PIRACY IN SOMALIA

What is piracy and armed robbery in ocean waters? The answer to this question is rather not simple and yet not very complicated . Piracy is a term used to describe acts of armed robbery and other malicious acts against ships in international waters.They are carried out with the intent of stealing valuables on borad the ship/and or extorting money from shipowners or other third party interests by holding the ship or the crew for ransom . The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) defines piracy as the act of boarding a vessel with an intent to commit theft or any other crime, and with an intent or capacity to use forces in furtherence of the act. Since this defination reflects the popular understanding of the word piracy and furthermore piracy in Somalia and Gulf of Aden, so we will see some statistics down below to have a fair knowledge about this subject .

Armed attacks on merchant vessels transiting from Gulf of Aden, and other waters near Horn of Africa have increased considerably in the past few years. Such acts have usually been conducted with the use of threat of violence. This can be particularly traumatic for those directly involved in this actual scenario as well as the family members of these seafarers sitting miles away and praying for their loved ones.

A study has been  released  by a political and economic intelligence consultancy firm for the delegates ahead  of an International Piracy Conference that began in Dubai in mid of 2011 is one of the first efforts to chart the economics behind piracy. The figures revealed focus on the extent of the problems with the piracy attacks and hint at record level attacks and huge monetary compensations set to swell the rank of pirates by 2015. The efforts by vigilante Somali fishermen in the mid 1990s to protect the coastal waters around Somalia mainly by fishing have rapidly advanced to piracy and now outspreads to some 2.5 million square nautical miles off Somalia’s coastline. Somali piracy is valued at $238 million until 2010 and is now set to rise to $400 million by 2015. The cost of piracy prevention could essentially double in the same period from $8.3 billion in 2010 to about $15 billion in 2015. The sustained growth of piracy powered by organized and armed gangs using “motherships” to enable them to attack further afield, could see the number of pirates rising considerably around this region. The study predicts  that these piracy incidents will expand substantially beyond Somali waters  since they are a part of a complicated piracy value chain ranging from financial backers to accountants and arms dealers. A UN source concurred that research of this nature is vital and a comprehensive study is required so as to have a united approach to eradicate this issue  by the joint  patrolling authorities based on shared intelligence .

Special Note: Specially contributed by Mr. Souvik Chatterjee. The author is a Naval Officer in Merchant Navy who is serving this line of trade for the last 15 years.

Monsoon in Gokarna

Gokarna is a legendary town located in the district of Uttara Kannada in the state of Karnataka. It is popular destination for both tourists as well as for Hindu pilgrims. There are no doubts about the experience of Monsoon in Gokarna will kindle a different feeling in you once you are there.

History of Gokarna

Gokarna is a temple town that is located in the backwaters of Karnataka. The beauty of the place lies in its simplicity and serenity. The place derives its name from the Sanskrit phrase that when literally translated into English means “from the cow’s ear.” According to a legend Lord Shiva appeared from the ears of a cow on this very place and since then it was forenamed as Gokarna. In fact there are many more stories that you can lend an ear to once you are around the town.

Destination Gokarna

Gokarna is an ideal place for people planning a quiet trip. Now if you are planning a vacation to this tranquil town then you can be taking a bus, train, or a plane as well. The bus stand is the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and the whole town is situated around this stand. There are many trains that pass through this town and the nearest airport would be that of Goa. You are free to make a choice of your own in this case.

The right time

Well to be honest you can always make a stopover a beach. However monsoons can be described as the best time to visit the place. That is correct monsoon in Gokharna can give you quite a delight in its own ways. There are a few reasons why this could be a good time to holiday at Gokarna. The first would be that is considered to be an off season in this part of the world. This gives you a chance to win discounted accommodation which already sounds appealing to you. Secondly the string of beaches that Gokarna is surrounded with look their best during this time. The freshly washed leaves of the coconut trees look greener and woods smell like heaven. This gives you a fair idea as to what a monsoon in Gokharna may actually be like!

The beaches and temples

Gokarna is full of exotic beaches that make your stay worth. You can take a walk along the beaches that have interesting nomenclatures like Half-Moon Beach, Om Beach, Kudlee Beach which is the largest beach, and Paradise Beach. As far as the temples are concerned you can pay your respects to Lord Shiva mainly and his shrine at Mahabaleshwara Temple. Apart from this the Uma Maheshwari Temple, the Bhadrakali Temple and the Maha Ganapathy Temple are few more that can be visited in a day.

The cool winds whispering into ears and caressing your face is a feeling that you need to undergo. Monsoon in Gokharna can give you the pleasure of a lifetime, if you really want to make it affair to remember!  

The plight of Indian Customers

There is not much to discuss about the plight of Indian customers for sure. We Indians live in such a country where we are thankful to get services and products by paying our own money. Little do we know about big concepts like that of customer service, customer delight and customer satisfaction. We simply derive our delight as customers from the simple fact that we finally succeed in getting a product intact without much of a difficulty!

The plight of Indian customers is such that we have stand in long queues to clear our bills. We are not at all bothered as we are grateful to get our products in one piece that we pay from our own pocket. There is no one to provide any kind of customer service to us in the true sense. But yes I have served in a few well known BPO’s where I have catered to queries by foreigners with different issues. Be it for Lipitor or for their checking account, I have done it all. Not only this, but I made sure that I have followed the principles of customer delight and customer satisfaction with a dash of my effective communication skills.

