I love some authors, though they are not the typical best-seller types. Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow is my all-time favourite.
So is Winter Song written by, I believe a popular Mills & Boons writer, Karen Lockwood. These books were totally my own discoveries. Nobody recommended them. I didn’t even buy them. I discovered Winter Song ten years back in my ship, a bulk carrier which was on a long trans-oceanic voyage. I then proceeded to read it more than twenty times in the next six months. I loved the book so much that I filched it when I signed off from the ship. Fortunately nobody missed that book Winter Song.
Neither my wife nor my son, both of who are voracious readers, can understand my fixation on that book which continues till to-date.
It’s a simple love story set in the 1850s. Rich boy falls for a poor girl in a small town in the heart of USA.
Presumed Innocent on the other hand is a fast-paced book. Once again set in the USA, in a big bad American city. I am spellbound by the author’s command over the language as he describes a lurid courtroom story. A simple who-dunnit type murder rendered in a poetic manner. Scott Turow is the unparalleled master of mystery, twists and turns.
The best part about this book is that despite knowing the story after one or two readings I could re-read it many times over. I still read it now once in a while even after so many years.
I marvel at the meticulous manner Turow has built up the plot, leading the reader from one climax to the next till the final climax in the search for the murderer. The actual deed of murder is just an excuse in this story which details the grime of an American life-style, warts and all.
I can only wonder how the writer details the minutest nuance in a free-flow story, seemingly wandering away in tangents. Yet every line of the book is relevant to the central theme.
The lingo of a closed group of lawyers, criminals and cops has been effortlessly incorporated in this murder story. All the slangs and private terms they use in their everyday conversation make the story eminently believable.
How a fast society takes short-cuts with rules, laws and even integrity. Bending one’s normal lawful behavior to beat the nearest competitor. It is the story of a razor-sharp lady cutting through the maze of her life to grasp her goal.
How a law abiding citizen behaves in such an environment.
I love to read about these people. Vicariously enjoy leading their fast-paced lives. I imagine how I would behave if put in such situations.
In my heart I know that I am now used to the dull, monotonous, predictable life here in this small suburb of Mumbai. Nothing is going to surprise me. I will go to sleep latest by 10:30 for a sound seven hours uninterrupted sleep.
In fact I wouldn’t welcome any surprises – pleasant or unpleasant to disturb my dull, routine existence. I don’t think I am conditioned any more for excitement that upsets my routine.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Mark of Maturity
“The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one” said Wilhelm Stekel.
J.D.Salinger, the legendary author of Catcher in The Rye, had quoted the psycho-analyst Stekel in his book.
The book is considered to be one of the all-time greats. What is so great about it? When I read it many years back the underlying meaning had escaped me. In fact I found the language a little unusual. Not one of those slick writings. When I read it again this time the book hit me like a swift strong punch. I was jolted as I grasped what the author wanted to convey.
It tells a story of a teenager, written in first person in the teenager’s language, who flunks his class and is expelled from the school. He moves around in a daze and seems to be heading towards self-destruction. A well-meaning teacher tries to save the boy but is unable to win his trust. Ultimately his kid sister saves him.
This book was published in 1945. It became famous because it touches a chord somewhere deep inside. Many of us have passed through this stage. As a young immature man many of us have wanted to die for a cause. At some point in our life we cross the fine line and become mature. Then we no longer want to die. We simply want to live for a cause. And live humbly.
It’s a pity Salinger never wrote another book in his life. For the next 50 years he became a recluse and shunned the world. When he died recently there was a renewed interest in his book.
I am curious to know how the other readers felt about the book. Did they also feel the same way as I did?
I liked the way the kid sister empathized with her brother. She never tells him how he should behave. When the brother decides to run away from home to go somewhere far away out into the west, the kid sister packs a bag to go away with him.
It’s brilliant. All of a sudden the guy realizes the futility of running away. He realizes he doesn’t want to endanger his little sister and for that matter his own life. He matures, so to say, and decides to live for something. And thus dig himself out of the hole of his own creation.
For the moment the story ends right there.
It will be interesting if someone writes the part II of this book - how the boy redeemed himself.
J.D.Salinger, the legendary author of Catcher in The Rye, had quoted the psycho-analyst Stekel in his book.
The book is considered to be one of the all-time greats. What is so great about it? When I read it many years back the underlying meaning had escaped me. In fact I found the language a little unusual. Not one of those slick writings. When I read it again this time the book hit me like a swift strong punch. I was jolted as I grasped what the author wanted to convey.
It tells a story of a teenager, written in first person in the teenager’s language, who flunks his class and is expelled from the school. He moves around in a daze and seems to be heading towards self-destruction. A well-meaning teacher tries to save the boy but is unable to win his trust. Ultimately his kid sister saves him.
This book was published in 1945. It became famous because it touches a chord somewhere deep inside. Many of us have passed through this stage. As a young immature man many of us have wanted to die for a cause. At some point in our life we cross the fine line and become mature. Then we no longer want to die. We simply want to live for a cause. And live humbly.
It’s a pity Salinger never wrote another book in his life. For the next 50 years he became a recluse and shunned the world. When he died recently there was a renewed interest in his book.
I am curious to know how the other readers felt about the book. Did they also feel the same way as I did?
