A Sea Tale

29 Nov

Captain Ramakrishnan's (Merchant Navy) eyes clouded over . He had that far off look on his face. Earlier in the day I had invited him over for drinks at my place. Capt Ramakrishnan is my neighbour. We got acquainted over a period of time and after sometime we became friends. One day my wife was out of town and I decided that it was time to get to know him better. Initially the conversation was stilted - as happens when two people are meeting for the first time. Soon we got into that comfort zone where we started looking deeper into each others lives. Capt Ramakrishnan had been at sea for more than twenty five years and as is with the merchant navy , he had touched most of the international ports in the course of his duties. Being a hard working person he had got command of a merchant vessel earlier than most. Between us we had lot of memories . But for me the sea was an alien frontier , which required exploring . As a youngster I was always fascinated by the sea and had read all the books on sea tales. As the time passed I mentioned  this to him . Did he also have some enduring memories about the places that he went to and people he met?

That is when his eyes clouded over and he had that far off look - as if he was ready to recite a tale from his past. "Surprising that you should ask me about my experiences" he said. "Only today I was sorting out my stuff and came across a photo of Pedro and myself..." before I could intervene he went on " I did my training out of the country before I joined Merchant navy. The training was tough ". I raised my eyebrows. " Don't look so skeptical" he said. " We face a lot of challenging situations and have to be prepared for everything - physically and mentally. We are away from home for along time and on a ship we are more isolated than most of you landlubbers. For us as youngsters this was drilled into our heads repeatedly. The physical training left us tired and perpetually hungry. Pedro was a steward at the Training Academy . And for us he was a lifesaver. He always used to smuggle food for us from the galley and looked after our needs. Suffice it to say that he was a very resourceful person and a favourite among the cadets. Physically Pedro was nothing great to write home about. He was grossly overweight , unfit and suffered from chronic asthma. How he got through the medicals is a mystery. But whatever his shortcomings they were more than made up by   his cheerfulness hardwork and his never - say - die attitude. Whether it be tending to a sick sailor or producing a cup of hot coffee at high seas when the need was there , he was always present. He had this sunny disposition which immediately warmed all those around him.

Years passed. During the course of my duties I kept running into him on one ship or the other...I had now become the master of my own ship. Pedro was one of my first choices for the job of steward on my ship.Time had made no difference to him either physically or otherwise. With advancing age however he had become a bit slow and his asthamatic wheeze was more pronounced now. On this particular trip I was preparing to go ashore after a long seventeen gruelling months  on board. The unloading of the cargo though was taking longer than usual. This meant that the officers would have to wait longer than usual to get off the ship . It was finally decided that the officers would only be able to sign off the next day. However the crew would be allowed to go ashore the same day. One of the lucky ones to get off was Pedro. Needless to say Pedro was thrilled to be getting off the ship. All the signing off crew loaded all their shopping into the nets before disembarking. On the shore they would head off to their homes with their precious presents for their families. Pedro did not have much of luggage , preferring to save money for his family instead. Normally when the crew is transferred to the tugboat from the ship a gangway is fixed . In this case since the Chief Mate was busy with the cargo he felt that a rope Ladder would suffice to send the disembarking crew on their way.
Most of the cargo had been offloaded and the seas were choppy causing the ship to behave like a skittish horse just prior to the race. The younger and nimbler sailors threw caution to the winds and nimbly negotiated the rope ladder to the tug boat , fourteen meters below the ship. Soon it was the turn of Pedro to disembark. There was a look of unease on his face but it soon passed. As he passed me he gave a wan smile , shook hands and proceeded to get off the ship. No prolonged goodbyes - I was going to see him the next day when the officers would go ashore. Pedro hung on tightly to the rope ladder as it swung dangerously in the winds negotiating each rung carefully. Suddenly there was a commotion. Later someone said that Pedro stopped halfway. Everyone thought that he was taking a break. Suddenly his hands let go the ladder and he toppled from a height on to the steel deck of the tug boat - head first . The sickening crunch heard over the noisy winds left no one in doubt as to his having survived the fall from this height.

Pending inquiries for insurance and the fact that his family was too poor to transport the body home, the entire crew donated money for a family member to be transported from his home for the last rites. Thus ended the life of a man who, all his life was generous to the fault and spent most of his life looking after the needs of other people, much beyond the call of duty.

I will always remember him all my life. I will always be reminded of his selfless service. At times when I am faced with a difficult situation I always recollect how he used to handle it with aplomb and equanimity...