Inside Passage to Alaska

Most of the cruise ships making trips to Alaska from Seattle or Vancouver take the "The Inside Passage" route. The Inside Passage refers to a coastal route for ships and boats along the network of passage which weave through the islands on the Pacific North West coast of North America. 

This route extends from the North-Western Washington State in USA and through Western British Columbia of Canada and proceeds to South-Western Alaska (USA). The route is used by ships and boats to take advantage of the web of many islands to avoid the bad weather in the open ocean and also enable visit to some of the isolated places and communities along the route. The route also provides good scenery though most of the travelling happens in the night. 

The major centres covered while travelling by The Inside Passage are Skagway, Glacier Bay, Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria. While the first four are parts of Alaska, Victoria is a part of British Columbia, Canada. There are many other places which can be covered in a longer private trip on a yacht.  

The first action on the ship after all the guests checkin and freshen up in their cabins is to move into the auditoriums in the main part of the ship for safety briefing. This is also a requirement as per law. The briefing is held in two or three groups depending on the need. The auditoriums are bigger than an average theatre in present day malls. Neatly dressed staff members guide the guests to their seats in the auditorium. The briefing about the various safety aids on the ship as well as the tips for staying healthy during the trip is done professionally using audio visual aids and demonstrations. As any infections can spread fast on the ship, special mention is made about the use of rest rooms and cleaning of hands properly before taking food in the restaurants. Guests are advised to use the toilets in their own rooms as far as possible. Hand cleaning solutions are available at the entry of food outlets and dining rooms.

All guest rooms are provided with neatly prepared and printed reading material each day giving details of the sailing program for the next day, details of excursions available and other allied issues. Experts from the respective fields board the ship when she moves in the Glacier Bay to give details of the surroundings and spotting of various attractions and sea animals like whales, sea lions etc. 

The total distance traveled during the voyage period is a little over 2200 Nautical Miles or 4000 Kilometres. At the end of the trip, a summary of the tour movements is given to the guests with a farewell message from the Commodore of the ship.

The first 40 hours is spent on travel from Seattle to Juneau, capital city of Alaska, covering a distance of 1600 Kilometres. The guests are entertained during this period through on board attractions like stage shows, music and dance programs etc. Swimming pools and casinos find much use during this period. Art auctions and Movies under the Stars are other attractions. Those worried about the wrinkles on their faces can have a Complimentary Facial Rejuvenation consultation from an expert. Sail away celebration with cocktails is also available. There are other attractions for children, youth and other age groups as well.

Most of the guests spend their time on the first day of the seven day trip in watching the ship sail through the blue waters of the sea and family get-togethers. It is time to catch up with past events and remember the important happenings amidst the beautiful blue waters of the sea and some whale watching as well!

Exploring Alaska by Cruise

In the earlier two posts, "Vacations on Cruise" (Click Here to read) and "Cruise Vacations: Costs and Conveniences" (Click here to read), there was a brief discussion on the advantages of taking a vacation on cruise ships and the relative costs vis-a-vis conveniences of such a trip as compared to other modes of vacations. As Cruise trips to Alaska are very popular and also provide one of the two alternatives to visit this wonderful geographical region, taking a look at exploring Alaska by Cruise would be interesting. 

Why is Alaska special as a tourist destination? Why should one take an Alaska  cruise tip or why it should become a preferred vacation area? The answers to these questions are indeed fascinating both from the geographical as well as historical perspectives.  

Where is Alaska? It is well known that it is one of the 50 states that comprise the United States of America. Yet it is separated from the other mainland states of USA. It is a part of the North American Continent and yet it is very close to Asia. Alaska is very valuable due to its enormous natural resources and strategic location. It has abundant mineral wealth, marine wealth and tourist attraction. It's long coast line and wild forests provide for a variety of adventure activities. Alaska has something to offer to tourists of all age groups and varied interests.

The following facts give an idea about Alaska:

• Alaska is nicknamed as "The Last Frontier".
• It is the 49th state of the USA and became a state on 3rd January 1959. It was followed later by Hawaii (a state only made of islands and another vacation destination) as the 50th state on 21st August 1959.
• It was purchased from Russian Empire on 30th March 1867 for 7.2 million dollars (not 1,000 dollars as sometimes quoted). It was one of the cheapest and grandest real estate purchases!
• It is a strategically important geographical area for various reasons.
• It is on the Pacific coast and 500 miles away from the nearest state of USA, Washington (Seattle area).
• The distance between USA and Russia is only 3 miles! Last Alaskan Island of "Little Diomede" is just three miles from the Russian island of "Big Diomede".
• The Diomede Islands are called as the Yesterday Island and Tomorrow Island because even though they are only three miles apart, international time line separates them by 21 hours!
• The Diamode islands get their names from the Greek hero and commander of 80 Argive ships that took part in Trojan War.
• When territorial water area is included, Alaska is larger than the next three large states of Texas, California and Montana put together.
• Adjoining Canada, it is the largest state of USA by area.
• Its length is 1420 miles and breadth is 2261 miles and is spread over 6,63,000 square miles.
• But its population is only 7,40,000 and hence the least densely populated state.
• Juneau, capital of Alaska, cannot be reached from other parts of USA by land (unless pass through Canada). It can be reached either by Air or Sea.
• Its Denali National Park alone comprises six million acres of wild land and has the 20,310 feet high Denali peak, which is one of the popular tourist destinations.