I liked the way the kid sister empathized with her brother. She never tells him how he should behave. When the brother decides to run away from home to go somewhere far away out into the west, the kid sister packs a bag to go away with him.
It’s brilliant. All of a sudden the guy realizes the futility of running away. He realizes he doesn’t want to endanger his little sister and for that matter his own life. He matures, so to say, and decides to live for something. And thus dig himself out of the hole of his own creation.
For the moment the story ends right there.
It will be interesting if someone writes the part II of this book - how the boy redeemed himself.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Of Electronic Charts and All
In the morning there is the usual scramble for the newspaper. And generally I lose the battle.
‘You read it.’ I told my wife today. ‘Anyway I find the newspapers are more of a distraction than anything else.’
‘It’s got nothing about electronic charts or other subjects that interest me. The maximum that the newspaper has reached into my field is the GPS. Even that they write just once in a while. Moreover the newspapers never give you anything of importance. Just some drivel.’
For example, take this news snippet that appeared in the May edition of Inside GNSS, a magazine that I receive monthly:–
GAGAN DELAYED, AGAIN
India’s first GPS/SBAS payload, the GAGAN transmitter on the GSAT-4 geostationary satellite, disappeared into the Bay of Bengal on April 15 when its ill-fated launch vehicle veered off course. A key part of India’s GPS augmentation plan, the failure will further delay civil aviation modernization. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan promised another launch within a year.
The fact that our GPS aspirations are getting delayed over and over again doesn’t seem to excite the public. It was grandly announced many years back. Planned for launch in 2007, then 2008, 2009 and now plunged into the sea in 2010. But it’s yet to create a splash in our newspapers. At least I don’t remember reading anything about it in the news.
Of the one billion plus people in our country I would guess one billion remains blithely ignorant about this important happening.
Sad. Really sad.
Not so much that the satellite plunged into oblivion, but the fact that this event didn’t get mentioned in the news. Satellite launches malfunction. These things happen. And we will get over it. But who will wake up the sleeping mass? I guess that would take time.
Remember Y2K? The media had created so much panic on account of systems expected to malfunction at the dawn of the new millennium. That particular night of 31st December 1999 while the whole world was making merry and ushering the new millennium in I was on a ship hunched over the GPS and other equipment keenly awaiting the chaos predicted to descend on the earth. In the event nothing happened.
But something happened soon thereafter. In May 2000 the NASA switched off the SA (selective availability) error of the GPS. Suddenly making it into an accurate positioning system. The fact is that nobody (in India at least) realized it then that the world had changed.
I remember around that time the Director General Lighthouse and Lightships (DGLL) was executing a costly project of setting up DGPS reference stations all along the coast. In some class in the maritime college that I was attending, one of the instructors had sniggered and announced that with the SA error removed the whole project had become redundant. The unrefined GPS was now almost as accurate as the DGPS.
But I don’t think anyone of us in the class realized the true impact this act of USAF
would have on the world.
Switching off the SA spawned a whole lot of industries in the world market including in India. Like car navigation systems, container tracking, tracking of trucks plying all over the Indian roads. In fact, anything that required to be positioned accurately on a map. It even gave a thrust to the electronic chart industry of which I am a part of.
Meanwhile another revolution was concurrently happening. I am talking about the quantum developments in communication. Now we have GPS on the mobile too.
‘What’s your coordinates?’ is a common terminology understood by a layman on the street. Lay-people today are comfortable with such terms as Latitude and Longitude which was perhaps once upon a time understood only by geographers and navigators.
I love technology. If there is one hope that I have against the entrenched bureaucracy and corruption it is that the relentless march of technology would overwhelm it soon. There will be no secrets left in the closet.
The man in the market place will know it all.
‘You read it.’ I told my wife today. ‘Anyway I find the newspapers are more of a distraction than anything else.’
‘It’s got nothing about electronic charts or other subjects that interest me. The maximum that the newspaper has reached into my field is the GPS. Even that they write just once in a while. Moreover the newspapers never give you anything of importance. Just some drivel.’
For example, take this news snippet that appeared in the May edition of Inside GNSS, a magazine that I receive monthly:–
GAGAN DELAYED, AGAIN
India’s first GPS/SBAS payload, the GAGAN transmitter on the GSAT-4 geostationary satellite, disappeared into the Bay of Bengal on April 15 when its ill-fated launch vehicle veered off course. A key part of India’s GPS augmentation plan, the failure will further delay civil aviation modernization. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan promised another launch within a year.
The fact that our GPS aspirations are getting delayed over and over again doesn’t seem to excite the public. It was grandly announced many years back. Planned for launch in 2007, then 2008, 2009 and now plunged into the sea in 2010. But it’s yet to create a splash in our newspapers. At least I don’t remember reading anything about it in the news.
Of the one billion plus people in our country I would guess one billion remains blithely ignorant about this important happening.
Sad. Really sad.
Not so much that the satellite plunged into oblivion, but the fact that this event didn’t get mentioned in the news. Satellite launches malfunction. These things happen. And we will get over it. But who will wake up the sleeping mass? I guess that would take time.
Remember Y2K? The media had created so much panic on account of systems expected to malfunction at the dawn of the new millennium. That particular night of 31st December 1999 while the whole world was making merry and ushering the new millennium in I was on a ship hunched over the GPS and other equipment keenly awaiting the chaos predicted to descend on the earth. In the event nothing happened.