Then how come the same business houses shrug off their shoulders when they come to the Indian subcontinent? Here I wouldn’t dare talk about our own indigenous honchos who have always failed to do anything meaningful in regards to customer service. Again coming back to their overseas counterparts, what can be said is that they have double faced policies. Yes of course, one for developed countries like US, UK, and Australia and another for developing countries like India! I fail to understand this business policy as well as our typical Indian mentality that is happy to get products without any real value added service with it. Such is the plight of Indian customers today!

What are the ingredients of a successful marriage?

Have you ever wondered about what are the ingredients of a successful marriage? Well if you have not till now, would it too much to ask you to think about it? I don’t’ think there is any harm in discussing that as nowadays we are so much engrossed with stories of broken marriages that we would like to hear some positive features that can make a marriage tick. A few of us may want to know the secret recipe that can make a marriage survive all the ills of time that tests our stability.

This article revolves around the possibilities of how can you make a marriage in a creative way. In fact there is nothing called a secret ingredient that can make a marriage work. The ingredient rests in your own hands which is more about situation handling and moving on with your better half. Here are a few ways by which you can make the difference according to me. It is not important that you have to agree with me, but in my short span of 2 years of conjugal life I have learnt these few things that are discussed as follows.

For that the first thing you need to do is to put in all your efforts to make your partner believe in the bond that you two have made. Yes marriage is a bond between to individuals that should be well understood and then invested in with care. In order to make your partner believe in this, you need to have faith in more than anyone else. Remember this is a subtle fact that cannot be expressed through words but by behavior.

We have been taught that the institution of marriage is a social contract between two people. Have you ever thought about this discourse from any other perspective? Okay the truth I have and I found a meaning that is completely different from what we think of it. This social contract to me indicates a connection that can be termed as friendship. Now you may agree with me as this simplification can add a brand new definition to the institution of marriage. To make things simple I would like mention here that companionship should be base of marriage. This can solve many a problem if two people can understand each other like friends.

In relation to this it needs to be stated that you can communicate with your partner freely like a friend that can bring a change without any doubts. Treat your partner like a friend and things will become easier. Nevertheless do not forget that you need to know your boundaries while doing so. This means respect your spouse like a friend but maintain a line of respect as he or she is your better.

Setting these restrictions symbolize that you are ready to give them the required space as well. This is very important which comes next to communication. Both these aspects can come to you naturally if and only if you think your cohort to be a friend more than a life partner. Along with this a dash of love more than they need and a sprinkle of sex more than they can take can a super ingredient for a successful marriage for sure.

….And they lived happily ever after

All fairy tales end with this phrase “….and they lived happily ever after” which gets into the head of a young girl and she also wants her prince charming who she thinks will sweep her off the feet and take her away. Away from the world and where they will make a world of their own to “live happily ever after”. Yes we all grew up like that trust me. I also wanted my prince charming to find his way to me and save me from anything…er…at least I could have enacted like a damsel in distress. Thinking of such things, reading a lot of Jane Austen (we have nothing to do with the Duchess of Cambridge as of now) and those romantic stories we grow up from being little girls to ladies. The transition is remarkable but one thing that remains unchanged in all of us is the hunt for that prince charming.

What we do not realize is that the world is no place for a fairytale. It is a practical world where we have to fight it out every day and earn our living. The journey from a daddy’s girl to playing a mother to your own little angel actually starts to delete these fantasies one by one from our memories. Nonetheless call it irony of fate or whatever you like by the time you realize that these are just wild imaginations of the mind, you start narrating these stories to your little who again starts to believe it. Is this just a vicious cycle that we all tend to fall in?

Well it could be explained in this way that these tales are just a way to stimulate a desire in you. This desire will help you to achieve new heights that you could not have anticipated. For example I still want to build a house of sweets like the witch in Hansel and Gretel did! That is to say this will build a hope that will help you learn and grow. This will get you going in life. I am not asking everyone to agree with me, but that is how I have interpreted it. This is because I have a habit of detecting positives out of the worst things in life. Am not saying this is a bad idea, but am only trying to see through this tradition of carrying tales.

I have another premise which is completely different than this. That would be something like this that since the stories of Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty end on this note of “living happily ever after,” I in particular would like to know what happened to them after their marriage. They were busy running their household, went to grocery shopping, supervised their house staffs and fought with their husbands for insignificant things. This is what I have deduced that once the prince charming becomes the husband, he no longer remains to be the same. A time comes when we find that life itself has lost its charm again because something has changed. This can be elucidated like this that the meaning of life changes as time passes. Our needs get altered with time and so does our taste. Hence once when the likes of Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty fell into the same pit, am sure their stories were no more as captivating as their enchanted fables.

So it would have been boring for the little girl too as she would not be interested in such a story. If she were told about the reality of life at that tender age, then there are high chances that she would surely develop some kind of phobia and lose interest in it. This can further be explained like this that a doctor prescribes you a certain dosage of medication regularly to recover from an illness. It is like a procedure that gives you an inner strength to fight off the ills and get well soon. Similarly we need to understand the complications of life slowly and steadily. An overdose of it can be dangerous at the wrong time for sure. This is probably why it is better to know real things when you have attained the age to handle them to live “happily ever after.”