-Brian Mendonça
When International Day of the Seafarer came around on
25th June, I was struck by the courage of those who leave their beds
and go out to sea. What gave the day added impetus was that the theme this year
is ‘Gender equality in seafaring.’
Then began a series of activities which would lead up
to a day where students could exhibit their work. The day would be called
‘Stories of the Sea.’ Dress code for the day would be blue.
What I was looking for was informal ways for students
to mirror the sea in their own way. It could be in the form of charts, poems,
articles, power-point presentations, research papers, models of the seashore etc.
We had a month to go before the event. Thought the
beginning was sluggish, the undergraduates warmed to the challenge. They changed gears when I mentioned that
colleges in Goa had been invited to participate.
Some came up with models of ships; others painted seascapes. Sakshi did a underwater video of her daring dive at
Lakshwadeep. Jaimunissa marshalled the
students to do a beautifully choreographed Koli dance. Bincy and her group did an English skit about
a couple from the fisher-folk community called ‘Taming the Waves.’ Rukmini used her talent to paint beautiful motifs of the sea on t. shirts which could be bought. Anita and Sapna did a power-point presentation about piracy on the high seas from the Vikings to the present. In her paper Sharvari meditated on how the sea influences the characters in the movie Life of Pi. One student made a bouquet of shells.
Amanda and Meghan did a collage of movies at sea and
spoke about them. Xena and Ashiel were
in charge of publicity on social media. Rachel and her team did a wonderful job
with the decoration which transformed the auditorium into a space underwater.
Several charts were made by Aishwarya to announce the event. These were put up
on the various notice boards.
The keynote address was by Captain Robert Shane Vaz
who spoke on ‘Empowering Women in the Maritime Industry.’ Maryanne Lobo
D’Mello, consultant, spoke on ‘Stress at Sea: Psychosocial interventions.’ Dr.
Manoj Borkar, marine zoologist, spoke on ‘Bizarre Organisms of the Deep Sea.’
Sabina D’Souza, Business Manager, Kamaxi Overseas, spoke on ‘Cruise Careers on
Board.’
‘Tarvotti
vo Kharvi’ [Seafarer or Fisherman] was the subject of a mini-tiatr in Konkani. Directed by Edrie, the plot was
about youth who are ashamed of speaking Konkani and of their parents who happen
to be fisher-folk.
Lined up was the film The Old Man and the Sea: The Expedition. It is based on Hemingway’s
novel and how the team try to retrace the story.
Through the event students got a chance to break the
ice with other students. They found the talks informative. They channelized
their energies to make something creative (rather than fiddling with their
phones). It was across disciplines and
semesters. Arts, Science and Commerce students came together for the sea. As
one poster put it, ‘Let’s shellebrate.’
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Dr. Brian Mendonca, Event Coordinator, speaks at the inaugural function of 'Stories of the Sea' at Carmel College, Nuvem, Goa on 27th July 2019. Pix. by Shivani Desai. Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, Panjim, Goa on Sunday 11th August 2019.
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