But something happened soon thereafter. In May 2000 the NASA switched off the SA (selective availability) error of the GPS. Suddenly making it into an accurate positioning system. The fact is that nobody (in India at least) realized it then that the world had changed.
I remember around that time the Director General Lighthouse and Lightships (DGLL) was executing a costly project of setting up DGPS reference stations all along the coast. In some class in the maritime college that I was attending, one of the instructors had sniggered and announced that with the SA error removed the whole project had become redundant. The unrefined GPS was now almost as accurate as the DGPS.
But I don’t think anyone of us in the class realized the true impact this act of USAF
would have on the world.
Switching off the SA spawned a whole lot of industries in the world market including in India. Like car navigation systems, container tracking, tracking of trucks plying all over the Indian roads. In fact, anything that required to be positioned accurately on a map. It even gave a thrust to the electronic chart industry of which I am a part of.
Meanwhile another revolution was concurrently happening. I am talking about the quantum developments in communication. Now we have GPS on the mobile too.
‘What’s your coordinates?’ is a common terminology understood by a layman on the street. Lay-people today are comfortable with such terms as Latitude and Longitude which was perhaps once upon a time understood only by geographers and navigators.
I love technology. If there is one hope that I have against the entrenched bureaucracy and corruption it is that the relentless march of technology would overwhelm it soon. There will be no secrets left in the closet.
The man in the market place will know it all.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Developing Inland Waters of India
The government had an important announcement to make.
“There’s a business opportunity coming up. We want private companies to avail this opportunity. There is a big demand for power in Arunachal Pradesh. In fact in the whole of North East and East. We have already identified locations for setting up thermal power plants. These points are all accessible by rivers. The inland waterways department will make available national waterways to you.
Come along. Get your vessels. The barges will go on a merry go round. Pick up cargo from the dry bulk carriers waiting at the deeps at Sandheads in the Bay of Bengal. Carry the coal up the river to the power plants. Maybe you will get a return cargo of fly-ash. It’s a win-win situation for all.
We produce the power and sell to the consumers. The transporters make money. The people get precious power. The country develops as a whole.”
Wow! What a great plan.
An erstwhile secretary of shipping was given the mike. He had a bold announcement to make.
“Privatize the rivers! If JNPT Bombay can have a private container port why can’t we have private stretches of rivers.”
He looked around at the august gathering to see the effect of his words. Some government officials shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
Next the DG Shipping read out from the prepared notes. But after the above announcement it was difficult to get the attention of the audience. The wind had been taken out of the sails.
Then the experts got their chance to strut their stuff. Professional companies from India and abroad unveiled their customized solutions.
“We have 10 years experience in this business.
We have already set up such a system in Goa.
We have experience in Canada.
We already have a passenger service in national waterway # 1.
Transshipment is the magic word. We can deliver.”
…..and so on.
Till the mike came to a thickset gentleman from NTPC. The owner of the power plants. He is the guy who needs the coal.
“Imported coal is our last option. As a matter of fact it is a stop-gap solution. Our main suppliers are Coal India from the local mines at Dhanbad. Our first priority is supply from the government. I don’t see a long term future in coal coming up the rivers by barges.”
There was a stunned silence in the hall. On one hand the government was exhorting the private players to invest substantially in new barges, in new technology and help in carting the coal up the rivers. On the other hand they were not giving any assurance of cargo.
The mike came to Coal India. The guy was wishy-washy.
“The figures they are asking for is mind-boggling. Maybe we can supply but not right now. Perhaps later.”
Some more skeletons came out of the cupboard. Turns out that the rivers are not sufficiently surveyed. There are no night navigation systems and the charts are inadequate.
The government went into salvage mode.
“Gentlemen, good quality imported coal is the need of the hour. Domestic coal do not meet the standard. Historically there has always been a continuous increase in the demand for power. Unlike nuclear or hydro-electric the thermal plants have a gestation period of 36 to 48 months. Coal has to be transported. Road and rail network is clearly inadequate in the North East. So the only lines of supply we see are the crisscrossing rivers. Even if waterway # 1 is saturated after 8 to 10 years there is # 2. Let me assure you again, there is an opportunity here. “
The private sector was watching quietly. A few questions came up.
“Give us a clear picture. We don’t want any ambiguity.”
After all it was not a child’s game. You don’t invest in substantial tonnage unless there was a reasonable chance to make profits. Looking at the agencies in the panel – NTPC, Coal India, Kolkata Port Trust didn’t exactly set your adrenalins on fire. There were huge vested interests. Sorry. They needed to convince the private sector harder.
It was time for lunch. I had seen enough for the day.
I left my card in the forum.
“Sir, if I can provide any support please let me know.”
I doubt I will get a call. They were big men in the government. They don’t call. They only received calls.
Where was the hurry? It can wait. There is another year or two before I go on a transfer. Maybe to the textile ministry. New industry new issues.
I am guessing. Six months from now the project will be quietly shelved. Two years from now we will have another big seminar. To promote Public-Private-Partnership in the interiors of East and North-East, or some other under-developed region. Which lie under the hard-hold of the entrenched bureaucracy. .
Till then Au Revoir!
