on dance – she was none other than the famous Bharatanatyam exponent, Ms Padma Subramaniam. I was such an ignoramus, not knowing this when I was talking to her. Such a wonderful person, no airs about her.

I think I spent 3 days in that temple.

I must go back at least once more before my death.

Another temple of significance close to Chidambaram is Vaitheeswaran Koil, where Shiva was reputed to have come down as a Vaidya (Doctor) to cure illnesses, and is worshipped as such. Residing around the temple are families that tell you the past, the present and the future in what is called Naadi Jyosyam where the astrologers consult palm leaf writings in ancient Tamil.

Slightly digressing from the narrative, I must relate a rather strange incident that took place 18 years after my visits to various temples in 1977 beginning, connected to the ‘palm leaf’ readings at this village.

It was 1994. I had signed off from a Self Unloader, “Atlantic Erie” and was waiting in the lounge of the airport in Frankfurt for my flight to Mumbai. Sitting nearby was a fellow countryman. We got into a conversation. He was returning to India after more than 20 years, having spent all that time in Germany. His English was a little rusty, as he had not spoken it for a long time. His mother tongue was Telugu, which I could understand a bit. So our conversation was in English with Telugu words thrown in.

After chatting of inane things for sometime, as most travelers do, he asked if I could help him locate a place, the name of which he did not know, a temple of which he did not know the details. He had seen a German documentary which revolved around a temple in the deep South and a few families near the temple who read the past, present and future of any person who goes to them, all from old writings on palm leaves. He said he was going to India specifically to search for the place and talk to those families.

He was taken aback when I told him I knew the place which he was trying to locate. I gave him details which coincided with what he had seen in the German documentary. He was excited that his search had ended even before it started. I gave him a complete route map of how to get there.

By this time a month had passed since last leaving home. My notice period to SISCO was also ending. From Neyveli, after thanking and bidding farewell to my cousin, I took the night bus to Chennai and completed the last leg of my discovery of a part of South India.

Map courtesy of Google – Distance 230 kms

In summation, the past month was more of a contemplative one than a religious journey. I was searching for something elusive, something that I longed to search for, but I was either too young to understand or too preoccupied with my professional duties to take up the task of searching.

But something said when I was thirteen or thereabouts remained as a vivid memory and affected my life from then on and came to the fore during this one month. We were at Coimbatore and I had escorted my Mother to one of the many religious discourses that she used to attend. The speaker was explaining a verse from the Bhagavad Gita, as spoken by Lord Krishna. The gist of it intrigued my young mind and, from then on, probably shaped my actions unconsciously.

In the Mahabharata war, Krishna was talking to a reluctant Arjuna, who was having second thoughts waging war against his own kin. Krishna then goes on to explain the nuances of Karma Yoga wherein a person does his duty without expecting returns. You must be willing to sacrifice yourself but with reasonable cause.

BG 2.47: You have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, nor be attached to inaction.

Do your duty, but do not concern yourself with the results.

It is not that, because of your self sacrifice, you should allow others to trod on you.

This is illustrated by a parable.

“There once lived a snake in a village whose ferocity created unbridled fear among the villagers and none dared go near the snake’s abode. When a wandering sadhu tried to go down the road where it lived, the villagers warned him. Disregarding their advice, he walked on. The snake tried to bite him but his good nature got the better of it. The sadhu advised the snake to refrain from biting the people who fed it milk.

The snake took his advice and became completely docile. Over a period of time, it became so soft -natured that boys began hurling stones into its pit and teasing it. It still held on to its vow of a peaceful existence. When the sadhu returned a few months later and walked down the same path, the snake accosted him and said, “You told me not to bite and I followed your advice. But, see how people have treated me,” it complained, showing the wounds. The sadhu said, “I only asked you to stop biting, I never said ‘don’t frighten people,’ Your duty is to frighten,” he said. The snake understood its karma and continued to show ferocity but refrained from biting people.”

I heard this parable first as a young boy. I came across the same tale in ‘DT Next’, and explained by Shri DS Ramakrishnan decades later.

During this month of introspection, I realised I had been unconsciously following the same diktat, albeit in a small way. This helped me set a course for the future.

Basically, I wanted to live the rest of my life as a decent human being, with honesty, with humility, helping whoever I can without any expectation and live the life of a ‘Karma Yogi’. It became a form of an unwritten benchmark that I wanted to live by. “Do Your Duty”.

The Temples that I visited opened my eyes to the spiritual, cultural and architectural beauty that surrounds us. We need to look at the beauty around us and absorb it, rather than go chasing after an illusive mirage.

If I allow myself this sort of introspection, it will take me days to get back to my narrative, so I shall forcibly refrain and drag myself back to the time I got back home.

