The Orals
The Orals That’s how we popularly know them. The popular name gives an innuendo of that pleasure act equally popular in our MMS-crazed generation but, here, is actually a short form for Oral Examinations conducted by the Mercantile Marine Department (MMD) of Ministry of Shipping, India, for certification of merchant naval officers. The final steps towards acquiring any grade of licenses involves a face-to-face interview with examiners of MMD, known as Surveyors as per the provisions of the MS Act, 1958, and entails examination of our technical and managerial knowledge. The results of all MMD exams are best described by a well-known maritime adage –‘Sea yields out whatever goes in it; it does not eat away anything.’ Yes, that’s right, one day or the other we all pass. But then like all humans have a need for some challenge to give them reasons to live, we have devised the challenge in passing the exams in ‘first shot’. Over these years of revampe...