Post Script – The above seminar happened six months back. For several years I have been watching the Indian government announce grand plans to develop the inland waters of India. Nothing concrete has happened so far. No wonder the retired bureaucrat had burst out in frustration ‘privatize the rivers’.
“There’s a business opportunity coming up. We want private companies to avail this opportunity. There is a big demand for power in Arunachal Pradesh. In fact in the whole of North East and East. We have already identified locations for setting up thermal power plants. These points are all accessible by rivers. The inland waterways department will make available national waterways to you.
Come along. Get your vessels. The barges will go on a merry go round. Pick up cargo from the dry bulk carriers waiting at the deeps at Sandheads in the Bay of Bengal. Carry the coal up the river to the power plants. Maybe you will get a return cargo of fly-ash. It’s a win-win situation for all.
We produce the power and sell to the consumers. The transporters make money. The people get precious power. The country develops as a whole.”
Wow! What a great plan.
An erstwhile secretary of shipping was given the mike. He had a bold announcement to make.
“Privatize the rivers! If JNPT Bombay can have a private container port why can’t we have private stretches of rivers.”
He looked around at the august gathering to see the effect of his words. Some government officials shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
Next the DG Shipping read out from the prepared notes. But after the above announcement it was difficult to get the attention of the audience. The wind had been taken out of the sails.
Then the experts got their chance to strut their stuff. Professional companies from India and abroad unveiled their customized solutions.
“We have 10 years experience in this business.
We have already set up such a system in Goa.
We have experience in Canada.
We already have a passenger service in national waterway # 1.
Transshipment is the magic word. We can deliver.”
…..and so on.
Till the mike came to a thickset gentleman from NTPC. The owner of the power plants. He is the guy who needs the coal.
“Imported coal is our last option. As a matter of fact it is a stop-gap solution. Our main suppliers are Coal India from the local mines at Dhanbad. Our first priority is supply from the government. I don’t see a long term future in coal coming up the rivers by barges.”
There was a stunned silence in the hall. On one hand the government was exhorting the private players to invest substantially in new barges, in new technology and help in carting the coal up the rivers. On the other hand they were not giving any assurance of cargo.
The mike came to Coal India. The guy was wishy-washy.
“The figures they are asking for is mind-boggling. Maybe we can supply but not right now. Perhaps later.”
Some more skeletons came out of the cupboard. Turns out that the rivers are not sufficiently surveyed. There are no night navigation systems and the charts are inadequate.
The government went into salvage mode.
“Gentlemen, good quality imported coal is the need of the hour. Domestic coal do not meet the standard. Historically there has always been a continuous increase in the demand for power. Unlike nuclear or hydro-electric the thermal plants have a gestation period of 36 to 48 months. Coal has to be transported. Road and rail network is clearly inadequate in the North East. So the only lines of supply we see are the crisscrossing rivers. Even if waterway # 1 is saturated after 8 to 10 years there is # 2. Let me assure you again, there is an opportunity here. “
The private sector was watching quietly. A few questions came up.
“Give us a clear picture. We don’t want any ambiguity.”
After all it was not a child’s game. You don’t invest in substantial tonnage unless there was a reasonable chance to make profits. Looking at the agencies in the panel – NTPC, Coal India, Kolkata Port Trust didn’t exactly set your adrenalins on fire. There were huge vested interests. Sorry. They needed to convince the private sector harder.
It was time for lunch. I had seen enough for the day.
I left my card in the forum.
“Sir, if I can provide any support please let me know.”
I doubt I will get a call. They were big men in the government. They don’t call. They only received calls.
Where was the hurry? It can wait. There is another year or two before I go on a transfer. Maybe to the textile ministry. New industry new issues.
I am guessing. Six months from now the project will be quietly shelved. Two years from now we will have another big seminar. To promote Public-Private-Partnership in the interiors of East and North-East, or some other under-developed region. Which lie under the hard-hold of the entrenched bureaucracy. .
Till then Au Revoir!
Post Script – The above seminar happened six months back. For several years I have been watching the Indian government announce grand plans to develop the inland waters of India. Nothing concrete has happened so far. No wonder the retired bureaucrat had burst out in frustration ‘privatize the rivers’.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Angst of an Indian Seafarer - by P. Rishi
Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola once said:
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop any one of these, they will be irrevocably damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. "
Once upon a time riding off on a horse to conquer new lands or collecting pots of gold made you famous. Perhaps you'd even get a name in history if you were politically savvy.
Going away on a long voyage was a thing of courage that only the select few undertook! You were greeted off with really really warm hugs and kisses and good wishes from every one!
Today things are very different.
SUDDENLY THOSE HUGS AND KISSES ARE NOT SO WARM AS BEFORE!!
You are not at fault.
You are just the mouse whose cheese has moved!
Remember spending the evenings sitting by the fireside, sipping a glass of scotch and your friends hanging on to each word that you uttered while they drank your whiskey?
Today, who cares if you've been all over the world! They get the same thing in a syndicated fashion on the TV.
Does anybody care for you? Or for that matter do you care for them?
WHO CARES?
And that is fine. Unfortunately that is where the problem starts. What used to be "Success" in others’ eyes and "Satisfaction" to you earlier, now do not mean either.
Things have changed.
Information Technology has opened up our societies as never before. Some changes are good but some are surely not!
There is email to keep in touch with family. Telephone to talk to your friends, but the same instrument rings whenever Boss decides to have a chat.
