The world is our campus

NIRMALA SESHADRI

WHEN law lecturer, Pat Chew said, "We don't follow the normal days of the week, only A days and B days!", I was reminded of the lamplighter in the book The Little Prince. On his planet, each day lasted one minute. In Pat's world right now, two days make one week! If this is not confusing enough, Pat's husband Robert Kelly (management guru and professor at the Carnegie Mellon University) says, "We have to adjust our watches as we approach a new place, but meal times are fixed, so sometimes we have to eat when we're not hungry!"

Pat and Robert are faculty members at "Semester At Sea", a programme conducted by the Institute for Shipboard Education and University of Pitsburgh. The ss Universe Explorer becomes a campus where undergraduate students work in the traditional classroom setting and the world is their laboratory. On each voyage lasting 100 days, the ship community comprises 600 students with faculty, staff, volunteers, crew and children of faculty.

Travelling with Pat and Robert are their children Lauren (age 13) and Luke (age 11), who have been granted leave from school to take the voyage with their parents. With about 15 faculty children, they study under the supervision of student volunteers and parents. They are also required to carry out fieldwork to share their discoveries and experiences with classmates at home. Lauren vividly describes the sailors' ceremony to mark their crossing the equator. She says, "Before crossing it, we were pollywogs and they smeared our heads with this really smelly stuff made of fish parts. As we walked across the swimming pool, we were hosed down and at the other end, we were called shellbacks." In line with tradition, Lauren and many students on the ship had their heads shaved at the end of the ceremony. And if, in addition, they had brightly coloured faces and clothes it was because of Holi. Lauren and Luke were most unwilling to wash the colours off.

The Universe Explorer docked at the Chennai port last Thursday after visiting the Bahamas, Cuba, Brazil, South Africa and Kenya. Visiting the ship was like entering another planet.

Five students - Cara (U.S.), Eva (France), Yee Lin (Malaysia), Rebecca (U.S.) and Kent (U.S.) shared some of their experiences.

Cara: The autos! We love them but we do get scared.

Did you find them like the amusement park rides?

Cara: More fun! The auto drivers have been very nice, our tour guides in the city.

Did you get cheated with the fares?

Eva: No, we found out earlier how much it should cost and we told them we couldn't pay more than that.

How is Chennai different from the other ports?

Kent: Each port seems to get busier and busier. In Chennai, I feel that time is just flying.

Rebecca: The poverty just hits you. America will never be the same again.

Yee Lin: They ask for a pen, for anything and I find myself digging in my bag to see what I can give them.

Cara: We feel so bad that we save some food and carry it with us so that we can help.

Eva: I can't sleep. I visited the Dalit village. The women seemed so helpless. They held my hand. They wanted some commitment from me. I want to help the world but I still want my comfort. I am fighting with myself.

Do you feel guilty?

Eva: Yes, very.

Cara: We lead an excessive lifestyle in the U.S. Everyone on this trip is spoilt.

Do you feel that your lifestyle provides happiness? Is it possible that there is a deeper level of happiness that neither you nor I but the man on the streets understands?

Eva: I know material consumption is bad. Money is not happiness. But I know the women in that village were not happy.

Rebecca: Home won't be the same. There'll be a higher appreciation, a re-evaluation.

How do you cope with homesickness?

Kent: I study away from home anyway. So now, I'm just farther away with so much more to tell them.

Eva: I live with my parents and do get homesick. It helps having families on the ship.

What about the lack of personal space?

Cara: On an ordinary campus you can run away somewhere. Here, when I need time out, I look for empty spaces or just lock myself up in the bathroom.

Eva: There are people everywhere! I need to be alone, so I've created this room in my head.

Rebecca: But we are lucky to be here. I have become much more tolerant and have started taking life as it comes. The joys outweigh it all and everything else is just a small inconvenience.

We said our good byes to the students, the Kelly-Chew family and the Universe Explorer. My daughter and I were soon back in bed with The Little Prince. Isn't it strange that apart from birth and death, the only constant in life is change? From Chennai our friends sail to Malaysia. The ship will come back next year but with different voyagers.

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