The following is a personal account of how I came up to the decision of choosing merchant navy as a career.

As observed most often , the root of one's dreams and ambition are his development in his childhood days. That was so in my case too. My father always brought me up like he would do so in case of a boy ;not because he wanted me to be a boy, but he wanted to make me equivalent to a boy in terms of physical as well as mental strenght, so that I could be able to face the world ( and I'm proud to say that he has been successful at it). So he made me join Karate classes when I was around 6 yrs old. It was a very exciting experience. I learned Karate for almost 10 yrs when I got my Black belt. These 10 yrs of my life completely changed me, for the better part of it ofcourse. It not only made me physically strong but also completely changed my attitude towards people and life

This is when, my mind was being moulded by my parents and my teachers. I was always eager to take up any challenge that came my way. I was so used to taking up challenges that I got kind of addicted to it. Challenges have always amused me. I was dormant about my future till the 10th std. I haden't really thought of anything though I knew it had to be something unusually different.

After that, in my 11th std. ,like every other student, I began to think about it, about what i wanted to be. My parents gave me a simple plan that i religiously followed. They said - first make a concise list of all those possible fields that you think you are interested in, then gather as much information about it as you can, now place your self in that situation and think that after 5 years will you be satisfied with what you are.

I thought for a few days and jotted down the list. I realised that my list contained those fields that a normal girl would never think of choosing. but that didn't deter me. I started off, the first on my list was the indian army. I gathered a lot of info and spoke to many people too. I realised that I was not meant for it. Not because i was scared of the rigorious training, but because I knew my capacities. The most important thing in order to make the right decision is to be able to differentiate between your goal and your capacities. You cannot stretch beyond your limits. So i marked a cross against it.

Next on the list was to become a fighter pilot, but even before i could start, my dreams were crushed as I came to know that women pilots are not allowed to fly fighter jets in the Air Force. I marked a cross against this too. Next on the list was the Indian Navy , but this time too, the same thing happened as women are not sent off-shore on a naval ship.

I was pretty disappointed at this. The society still has gender problems. After a few days , i came across an article in the Education Times about the Merchant Navy. Knowing that physics is my strong point, I was always interested in the 'Mean Machines' and their engines.And ofcourse ships totally drive me crazy. My very first reading of that article impressed me.There was this initial hitch as no one from my far ancestors had ever been in a field like this, but later on as i got more familiar with this field, i could hear my conscience calling out to me saying that this is the perfect thing for me- Just what I wanted. A combination of hardwork, challenges and ofcourse being surrounded by those 'Mean Machines'. And here I am today- an aspiring mariner.