The net helps us to maintain relationships with friends and families. Some of us find relief in taking a break from the daily work to browse. Looking for humor or satisfying a hobby. Thus stop deterioration of our mental health. On the other hand we could simply become an addict.
Just one decade back we felt exhilarated when Sparks could tune the HF so that we could make that important call from sea. Modern communication has shrunk the world into one single global village.
Suddenly there is no demand for mariners like us who could bring back tall tales of the sea and our exploits in distant shores.
You were a provider for your family. You were very caring and loving not just to your own family, but also to your extended family. To your friends you were the "greatest guy on earth". You provided for a home, and filled up that home with the comforts of amenities that kept your loved ones comfortable.
But something happened while you were away.
Each member of the family got their "Own Space" they wanted.
You Provided. But they forgot you.
Globalization hit you smack in the face. You tried hard not to slip off the edge as the world got flatter and flatter!
Economies have improved and there are lots of opportunities other than the sea. That's where the rub is for a middle-aged seafarer. Who is looking for a job ashore in another vertical specialization that will give him a comparable salary. Unfortunately the "past experience", certification and credibility in that new industry do not matter. With diminished opportunities some mariners choose to stay back at sea.
How does a seafarer address the problem of work-life balance that Brian Dyson advised? For a seafarer it's more like work on Mars (sea) and life on Venus (ashore)! How can they balance the two?
What a joke! Please take away ALL work from me and let me take my Sailboat to the Caribbean and just leave me alone! I'll take the life, you take the work! Please don't ask me to balance work and life! Where the boundaries of work and life do not meet how can one define which is work and which is life!
They talk of Compensation. There is an easy fix to many problems - throw money. Then there are some problems which no amount of money will solve.
Excerpts from an email posted in the Merchant Navy group. It reminded me of the times I used to sail. It is difficult to compare the life-style of a shippie with those who are ashore.
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass. If you drop any one of these, they will be irrevocably damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. "
Once upon a time riding off on a horse to conquer new lands or collecting pots of gold made you famous. Perhaps you'd even get a name in history if you were politically savvy.
Going away on a long voyage was a thing of courage that only the select few undertook! You were greeted off with really really warm hugs and kisses and good wishes from every one!
Today things are very different.
SUDDENLY THOSE HUGS AND KISSES ARE NOT SO WARM AS BEFORE!!
You are not at fault.
You are just the mouse whose cheese has moved!
Remember spending the evenings sitting by the fireside, sipping a glass of scotch and your friends hanging on to each word that you uttered while they drank your whiskey?
Today, who cares if you've been all over the world! They get the same thing in a syndicated fashion on the TV.
Does anybody care for you? Or for that matter do you care for them?
WHO CARES?
And that is fine. Unfortunately that is where the problem starts. What used to be "Success" in others’ eyes and "Satisfaction" to you earlier, now do not mean either.
Things have changed.
Information Technology has opened up our societies as never before. Some changes are good but some are surely not!
There is email to keep in touch with family. Telephone to talk to your friends, but the same instrument rings whenever Boss decides to have a chat.
The net helps us to maintain relationships with friends and families. Some of us find relief in taking a break from the daily work to browse. Looking for humor or satisfying a hobby. Thus stop deterioration of our mental health. On the other hand we could simply become an addict.
Just one decade back we felt exhilarated when Sparks could tune the HF so that we could make that important call from sea. Modern communication has shrunk the world into one single global village.
Suddenly there is no demand for mariners like us who could bring back tall tales of the sea and our exploits in distant shores.
You were a provider for your family. You were very caring and loving not just to your own family, but also to your extended family. To your friends you were the "greatest guy on earth". You provided for a home, and filled up that home with the comforts of amenities that kept your loved ones comfortable.
But something happened while you were away.
Each member of the family got their "Own Space" they wanted.
You Provided. But they forgot you.
Globalization hit you smack in the face. You tried hard not to slip off the edge as the world got flatter and flatter!
Economies have improved and there are lots of opportunities other than the sea. That's where the rub is for a middle-aged seafarer. Who is looking for a job ashore in another vertical specialization that will give him a comparable salary. Unfortunately the "past experience", certification and credibility in that new industry do not matter. With diminished opportunities some mariners choose to stay back at sea.
How does a seafarer address the problem of work-life balance that Brian Dyson advised? For a seafarer it's more like work on Mars (sea) and life on Venus (ashore)! How can they balance the two?
What a joke! Please take away ALL work from me and let me take my Sailboat to the Caribbean and just leave me alone! I'll take the life, you take the work! Please don't ask me to balance work and life! Where the boundaries of work and life do not meet how can one define which is work and which is life!
They talk of Compensation. There is an easy fix to many problems - throw money. Then there are some problems which no amount of money will solve.
Excerpts from an email posted in the Merchant Navy group. It reminded me of the times I used to sail. It is difficult to compare the life-style of a shippie with those who are ashore.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Navigation Made Easy
“I envied the navigators on big ships who work out the time on the Local Apparent Noon beforehand, at the proper time pick up their sextant and go out on the bridge-wing and shoot. Then back to the chartroom and in a minute have their latitude. Sometimes I wondered which was harder about my noon sights – the actual taking of the sight on the tossing deck or keeping my balance. Any slip on deck, especially with seas coming over, could mean a broken sextant. A few times I had taken a fall on my elbow and once I thought I had broken the instrument. It frightened me a little and I pasted a warning on the box
Thus wrote William Willis fifty years back describing his epic voyage all alone across the Pacific on a balsa raft. Willis hadn’t seen modern navigators with accurate GPS position being plotted real-time on electronic charts. The guy would had probably gone into a shock.
