To commemorate the International
Day of the Seafarer, the Department of English, Carmel College for Women,
Nuvem, Goa organised an event called ‘Stories of the Sea’. The theme for this
year was ‘Gender Equality and Seafaring’.
Principal Dr Sr Aradhana AC welcomed the
gathering and encouraged the students to learn as much as possible from the
various events in the programme. Roxana Singh, Head of the Department of
English, recalled her days at sea, and underscored the necessity of being
honest as a seafarer.
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In his opening remarks titled ‘SOS:
Language at Sea’, event coordinator Dr Brian Mendonça, Assistant Professor in
the Department of English, spoke of the sad state of written and spoken English
among students. He said that events like these serve to motivate diffident students
to come forward and use English. It also provided an opportunity for students
to benefit from the guidance from their teachers to refine their work. He was happy at the enthusiastic response of
students across disciplines and semesters who highlighted the sea in their own
way through stories, poems, paintings, articles, scripts, charts, models of
ships, PPTs, and shell-work.
The programme began with ‘Dive into the
deep’ – a short film on Lakshadweep made by Sakshi Rao (FYBSc) recording her
experience of diving to the ocean floor. The keynote address was given by
Captain Robert Shane Vaz and was titled ‘Empowering Women in the Maritime
Industry’. Captain Vaz spoke of the kinds of ships at sea, women who made it
big at sea, and careers for women at sea. This was followed by ‘Taming the
Waves’, an English Skit by Bincy Solomon and group (SYBA). Jaimunisa and group
(FYBSc) presented a Koli dance. The next speaker was Maryann Lobo D’Mello,
Consultant, Psychosocial Development, who spoke on ‘Stress at Sea:
Psyscho-social interventions’. She offered ways in which one could de-stress
and also read her poem, ‘Faces of the Sea I See’. In the next item ‘Inspired by
the Sea’ it was the turn of students of participating colleges, MES college,
Zuarinagar and Chowgule College, Margao to present their songs and stories of
the sea. Students of Rosary College, Navelim, Government College, Quepem and St
Xavier’s College, Mapusa also participated and wrote poems and made paintings. Dr
Manoj Borkar, Marine Zoologist, regaled the audience with his breathtaking
slides in his presentation titled ‘Bizarre Organisms of the Deep Sea’. This was
followed by ‘Tarvotti vo kharvi’ – a Konkani skit on the sea by Edrie Barreto
and group (SYBA), which sent the audience into peals of laughter. The last
presentation was ‘Cruise Careers on Board’ by Sabina D’Souza, Business Manager,
Kamaxi Overseas Consultants. The talk highlighted careers for women at sea.
