TOOK SHIP FROM THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS TO CHENNAI

first time on the open sea

the M V Swaraj Dweep

passenger ship, full

1200 people

elemental

brute

old school

...

vast metal in white blue and orange

backdropped by vast rising falling sea

...

mottles, flakes, rust

...

where strangers meet

and chat vociferously for hours

as we heave through the dark-blue grey

the relentless churn of the sea

for three or so days

from Port Blair to Chennai

my longest boat journey ever

...

where my question

when do i get seasick?

became

is seasickness inevitable?

became

no?

became an answer

no

...

on uneven barefoot lurches updown the damp corridors

or lying on my bunk

in my cabin of six

a family of four

with two extra lively boys, eight and ten.

and one tiny grumpy grizzled old man below me

playing loud tinny Bollywood

...

so i’m the only white person on the ship

and all have been pretty helpful

yet language is ever an issue

with the ship’s second officer

the radio officer

the training manager

and three marine biology students from Rameshwaram

who say the Andaman coral is all sick

has declined over their two years

plus a young Hindu errr, pilgrim

is that the word?

on his way to preach near Delhi

where the general air is lively, gregarious,

edged with fatigue

as this old hunk of metal carves through the waves

East North East

where, at my destination

and my departure

the Rainy Season has newly arrived

while, en voyage, we’ve had some light and middling rain

so there’s damp

and swilling puddles

yet its

generally clear

with flat low grey ominous clouds always visible somewhere

with their curtains of sheets of rain

where the calmest spots on board are

on deck in front of the engines

and easy slow hours can be lost

staring out to the leeward North

...

back in the day, the 70s

before there were flights

this was a fabled journey for travellers

ten or so days in a bunk or hammock

or sleeping on the deck

and its still the cheapest journey

but not for me, as foreigners pay more

yet i had to try my longest sea journey ever

while my only nights on ships have been on lakes

Lake Van, Lake Victoria

or in the Med

...

while i quickly mapped the confined space

corridor upon corridor

square stairwell after corridor after square stairwell

top-deck chai-shop, slow, very slow

where food for cabin-class is from an upmarket cafeteria

booked and paid for after boarding, decent

and where the ungood toilets could be worse

much much worse

...

meanwhile

“plenty of cold in Ladakh”, says the chummy guy

for that’s where i’ll be in a week

after another all-change

for i’ve gone from highest heat

to Monsoon

to big Boat

where next its Chennai in the Rainy Season

and then a flight way North

Leh, in Ladakh

the very top of India

which is 3000 km

to a real unknown

...

did not know it was going to be so far…

3000 k!

…

while the early-riser guy says

this ship is old and heavy and slow

and against the current

where heavy means less heaving

less updown

less seasick

which figures

yet there is low-pressure near Chennai

so its likely gonna get rougher

yet for now

the clouds have cleared to the East

and we are heading into light blue skies puffed with white

...

where i have no real idea what to expect from Ladakh

its so high that altitude-sickness comes into play

especially if you arrive sudden, by flying

and i guess it will be cold and empty

for which i am not prepared in any way

beyond one woolly jumper

so will have to get shopping

for warm clothing

and will also have to form a plan

for i have six weeks up there

and have an idealised notion of walking

with bag

from village to village

or bussing

and staying for a day or three

like i did in Jan-Feb in Maharashtra

yet i don’t know how practical this is

and will, as usual, deal with it

roll with it

go with it

find out what’s possible

and not stupid

when i get there

...

...

...

in other news

no wifi

[so this is sent apres voyage]

yes, three whole days without wifi

so its been old Italian movies

Visconti’s Senso

and

Rossellini’s Paisan

neither as good as i hoped

Senso not as good as, the comparable, The Leopard

and Paisan not as good as Rome, Open City or Bicycle Thieves

plus McCabe and Mrs Miller

even better than i remember

...

Warren Beatty, for all the Hollywood lore

is an unusual and understated actor star...

...

next

The American Friend

but not while Old Grumpy below is playing his shrill tinny racket

which is his revenge on the boys for being boys

so the father of the boys is playing his own racket

to make the old guy stop

which hasn’t worked yet

so here i am

stuck between battling rackets

...

“the human race

don’t you just love it

yes i do

its the only way to cope with it”

...

...

...

in other news

...

a slogan for Farage

“everything comes to we who hates”

we who hate?

.,,

...

...

…

in further news

an update

Chennai ain’t the Monsoon

Chennai is an absolute sweatbox

for an unwise afternoon stroll

from heaving lively brimming Triplicane

to pleasant leafy Mylapore
…
…