The old school of navigation is a dying art. When I started my career in 1979 the sextant was the most important tool in a ship. How many of the current crop of mariners have heard of sounding sextants. It is built specifically to measure horizontal angles. Two such angles taken simultaneously would give an accurate fix plotted with a station pointer.
Those days coastal navigation was an interesting subject. Taking over a watch meant we had to study the chart carefully, pick up the binoculars, go out on the bridge wing and for the next 10 to 15 minutes identify all the important coastal features. We learnt practical geography in a way which no classroom could match. The colour of the sea, the smell in the air all those things had some clues for us. Today, with GPS, the charm of navigation is no more there.
Hyperbolic position fixing systems were developed just after WWII. Decca was the one most commonly used by the navigators.
They laid various chains all over the world but mostly in Europe and Australasia. In India we had the Calcutta chain in the east and the Salaya chain in Gujarat. When the coast dipped out of visual sight the radio receivers helped us to fix our positions till about 300 kms from the stations.
The chains ceased to operate in March 2000 finally bowing out to satellite navigation. Terms such as hyperbolic fixes, lane slips and decca charts disappeared from our vocabulary.
In the early eighties the transit navy navigation satellite system (NNSS) appeared on the scene. We were witnessing a revolution in the making. Satellite navigation would shortly eclipse all other types of navigation.
The NNSS however, was not a threat to terrestrial navigation. We got one Sat fix during a four-hours watch. Acquiring the satellites was a long drawn out process. And it wasn’t always that one could get an acceptable fix. An accuracy of 1 mile was considered to be good. Apart from ocean navigation it was not of much use. Transit NNSS was retired in 1996.
By the nineties the GPS had become an integral part of our bridge. With the deliberately induced Selective Availability (SA) we got a fix accuracy of ± 100 metres. The best part about GPS was that it gave us continuous fixes. With GPS position systems Electronic Charts became a meaningful system.
The midnight of 31st December 1999 was a defining moment as far as celestial navigation was concerned. The techies had somehow managed to create the Y2K scare. As the roll-over to the new millennium approached closer the mariners showed an earnest interest in astro-navigation. I remember we were instructed by our superintendents to practice star sights as ‘GPS might not be available wef 01st Jan 2000.’
That particular night whilst the whole world was merry-making and ushering in the new millennium, I was on the ship hunched over the GPS and other equipment keenly awaiting the chaos predicted to descend on the earth. In the event nothing happened. It was the last time deck officers would seriously consider celestial navigation.
When the SA was discontinued in May 2000 the GPS dramatically improved its accuracy to ± 15 metres. Those who wanted still better accuracy could always install a Differential GPS receiver (± 5 mtrs).
In the quest to continuously improve the accuracy the agencies have come out with the Satellite Based Augmented Systems (SBAS).
Some of the SBAS are the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) operational since 2003 in US, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) which was commissioned a few months back and the MSAS in Japan. India (GAGAN) and China (Beidou) also have plans to provide such systems for both aircraft and marine navigation.
The WAAS has an accuracy of ± 1.5 meters depending on your geographic location.
In SBAS there is no need to carry a separate receiver to receive the satellite corrections. The same GPS receiver is good enough to get the corrections. No additional cost involved here. The other thing is that DGPS works quite close (150 miles) to the land-based reference station. Unlike in SBAS the coverage in DGPS is very limited.
Good news for mariners is that all these SBAS systems – WAAS, EGNOS and MSAS are compatible. One receiver is good enough. In the recent future I expect most ships to have augmented GPSs. With the cost of a receiver less than 50 dollars shipowners can place a number of augmented GPS receivers at strategic points of a big ship. All points of a vessel will be accurately traced in a tight maneuver. It would be very useful when entering docks or navigating in narrow rivers.
BUST YOUR BONE BUT SAVE THE SEXTANT.
Thus wrote William Willis fifty years back describing his epic voyage all alone across the Pacific on a balsa raft. Willis hadn’t seen modern navigators with accurate GPS position being plotted real-time on electronic charts. The guy would had probably gone into a shock.
The old school of navigation is a dying art. When I started my career in 1979 the sextant was the most important tool in a ship. How many of the current crop of mariners have heard of sounding sextants. It is built specifically to measure horizontal angles. Two such angles taken simultaneously would give an accurate fix plotted with a station pointer.
Those days coastal navigation was an interesting subject. Taking over a watch meant we had to study the chart carefully, pick up the binoculars, go out on the bridge wing and for the next 10 to 15 minutes identify all the important coastal features. We learnt practical geography in a way which no classroom could match. The colour of the sea, the smell in the air all those things had some clues for us. Today, with GPS, the charm of navigation is no more there.
Hyperbolic position fixing systems were developed just after WWII. Decca was the one most commonly used by the navigators.
They laid various chains all over the world but mostly in Europe and Australasia. In India we had the Calcutta chain in the east and the Salaya chain in Gujarat. When the coast dipped out of visual sight the radio receivers helped us to fix our positions till about 300 kms from the stations.
