On Board to Lakshadweep, as an Assistant Professor!
It was exactly on 12th September 2016, on the day of Uthradam, the First Onam, that I boarded to Lakshadweep. A few days back, I got the appointment order from the University, as an Assistant Professor at P M Sayeed Calicut University Centre, Kadmat. At the moment, I got it, I felt proud, mainly by the amount which I could collect as salary, it was around thrice the salary I received at that time. All the happiness vanished so soon by looking at the faces of my family members. Their faces voiced that I was going to do something horrible. With words of hostility, they made it clear. Amidst all those differences, my husband, Rinesh, the hero, supported my dream of becoming ‘rich’!
The LD Cell Coordinator informed me
that I should have to book ship tickets either from Beypore or from Kochi.
Rinesh went to Beypore port and reserved two tickets. He bought two first class
tickets as it was off season and the fare was cheaper. I was thrilled and began
to plan the things that I would fulfill with the money which I was supposed to
get. We grabbed things from shop to shop to prepare for the journey, as I had
heard that there were no shops in Lakshadweep. We packed everything including a
half HP motor, an induction cooker, utensils and all the culinary items
including coconut and coconut oil, without knowing that Lakshadweep is thickly
greened with coconut trees.
Transportation with all these
luggage was really a herculean task. And we, me and Rinesh began our journey
from home to the Kochin shipyard at 4am. We have to undergo scanning and the
scanning centre was jam-packed with the islanders and their huge bundles of
luggage and CSIF and other police officers.
At the time of scanning the documents, the CISF officers rejected our
document, the appointment order, as the University had forgotten to put a seal
on it. I was already scared by the sight of these officials and became very
much conscious about the document. We stayed out patiently and they allowed us
to complete the scanning process later. We were transferred to the wharf, where
the ship was anchored, by the ‘Manayil’ bus. Finally, we reached the wharf at 1
pm. There stood our ship, MV Kavaratti. Someone at the scanning centre told me
that it was MV Kavaratti ship which took part in the rescue operation of nurses
from Iraq. Let me tell a few words on MV Kavaratti, as she was the first ship
that I have ever seen….
MV Kavaratti, made at Vissakhapattanam shipyard, has 120-meter length with a total carrying capacity of 700 passengers and 200 tons of cargo and is the largest passenger vessel ever created in India. It is a six decked Ship, costing a total of Rs. 173 crores. The ship is occupied with a helipad, two bed and four bed cabins, bunk cabins, a swimming pool, a recreation hall, a cafeteria and a hospital.
As I have already told you, we have booked a two bedded cabin, that means our cabin is in the 5th deck. So, we have to shift all of our luggage, weighing a hundred kilos at least, to the fifth deck! .. And we were doubtful about putting them in the luggage room... (as we were purely Malayalis) Here I cannot move on without mentioning the hospitality of the people of Lakshadweep…The islanders helped us to transfer our baggage to our cabin.
We reached our cabin, which was also very cozy
and comfortable….. Hence, at last, I boarded MV Kavaratti, and headed towards the
shores of Lakshadweep
Radhika. A, Assistant Professor of English, Al Shifa College of Arts and Science, Perinthalmanna.
Comments
Post a Comment