From the "no vibrations" environment of the office, the manning office chaps send you the e-ticket for the flight to the ship,so starts the affair with vibrations.It starts with the auto rickshaw ride to the airport,the vibrations of the engine crying out when the rickshaw hits the andheri road to the airport is a prelude to the more of them to come in the future.
Reach the airport,check in,sip on a coffee,make last minute calls to people cared for.Smoke the last of the ciggarettes before a 10 hr flight in cafe,board the flight.Settle in your economy class seat,let the plane take off.Feel the vibrations of the jet engine as the captain revs it up before take off.Still wonder why in this modern age an airplane can make such a racket and produce such vibrations while taking off.Order the alcohol to drive out the boredom in a long flight.Have 2 beers,watch a movie before dozing off in a restless sleep.Wake up in the middle of the flight time to find everyone sleeping like babies,and curse yourself for the alcohol drank.The familiar vibrations of the aircraft still luring you to sleep again.Settle down in the seat again,curse the concept of economy class and sleep off.
Reach the destination leaving behind the aircraft and its vibrations.Get met by the agent responsible to take you to the hotel.Reach the hotel,spend a night chasing away the jet lag and start wondering what kinda people are to be encountered on the ship.Surprisingly praise the kind of gentry one was with on the last ship,atleast one knew their habits.This time it would be like running into a wall blind.
Wake up in the morning to the sound of the phone ringing.Agent meeting you in half an hour to take you to the ship.Curse some more and get ready.A happy looking agent makes you curse the profession itself.Get to the service boat,step on it to find it vibrating with the powerful engine revving up to head towards the ship.Step onboard the deck of the ship,greeted by complete strangers giving you the best of their smiles since you are their reliefs for whom they had been waiting for 2 months or more probably after a lot of rejected names from office.
Head towards the accomodation,settle in your cabin with all the luggage.Smoke a ciggarette and feel the ship move ahead after captain's order of full ahead on engines.Feel the vibrations of the 30000bhp engine just about crying to take a vlcc forward in the sea water.
Voyage..?..Persian Gulf to USA...makes it a 35 day trip one side with a 5 day stopover for loading or dischargin ,basically telling you that your bond with vibrations is gonna be strong this trip!..2 months into the assignment,and once you get up in the middle of the night,startled,wondering if something's wrong.Look around,feel yourself,look in the mirror conclude bodily everything's fine.Look out the porthole and see the deck of the ship lit up,telling you the ship is not moving but anchored.So the engines are off...which makes you realise what the hitch in a good sleep is.No vibrations of the engine.Smoke a ciggarette,wonder if you're going nuts,go back to sleep.
Get up one morning,go down to engine room,come up for coffee and hear the captain telling you that a relief is lined up for the next port.The affair of the smile starts from then on.Reach the port,meet a complete stranger standing at the gangway with a 1000 watt smile,while a look to his face makes you wonder if youre the monster of the bilges.Get off the gangway and leave behind the vibrations of the vlcc engine for the vibrations of the service boat.
Reach the hotel,get on the flight,feel the vibrations in the middle of the night after 8 beers,curse the alcohol,cant smoke so curse again.Go back to sleep,wake up at Indira Gandhi Airport arrivals.Get through imigrations in 2 minutes and for the first time praise the indian government.Get to the exit,smoke a ciggarette.Meet the people you have been longing for.Go home sleep,and wake up in the middle of the night,startled!..Wonder whats wrong..after careful inspection realise that there are no vibrations to make you sleep...Smoke again..go off to sleep..!
Wake up in the morning
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