The chains ceased to operate in March 2000 finally bowing out to satellite navigation. Terms such as hyperbolic fixes, lane slips and decca charts disappeared from our vocabulary.
In the early eighties the transit navy navigation satellite system (NNSS) appeared on the scene. We were witnessing a revolution in the making. Satellite navigation would shortly eclipse all other types of navigation.
The NNSS however, was not a threat to terrestrial navigation. We got one Sat fix during a four-hours watch. Acquiring the satellites was a long drawn out process. And it wasn’t always that one could get an acceptable fix. An accuracy of 1 mile was considered to be good. Apart from ocean navigation it was not of much use. Transit NNSS was retired in 1996.
By the nineties the GPS had become an integral part of our bridge. With the deliberately induced Selective Availability (SA) we got a fix accuracy of ± 100 metres. The best part about GPS was that it gave us continuous fixes. With GPS position systems Electronic Charts became a meaningful system.
The midnight of 31st December 1999 was a defining moment as far as celestial navigation was concerned. The techies had somehow managed to create the Y2K scare. As the roll-over to the new millennium approached closer the mariners showed an earnest interest in astro-navigation. I remember we were instructed by our superintendents to practice star sights as ‘GPS might not be available wef 01st Jan 2000.’
That particular night whilst the whole world was merry-making and ushering in the new millennium, I was on the ship hunched over the GPS and other equipment keenly awaiting the chaos predicted to descend on the earth. In the event nothing happened. It was the last time deck officers would seriously consider celestial navigation.
When the SA was discontinued in May 2000 the GPS dramatically improved its accuracy to ± 15 metres. Those who wanted still better accuracy could always install a Differential GPS receiver (± 5 mtrs).
In the quest to continuously improve the accuracy the agencies have come out with the Satellite Based Augmented Systems (SBAS).
Some of the SBAS are the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) operational since 2003 in US, European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) which was commissioned a few months back and the MSAS in Japan. India (GAGAN) and China (Beidou) also have plans to provide such systems for both aircraft and marine navigation.
The WAAS has an accuracy of ± 1.5 meters depending on your geographic location.
In SBAS there is no need to carry a separate receiver to receive the satellite corrections. The same GPS receiver is good enough to get the corrections. No additional cost involved here. The other thing is that DGPS works quite close (150 miles) to the land-based reference station. Unlike in SBAS the coverage in DGPS is very limited.
Good news for mariners is that all these SBAS systems – WAAS, EGNOS and MSAS are compatible. One receiver is good enough. In the recent future I expect most ships to have augmented GPSs. With the cost of a receiver less than 50 dollars shipowners can place a number of augmented GPS receivers at strategic points of a big ship. All points of a vessel will be accurately traced in a tight maneuver. It would be very useful when entering docks or navigating in narrow rivers.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Scripting a New India
“Capt. Raj?”
“Speaking.”
“Hi, this is Capt Jagan here. How are you?”
“Oh Hi.” I had spoken to Jagan a couple of times before. He used to be the master of a VLCC when his ECDIS had a problem. Later he joined Essar office.
“I didn’t know you are a charged hydrographic surveyor,” he said with a laugh,
“How do you charge a surveyor by the way? Do you put a 220V through him?”
I laughed.
“We need your signature to authenticate a hydrographic survey that we have carried out.”
“For what?” I asked, “Are you submitting the survey to the HO?”
“No no. This is a requirement of the state maritime board.”
A week later one fine morning, all of a sudden I got a call from Jagan,
“Sorry for the short notice. Can you come to Hazira today?”
"How long does it take by taxi?” I asked.
“Five hours.”
Provided you had a top-end car and there was no traffic, which he forgot to tell me. It took me nine hours to muster a good car, grab an overnighter bag and reach the Essar office at Hazira. On the highway I found lots of construction going on. The Surat to Mumbai highway was going to become world-class.
”Kab tak ho jayega?” I asked the driver. Before the next monsoon he told me. Meanwhile my left hand was clutched on the handle bar and my right on my heart, as the fast car zoomed through the traffic. It was swerving in and out overtaking all kinds of trucks forming an endless line to Gujarat.
So there I was. Back in Essar. I had sailed in Essar ships ten years back. I felt I was back amongst familiar surroundings and known people.
Rao is the boss of that unit. An old timer who has been through the ups and downs of the company, many downs till this dizzying ‘up’ happened. He inherited the chair from a retired admiral who didn’t wait for the good times to come. Rao has a band of hard working people under him.
I knew Manoj from the Navy. Both of us were from the hydrographic branch. Jagan Lal is a workhorse. He has carried the hectic life of a ship during loading/discharging to this shore post. Somebody should tell him to relax. Unlike a ship which has a fixed tenure that ends after a few months, here on-shore life goes on and on and on… I was meeting these guys at a port terminal being built by Essar.
Hazira is, or till recently was, a god-forsaken place. Essar has an iron ore plant here where they make hot-bricketed iron (HBI). It has a market in the far-east – Japan, Korea and now increasingly to China. A new port is coming up here. Lot of infrastructure is being built. A new face of India is being scripted here.
