Friday, November 14, 2014

An interesting assignment!

As planned, I'd set off for Chaliyam which is 85 kms from here at the port of Beypore a trifle past quarter to 8 with George, at the helm. The sky was overcast and we did experience intermittent spells of showers as we sped along. The highway was okay but seemed to be uncomfortably narrow at certain stretches but George efficiently gunned the vehicle through the morning traffic and reached me at Nirdesh, the venue, 15 minutes prior to my lecture.

I was to talk on the nuances of a contract and other related issues to a batch of over 20 professionals who handled contracts at the various shipyards of our country. The interaction was heady and satisfying followed by the question and answer session. They seemed to lap up some of my personal experiences at the negotiations that I'd participated. However, I shall wait for the final feedback from the organisation as received from the participants.

A word about the organisation, 'Nirdesh', at this juncture would be in order. Sprawled in the southern edge of the Beypore harbour, it will have Research & Development facilities for the design of ships and connected training activities in due course of time and is now at its nascent stage.

After the session, I'd the opportunity to visit the traditional shipbuilding yard of Beypore and it was a mind blowing experience. It boasts of the following:-

      * 'Uru' or 'fat boat' - a generic name for dhow type ships - has been built over the past hundreds
          of years and the fine workmanship is known all around the globe
   
      * No design charts, no project management. The entire set of shipbuilding details are in the minds
         of a few men who pass on this wealth of information by word of mouth to a selected few of the
         succeeding generations. Was fortunate to meet the simple, unassuming Raju who was one such
         'mastermind' who'd taken me around, along with Faisal, my 'saarthi', who wanted to cram in as
          many sights within the short time at hand.

      * The wooden ships are handmade!

      * The biggest 'uru' was in the making for the Sultan of Qatar, which would go into stream,
         by next month. And its vital statistics:-
              (a) Length                         140 ft
              (b) Breadth                         42 ft
              (c) Height from keel           33 ft
         Its machinery, the propellers and the interiors will be done at Qatar, on arrival and the Sultan
         has invited Raju to oversee the outfitting work.



Tailpiece.

The return was through blinding rains. Was it an answer to my crib of yesterday that there was no sign of the Northeast monsoon?                    

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