Sun Vista 8212; Puneite goes down memory lane

Her nagging suspicion about the age of the ship was further confirmed when they actually set sail on April 21. quot;We felt the ship wobbling, time and again. I told myself that this was probably because old ships do not have stabilisers like a couple of the new ones onwhich I have sailed, where the journey is smooth. But this constant wobbling was one thing that really bothered us,quot; she says, recalling her two nights and three days cruise aboard the Sun Vista, along with her two teenaged children Manisha and Sandeep, her sister-in-law Sangeeta Nariani and niece Shalu Nariani.

When Pooja heard of the sinking of the 700-foot-long cruiser following a massive fire on May 21, the first thought that came to her mind was how she would have coped with the rescue operations, had she and her children been caught in the mishap. The very thought, albeit imaginary, is enough for her to get goose pimples.

Remembering nuggets from her journey, Pooja relates, quot;When we got into the ship at 2 pm on April 21, we were allotted room 7070. I realised that the air-conditioner was not functioning. The mechanic came to repair it but said that once the ship set sail, the AC would automatically begin working, which did not happen. We were finally given another room, but this probablyindicates that the electrical functioning was not up to the mark,quot; she shrugs.

Other than that, it was sheer fun and frolic for the three days that Pooja was on the ship. This massive 11-floor ship with about 150 rooms and five restaurants had 1,000-odd people congregating from different countries. quot;Lots of sport activities like games of golf, basketball, target-shooting and even kung-fu exercises used to be held in the morning. This would be followed by Bingo tambola, as we call it here, balloon modelling workshops, live music sessions and of course lots of food, in the various restaurants. Our day used to begin at 9.30 am and end at 1 am the next day!,quot; she smiles.

But the horror of what she has escaped does not leave her. Especially when news came in about the Indian tourists who returned from Singapore to Mumbai after a miraculous escape. Their harrowing experience, the rescue mission that included 18 lifeboats, and then the cold shoulder by the Indian embassy in Singapore, is enough to give anybodythe jitters. Pooja thanks her stars that she did not have to go through this nightmarish experience and is ever grateful to the fortunate fact that she and her family were booked for a trip one month before the ship8217;s curtain call.