On the other side of the road Essar has built a township. On land that had being reclaimed from the sea. I am not sure if ‘reclaimed’ is the right word. Because as Leslie Forbes wrote in ‘Bombay Ice’
“How do you reclaim something that was never yours in the first place?”
Nevertheless, from the swampy wastelands Essar has created Nand Niketan, a paradise of a place. There is greenery all around. The place is well planned and well managed. It has all amenities available such as play-grounds, swimming pool, schools, and shopping centers including a mall. So much so, that the 7000 fortunate residents hardly feel the need to go to the big city 18 kilometers away.
In the Essar office Jagan appeared a little pressurized. “What are your charges?”
I said “Look, I don’t know what the job is. Anyway, what is the hurry?”
Jagan got a little more pressurized.
“You have to simply put your signature and authenticate the survey.”
“For whose benefit?”
“For the benefit of the maritime board. They want a charge surveyor to authenticate the survey.”
Jagan mentioned a figure. I nodded my assent to his great relief.
The hydrographic surveyor from the maritime board came in. He was a chilled out fellow. It turned out we had served on the same ships. We knew many of the old timers from the branch. We got along well.
“Kabhi aaiye GMB mein. Main aapko wahan set kara doonga.”
I gave him my charming smile.
I was impressed by the developments Essar and its employees had wrought upon Gujarat. They are pumping funds in Jamnagar and Hazira. Transforming the non-descript places on the map into modern cities.
If somebody wants to see how infra-structure should be developed out of nothing they should visit these places.
Postscript – Some names have been changed to protect the identities.
“Speaking.”
“Hi, this is Capt Jagan here. How are you?”
“Oh Hi.” I had spoken to Jagan a couple of times before. He used to be the master of a VLCC when his ECDIS had a problem. Later he joined Essar office.
“I didn’t know you are a charged hydrographic surveyor,” he said with a laugh,
“How do you charge a surveyor by the way? Do you put a 220V through him?”
I laughed.
“We need your signature to authenticate a hydrographic survey that we have carried out.”
“For what?” I asked, “Are you submitting the survey to the HO?”
“No no. This is a requirement of the state maritime board.”
A week later one fine morning, all of a sudden I got a call from Jagan,
“Sorry for the short notice. Can you come to Hazira today?”
"How long does it take by taxi?” I asked.
“Five hours.”
Provided you had a top-end car and there was no traffic, which he forgot to tell me. It took me nine hours to muster a good car, grab an overnighter bag and reach the Essar office at Hazira. On the highway I found lots of construction going on. The Surat to Mumbai highway was going to become world-class.
”Kab tak ho jayega?” I asked the driver. Before the next monsoon he told me. Meanwhile my left hand was clutched on the handle bar and my right on my heart, as the fast car zoomed through the traffic. It was swerving in and out overtaking all kinds of trucks forming an endless line to Gujarat.
So there I was. Back in Essar. I had sailed in Essar ships ten years back. I felt I was back amongst familiar surroundings and known people.
Rao is the boss of that unit. An old timer who has been through the ups and downs of the company, many downs till this dizzying ‘up’ happened. He inherited the chair from a retired admiral who didn’t wait for the good times to come. Rao has a band of hard working people under him.
I knew Manoj from the Navy. Both of us were from the hydrographic branch. Jagan Lal is a workhorse. He has carried the hectic life of a ship during loading/discharging to this shore post. Somebody should tell him to relax. Unlike a ship which has a fixed tenure that ends after a few months, here on-shore life goes on and on and on… I was meeting these guys at a port terminal being built by Essar.
Hazira is, or till recently was, a god-forsaken place. Essar has an iron ore plant here where they make hot-bricketed iron (HBI). It has a market in the far-east – Japan, Korea and now increasingly to China. A new port is coming up here. Lot of infrastructure is being built. A new face of India is being scripted here.
On the other side of the road Essar has built a township. On land that had being reclaimed from the sea. I am not sure if ‘reclaimed’ is the right word. Because as Leslie Forbes wrote in ‘Bombay Ice’
“How do you reclaim something that was never yours in the first place?”
Nevertheless, from the swampy wastelands Essar has created Nand Niketan, a paradise of a place. There is greenery all around. The place is well planned and well managed. It has all amenities available such as play-grounds, swimming pool, schools, and shopping centers including a mall. So much so, that the 7000 fortunate residents hardly feel the need to go to the big city 18 kilometers away.
In the Essar office Jagan appeared a little pressurized. “What are your charges?”
I said “Look, I don’t know what the job is. Anyway, what is the hurry?”
Jagan got a little more pressurized.
“You have to simply put your signature and authenticate the survey.”
“For whose benefit?”
“For the benefit of the maritime board. They want a charge surveyor to authenticate the survey.”
Jagan mentioned a figure. I nodded my assent to his great relief.
The hydrographic surveyor from the maritime board came in. He was a chilled out fellow. It turned out we had served on the same ships. We knew many of the old timers from the branch. We got along well.
“Kabhi aaiye GMB mein. Main aapko wahan set kara doonga.”
I gave him my charming smile.
I was impressed by the developments Essar and its employees had wrought upon Gujarat. They are pumping funds in Jamnagar and Hazira. Transforming the non-descript places on the map into modern cities.
If somebody wants to see how infra-structure should be developed out of nothing they should visit these places.
Postscript – Some names have been changed to protect the identities.
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