reply to second and third enquiry

To

    Mr. R.M. Elango

    Deputy Shipping Master

    Mercantile Marine Department

    Chennai

Dear Sir,

 Received your letter dated 7.7.’10 on 15.7.’10. I answered this letter by e-mail on 2-8-2010, Monday, time: 18:25:00, and once more, a reminder on 14-8-2010 at time: 10:28:20. I answered the letter by post on 16-9-2010 (registered post receipt enclosed). Have once again sent you all particulars on 31-01-2011 (registered post receipt enclosed), which you have acknowledged receipt of on 7-2-2011 (acknowledgement card copy enclosed).             

Answering the points you have raised…

Those two months caused extreme damage to my ears. All the while, throughout the day, I was in the generator bilges, the dark, dank, space with the four-stroke engines’ high pitch noise blasting my ears. The sound used to ricochet off the plates and ship side and attack my ears unceasingly and unendingly. Once NIHL (Noise Induced Hearing Loss) has set in, further deterioration takes place in the coming years despite all I could do to protect my ears. Especially as I was subjected to even worse treatment in my next ship, SPIC Tankers.

The medical examination conducted before joining the ship, was cursory at the best. 

After Essar ship I suffered initial hearing loss but it was not profound as it is now. But the damage had already been done and the downslide of my hearing had begun.

Though the torture had left me mentally scarred, I had to earn my living. I applied to SPIC Tankers and they asked me to leave in a hurry. Ideally, I would have liked to have had some time to recuperate, but it was not to be. SPIC asked me to get on board immediately and there was a gap of five days only before I boarded MT SPIC Pearl.

Don’t say

“He was the only person on 2 vessels belonging to different organizations, was picked for so called in-human treatment, this could not have been a coincidence and needs further investigation”.

I can say from my experience that several people have suffered mind-numbingly bad behaviour by senior officers in various organizations. Only, they haven’t complained to you. 

When you complain to an Indian Captain or Chief Engineer, they always reply in a typical manner – “Only you have come to us with such a complaint. Nobody else has. So, that means there must be something wrong with YOU”. This is a very negative, head-in-the-sand approach, pulling down the reputation of Indian manning all over the world. 

And who told you that the majority are right?

There are countless well known examples from history and recent history that the majority is always wrong. E,g, Nazi Germany against the Jews, anti-Sikh riots in Delhi 1984, Gujarat 2002, many, many examples of majority being wrong. Read famous playwright Henrik Ibsen. In ‘An Enemy of the people’, he shows very clearly that the ‘A minority may be right; a majority is always wrong’. E.g. In a gang-rape, the majority are raping. So, you mean to say they are right? 

Next, take this line

“He was the only person on two vessels belonging to different organizations, was picked for so called inhuman treatment. This could not have been a coincidence and needs further investigation”.

Regarding the above accusation, the first thing I want to say is that, ‘however I behaved, you certainly do not have the right to permanently disable me’.

Where Indian manning is concerned, there are quite a few cases of the whole ship ganging up against the hapless cadet, torturing him, and his committing suicide. So, there is nothing unusual in my being harassed by a second company, SPIC after Essar.

shiva