This is yet another "I'm-so-bored-I-don't-know-what-to-do-post".
Our flight to singapore was delayed by 5 hours.We cursed everyone and everything seemingly responsible under the stars.Because otherwise we would have reached singapore by 1945 on 13th and had plenty of time to rest and have some fun on the side too.
Instead , we reached singapore at 0030 on 14th and were put in Furuma Riverfront and asked to be ready by 1000 the same day.Sure ,Sure... We are the 'Can Do' guys.
The journey so far has been nothing but draining.Mangalore to Mumbai on 12th...and then Mumbai to Singapore on 13th...And now we'll shortly be joining the vessel in singapore, which is one of the busiest ports in the world...The rest of the crew thinks that we have rested enough.So they'll want us to work our asses off.They don't really know that we've had less than 5 hours of sleep and 25 hours of travelling.
I seem to be making friends at the unlikeliest of the places.In mumbai, a taxi driver shared his woes and worries and a vada pav with me.I thought of all the robbery victims who were drugged and robbed in the same fashion .But He offered me the whole vada pav and then I tore half of it and gave it to him , which he happily ate , dispelling my fear .We also shared a mangola...and he helped me with the luggage for no extra cost ! All this for a sympathetic ear !
Mumbai , it seems is no more fun to live.It's too crowded, too dirty, too stressful, too polluted...but he too tries his hand at Romancing Mumbai , just like most of us forced to be there.Given a choice , he too would like to return to his native village (Incidentally 10 km away from Amitabh Bacchan's ancestral village)He too finds the recent trend of victimisation of Non-Marathi Manoos by local political parties very alarming and distressing.
That got me thinking.Should I ever return to mumbai ?
But right now that's not even remotely important.There's a guy waiting on 'Clipper Sun ' , a brand new LPG carrier (yard delivery :Jan 2008) who wants to go home badly because he hasn't seen them for nearly six months and misses them badly.
I miss my friends and family already.This is the curse that comes along with being a sailor.Mama told me not to get too attached to anything ashore.Its hard though.
But this is what pioneers shouted out in the face of adversity ...
Onward Ho Sailor !
That's just what I'm going to do.
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