Cruising away into 2024
(and proud to be part of the crowd)
I didn’t even know there are cruises which emanated from anywhere in India. I knew international lines had stopovers in Cochin and Goa, but to discover Cordelia as a cruise starting from Mumbai was a bit of an intrigue.
Well, between you and me, I had my reservations. And why not - I’d done some terrific cruises across the globe.
“O darling,” I would say when asked, with a flick to an imaginary speck of dust on my sleeve, “We’ve taken the best in the world. There’s the Nile river cruise, which I think is still unmatched in its sheer romance. Well, where else would you slip by centuries-old ruins while sipping your glass of Argiano Brunello di Montalcino. Then, of course, there’s the ultra thrill of the Arctic Circle cruise. Oh, that helicopter ride we took and then being carted around by those gorgeous huskies! Uff. But then what can match the sheer surreality of the Yangtze River cruise, with its keys in Three Gorges Dam and miles into nothingness where our internet didn’t drop for a second - crazy. And of course, our very first cruise - the first stop so far for all Indians - Star Cruise from Singapore to Langkawi and Phuket. That massive ship, the first look of it, and the sheer volume of things to experience. O my god.”
So, for the sake of all-round good, we decided to bring our hoity-toityness a few notches down to serve our cruise hunger and to encourage national tourism!
So, on 1st January 2024, Tanu and I took a two-day cruise from Mumbai to Goa on Cordelia Empress (famous - if you’re into such things! - for Sharukh Khan’s son’s substance incident). For us it was a test run for a larger celebration we were planning, to see its suitability. Plus a mini holiday starting from the first day always augurs wonderfully for the rest of the year!
The mood was celebratory, the world had just rung in the new year and everything was bright and seemed freshly-hewn.
Ah. But.
What we didn’t expect (why???) were the overwhelming crowds. And the wonderful habit of all of us to break queues and rules, and ignore instructions and fellow travellers! Consequently, the elbow in the ribs, the numbers in the pool, the surge in the shows, the jostling in the dining areas. It was a microcosm of the crores of us from all over the country. And there were couples, families, a spiritual group (Brahma Kumaris), bunches of friends, wives free of their husbands, husbands again falling in love with their wives, the furtive couple, the diamond-earrings wale and the fake-Reebok wale.
It was raucous, and always unruly, because we love to have our way, and rules are temporary inconveniences, and reprimands from co-passengers are merely problems to be solved with either a thump on the back or a verbal punch in the face - depending on the mood and situation! We were irritated to say the least, though accustomed to it all (and often contributing to it!), and used our well-honed skills to squeeze in wherever we wanted to, like supple eels navigating fleshy rocks!
And then - it all slowly starting sinking in, and we became the crowd, we became psychologically untied, spiritually loose-limbed, and one with the singular chaos. And then we also found our pockets of solitude. And as we walked on the upper decks or watched the outstanding shows in Starlight theatre and swung to old Bollywood hits with hundreds in the Chairman’s Lounge, it felt good. To be with my people, joyous, ready and able to let go and indulge in seeking the joy we all deserved.
The indiscipline then became a quirk, the energy was more affecting then the upper-lip silence of straight lines, the automatic standing-on-your-feet joy at both Balle Balle and Nattu Nattu was closer to skin then the crowds in O2 stadium in London singing along with Kylie Minogue. And as we leaned out from the railings in the highest point of the ship, with the sea all around, we were one with the selfies in the sun, the chairs pulled in the middle of the walking passage, the food plates left uncleared on side tables.
Everything, everything, was mitigated by the joy, the pride of being here, happy, without a care in the world, in the midst of this wonderful multitude, each one of us proud to be here, naturally accepting being served by a multitude of foreign stewards and engineers, unabashedly aware of the indulgence and ready to be in it, with plans to come again, discovering the sweet purposes of life - to love and live life the way it is meant to be.
Proud now to be where we were, complicated as a people, beyond comprehension of anybody but us - now at the cusp of being the greatest nation and people on this earth, if not actually being that already.
Pass it forward - love, a lil’ appreciation, your big heart - and this substack :)
I also wrote on Venice, Washington, music in Bangkok bazaars, Calcutta, New York!!! Read! Show some love.