My Dear Friend: I have written a short story here as requested; it is a bit unique and self effacing. As you well know the omnipresent politics of CSC, I found that need as a 17 years old schoolboy before even joining CSC. There after I steamed on my own power. I am sending this is in .docx format so you could edit it if required. But I strongly feel that you should not. It will destroy my writing style. I have omitted quotation marks that would have given it a script style; mainly to keep the word count low and keep the document small and easily manageable. Finally for the benefit of those who are in my circle, this I will distribute in .pdf format for their knowledge as well as to understand a bit of my past and my humble beginning as a seafarer. Please Comment when you could. PS: Captains Lalin de Silva & Rohan Kaluaratchie RIC: See I never forgot my history. Thanks for the advise and help. =Quote> The Pull - Capt Priyantha A Dias [Kalyani Batch of 1977] It all started with a chance meeting with my cousin, on a bus. Asked him what he was doing. Marine engineering apprentice; never heard of it. What can you do with that? You can go on a ship. The year was 1972 and I was in Grade 9. I went home and declared to my mother that I want to go on a ship. She howled at me like a banshee (could be heard 5 houses away); I took immediate refuge at my grandmother’s house and didnt return for a week. There I told my grandmother that I want to go on a ship. She would do anything I ask. She made a call to Mr. Andrew Gunawardena who was related to us. He was the Govt. Engineer and Ship Surveyor. She gave me the phone. He advised me to go to the NAB and do an apprenticeship for 4 years. 4 years? I want to go tomorrow! Eventually I forgot about ships; did my O/L and passed brilliantly. In the A/L class I was on a steep downward spiral. I played Hockey in the afternoon, Guitar with a band until wee hours and slept in the class; or did not go to college at all. I knew I was going to flunk A/L in style. I was looking high and low in the newspapers for a decent job opening. Every job requires A/L. I was in grade 12 and perilously close to disaster and embarrassment. This was 1976. One day my stepfather (remembering my mother’s blasting in 1972) showed me an ad. CSC has advertised for a batch of Cadets. No A/L required. One year in Grade 11 and be under-18. I locked my room and started writing the application. No photocopiers at the time. I painstakingly copied the required documents, took it to the GS, got them attested, and sent by registered post. My mother does not know. I was called for the first interview. (I get dressed; where I go nobody knows) The interview went well except Capt Weinman’s question, which bothered me. Why do you want to go on a ship when you have such good academic future and a sports background? I simply said I like it. Then Visakha Vidyalaya had a Carnival and the Lanka Kalyani was docked in Colombo. We met the Cadets from Kalyani there. Among them was my classmate Lalin de Silva. Lalin called me aside and told me ‘You Bugger, your 6-Ds / 2Cs and Hockey will not get you a job at CSC; you need a Pull!’ Pull? What Pull has a schoolboy at 17? My mother has all the pulls; that exactly was my problem. So I devised one of my ingenious and devious plans. Rohan Kaluaratchi was well known to my mother, well respected decent bloke; does not smoke, does not drink and is always in church. (A polar opposite to her son) He was a batch senior to me in collage and we played Hockey in the same team. We shared a common love for the guitar – I replaced him as the Bass Guitarist when he left for sea in 1975 – Lalin and Rohan later were my senior batch. I told Rohan to put on his best clothes and come home to speak to my mother. So Rohan comes; my mother is delighted; gives him tea. So you are on a ship Rohan? Yes Auntie. So he tells about training and that one could become a Captain in 7 years. I was listening and piped in. I too have applied for the same job; says I. My mother kept her cool; probably because of Rohan. She asked Rohan but people on the ship drink? Rohan says: See Auntie I dont smoke and I dont drink. I could have put a gold sovereign in his mouth for that! I got the right guy. Then I told her that I had been to the first interview and it will require a ‘Pull’ to get this job. That got her going. Andrew Gunawardena was the first stop. He had known me since I was 5 years old. Dharmasiri Senanayake was the Minster of Shipping & Tourism. He knew my mother since she was 15. He had been boarded at my grandmother’s house when he had been a law student. He gave another letter. I sailed through the 2nd and 3rd interviews and the medicals and into Lanka Kalyani and to fish oil smelling boiler suites and 20/24 hours of ragging. I dont know to date if they selected me purely on my merit or those two letters; but I could tell you something… if you are seriously interested in getting a job in a semi-government set up like CSC then you better have a ‘Pull’!
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 16:34:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015