Chapter 4 – My Quest for a Foreign Company Begins

I had resigned from SISCO with a vague idea of joining a foreign company. Those days, there was not much of research you could do to identify and select the company you wish to work with. One went by word of mouth.

Having been in Mumbai and Kolkata in the recent past and having listened to many, I had a faint inkling of how to go about joining a foreign company. All and sundry told me that first you should go to Mumbai, which has the largest number of recruiting agents for various foreign shipping companies. Also, I was told to get a list of Agent’s addresses from Mumbai seafarer circles. Thirdly, by visiting as many agents as possible in a day, submitting your application for a post, repeating the visits as often as possible so that they become familiar with your face and make a nuisance of yourself till they become fed up and offer you an available job.

I was also advised against unscrupulous agents who would send you to shoddy companies, where pay would not be given in time and where working conditions were abysmal and with the Agent wanting a large amount of cash in order to recommend you to the company. But how do I know which are these companies? So, to play it safe, I was advised to stick to the ‘Big Five’ – the top five management companies, then located in Hongkong. The catch was there were very few jobs available with them, necessitating a long wait.

Armed with this knowledge, around the 15th of Feb 1977, I boarded a train to Mumbai and stayed with my brother and Manni, my sister-in-law. For the next 40 days or so, daytime used to be spent either in Chembur Gymkhana playing billiards with the Marker or spent in Seafarers Club, playing billiards. I seemed to have forgotten that I was in Mumbai for seeking a job.

The present day situation (2022) is far different from the scenario of the 1970s, except for unscrupulous agents who deceive gullible youngsters. Other than that one exception, many of the top Ship Management companies have set up not only their offices, but also training schools for their hand picked candidates at the entry level.

The larger companies have a fully integrated 4 year degree courses for various disciplines and, mostly, an assured entry level job at the end of it. Entry into these institutes is highly competitive and is costly, but worth it in the long run.

One of the perks of working in a foreign company was that you get paid most of the time in US Dollars or Singapore Dollars. Another perk, as per Indian Income Tax Laws was, if you stay in India less than 89 days and are away working in a foreign company for the rest of the financial year, you are considered a Non-Resident (External) or NRE and do not have to pay any Income Tax on the foreign money earned.

Those were the days when India survived on foreign currency sent back into your account in India, known as a Non Resident External Account. The main requirement was, your stay in India must not exceed 89 days in a financial year, starting from 01st April of one year to 31st March of the following year. In order to avail this, I should join around 1st April. But I did not even have the Agents’ addresses to begin the search for a job.

I clearly remember that it was Saturday, 26th March 1977. I went to Seafarer’s Club to meet my close friend and batch mate, Thomas Varghese, Tommy, to get the list of Agents, in order to start the search on the following Monday. Gopakumar, another friend and batch mate, was also in the Club, having signed off a Barber Ship Management vessel and was flying back home to Cochin the next day, Sunday. I had not seen Gopa for nearly 7 years. We had a joyous reunion, a good lunch and tea together. I left around 6PM, as I did not want to inconvenience my brother and sister-in-law by going home late. Tommy had told me to come prepared on Monday morning, when he would take me around Agent’s offices himself. There were no telephones in my brother’s flat at that time.

Sunday was spent shopping in Chembur and the evening in Chembur Gymkhana playing billiards with my brother who could score a 100 points’ break in about 3 minutes. I would take at least 10 minutes and only with several breaks. Dinner was Pav Baji in front of Chembur Station.

Next morning, Monday, I reached Seafarer’s Club at 9AM, dressed in a full sleeve shirt, tie and polished shoes. Tommy was waiting anxiously for me at the entrance to the Club. He told me to immediately go to United Liner Agencies office, as there was a 2nd Engineer’s job waiting for me. It transpired that a 2nd Engineer was urgently needed on one of the BSM ships and, knowing that he was in Seafarer’s Club, the Agent had asked Gopa to immediately join back. He refused as he had just finished a 12 month contract. But he also added that ‘If you want a 2nd Engineer immediately, my batchmate Ranga is ready’. So, they waited for me till Monday morning, Tommy being the bearer of good tidings, with Gopa having already left for Cochin.

The United Liner Agencies’ office was pretty close to Seafarer’s Club. 10 minutes later I was sitting with the Manager, Mr Vevaina and having brought all my certificates with me, things proceeded smoothly. I was sent for Medicals immediately, took my vaccination shots and got ready to join MV Theben, managed by Barber Ship Management.

Thanks to Gopa and Tommy, the job literally fell into my lap, at a time when everyone was struggling to find one in foreign companies.

I flew out to become part of Barber Ship Management. I worked with them for the next 31 years.

Rangan

== End of 'Marine Musings 9' - Continues as 'Marine Musings 10' - Blog 44 ==