Skit: Dream Chasing

Skit for National Maritime Day (05th April)

Dream Chasing

The skit will happen in a flashback, as a ship Captain reflects back about his journey from his Junior College Days (as they call it in Mumbai, class 12^th, ).

Purpose of Skit: to show that the purpose of man is to follow his dream, where Education is the means to do that. But, at the outset, there are financial, economic and social constraints around, which inhibit a person from identifying his dreams. There is peer pressure, there is shortfall of money, there is lack of facility, there is social no-no , affecting our choices, and man at that stage is the sum-total of all that…(this is his status at Class 12^th level)

Therefore, his arguments are primarily based on how good is Merchant Navy , for acquisition of quick-money, escape from education, seeing the world, traveling around, having fun, etc. In this, he attempts to put the arguments such as ‘Becoming a responsible person at a much younger age’, “ a good citizen”, “independent”, etc to help look the motive as more holy. Therefore , scene 1….

Scene 1

Father and Son conversation,

Son comes with his class 12^th Marksheet, …89% marks

Father: Satisfactory marks , son, u could have done better…..what now.?....which Engineering college.

Son: Pappa…Don’t want to waste money for 4 yrs, don’t want to waste time—the 4yrs itself,,…want to see the world….want Merchant Navy… want to become an earner fast enough,… etc., etc.

Father: as you say son, u may repent it later..

End of scene

Next, he joins merchant navy, and starts undergoing training for it at IMI.

Scene 2

Life at IMI, having fun a little bit.. ..but exams and class over here too. He manages them somehow.

Scene 3

He starts to become dull , but reaches to ship for on-board training.

Scene 4

His performances continue to deteriorate.

Ship has odd job profile,…such as …cleaning the bilges of cargo tanks, or cargo pumps, blue-collar work.

The toilets getting clogged, the food is not okay, heavy machinery failures requires hard and long working schedules, excessive legislation.

Build the scene as using a Long handle mop cleaning the floor, or a big piece of machinery broke down, grease smeared on the face, Control over his lazy actions of throwing away waste due to MARPOL constraints...

Recalls his father’s words that “ Son, u may regret it later’…He feels as though he did a mistake at that crossroads of life.

He further thinks to himself if only he had done engineering he would have been a design engineer for such machinery, or design engineer for such equipment/ robotics which could help do these odd jobs with much conveniences.

But continues on it, drags on. Many times he goes ashore and gets to see some beautiful sites in other countries of the world. Meets people, comes across cultures, legislation process.

Build the scene on some good foreign scenes and locations falling on the back-ground , and the cadet gazing at it with a breath-taking stance.

Scene 5

Comes back to shore for oral exams, ..

Build the scene as Viva Exam between Surveyor and the Cadet

Surveyor: Can u speak Something about Colreg Rule no. 18

Cadet: Sir , Rule 18 is responsibilities between vessel, …

Scene 6

Becomes a captain one day, some 10 years later.

Honorably, makes his cup of tea, and Switches on a vacuum cleaner to clean the floor. Opens his books to see how Ship Design can help improve the work processes, Looks at his expensive car, and thinks of Colreg as means of proving him some Traffic-Sense.

Goes into reflecting back the arguments which he had with his father some 10 years ago were

Talks to his own self, a Monologue,

I came to merchant navy thinking of it is an escape from Education, it gives me fast buck, I disliked Engineering. Papa wanted me to become as engineer.

How far, and how much could I escape from what Papa wanted? I travelled around the world, made my bucks, rose through ranks , but could never escape from Education. Did I not do learning during my career at sea…a little bit about everything.. , about laws, about engineering, about environment protection, about public safety and security, …there was so much of it, a little bit from everything.

Then what was my contest with papa for joining merchant navy.,, was it money?, was it seeing the world?, was it a different lifestyle?, was it a quick rising through the ranks?,.. well, again little bit of everything.

Education, my friends, is but the medium to chase the dreams, while dreams are what WE have to see. And we see in your dreams what, as Knowledge, has been fed to our brain, by our eyes, through our ear, through our cinemas, and through our literature. There can never be an escape from learning. What this career at sea gave me most cherish-able was my financial independence to do what I wanted. At the same , it awakened my interest into all matters, by giving all that little bit of everything, which made me these so many things.

I, now, stand a much more complete man, awakened of laws, engineering, about commerce and businesses, …a more curious and hunger lot. I am more prepared to take on this world.

“Father, I admit that the arguments I made ten years ago for not pursuing one stream of education were not correct, for the reason that whatever my experience in Merchant navy brought, through exposure to Cultures, commercial laws and practices, multi-nationalism, is nothing but learning of one kind, an Education. But dear father, I can assure you that U would not be disappointed by whatever I learnt by being here at sea. I have become an Explorer, someone who has progressed to find means and recurve at what he had argued against, long time ago.”