Alaska is thus a very important geographical region due to its natural resources, marine wealth and tourist attractions.

*****

What are the requirements for making a trip to Alaska? The first requirement is the desire to get there and explore. The second is to make time and ear mark funds for the same. This is true of all tourist destinations as well. In addition to these, there are some documents required to make a trip to Alaska. What are the documents required for visiting Alaska?

• As Alaska is a part of USA, a valid Visa for visit to USA is required (except for the citizen of countries for whom USA waives a visa to visit the country).
• Alaska can be visited in two ways from mainland USA; either by Air or by Cruise. 
• For visit by Air, Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau are the main airports of entry. Anchorage is the most popular airport of arrival and is well connected to other parts of the world.
• For visiting Alaska from USA by cruise, valid Canada visa is also required as the ships stay in the Canada territorial waters for a considerable time. Besides, cruise trips to Alaska usually include a halt at Victoria island which is a part of Canada.

Other preparations depend on the season and weather conditions. Though there are many cruise options from other cities to Alaska, cruises from Seattle, USA and Vancouver, BC, Canada are very popular. These cruises are generally roundtrips and start on the afternoon of Saturday and return to the same place on the early morning of the next Saturday. A duty leave of five working days would be enough for working people to take such cruises. These cruises cover the highlights of Alaska excluding the Denali. The peak season for these cruises is during the months of April to September. June, July and August are the warmest months and have maximum cruises and attract most of the visitors.

The one week's cruise time is covered by sailing in the nights, arriving at a port in the morning, providing land excursions during the day and resuming next lap of the journey again in the night. Even during the summer months, warm clothing will always be required to be kept handy as the weather changes very fast and sunny days have rainy or cold interludes. While on the ship, there would be gusty winds when the ships sail in the pacific and one feels colder than what the temperatures are actually are. While on day excursions one should have a kit bag or backpack with warm clothing which can be used when required or stored away in the bags when the sun comes out and it is hot. A foldable umbrella will be a good friend as showers can visit us any time. 4 or 5 layers of dress with warm sweaters would be advisable. It is important to cover the legs and feet as well with warm pants and socks and wear comfortable shoes. Proper caps/monkey caps, neck covers and mufflers should be available in the bags. Carrying some types of snacks for munching at times of leisure during such excursions is also advisable as the items may not be easily available when you are hungry.

As mentioned earlier, while the ships anchor at the port in the morning, the entire day is allowed for exploring the land areas around the port and return to the ship in the evening. In the summer months sunrise is early and sunset is mostly after 8 PM. In July and August months the sun sets after 9 PM. This gives enough time for the tourists to explore both outdoor and indoor attractions around the port. The cruise ships provide voluminous literature on the attractions available in the area. They also provide a number of alternatives or combination of activities to gainfully spend the day time on the land. One should carefully  study these literature and choose the trip for the day to suit budget, time, physical activity and interests. There are helicopter tours, boat rides, coverage by buses and also adventure sports and hiking etc. The activity chosen should be according to the age group and capacity to walk long distances or enjoy with least physical activity. These plans should be in place before the sailing of the ship and booked well in advance so that disappointment of not getting seats on the last minute approaches is avoided.

*****

A cruise trip to Alaska is not just one trip. It is a combination of many excursions within a vacation trip. One who plans for each leg of the tour diligently and in advance will derive the best experience with least expenditure. Make full use of the available time, get the best experience and spend the least will be the key guiding factors for an enjoyable Alaska Cruise Trip. Of course, it is the same for other cruise trips as well!

Cruise Vacations: Costs and Conveniences

In the previous post titled "Vacation on Cruise" (Click here to read it), we have seen growth of cruise vacations in leisure travel market, and evolution of the concept of vacation in the Indian context. The next pertinent questions are naturally relate to comparison of a cruise vacation with other forms of vacation tours, and costs and conveniences of cruise vacations. Are cruise vacations available only for those capable of spending substantial amounts or is it within the reach of an average budget traveler? What are the cruise options available at different parts of the world? What are the advantages in a cruise vacation and what conveniences are available to the tourist? What would be the cost implication for planning cruise trips? These questions are to be answered satisfactorily before one thinks of taking a vacation on a cruise trip.

***** 

Cruise trips are available allover the world, from many centres. The spread of cruise trips is naturally more from countries having long coast lines. There are some river cruise trips as well. Ocean cruise trips provide more variety to the traveler. Among all the cruise trips available presently, the approximate coverage is as under:

• Carribean and Bahama Cruises:      35%
• Mediterranean Cruises:                    15%  
• South America Cruises:                    10%
• Australia-NewZealand Cruises:        10%
• Alaska Cruises:                                   8%
• Other Cruises:                                   22%

Among the popular cruises from India are the ones to Mauritius, Maldives and Dubai.

Average age of cruise going passengers is 47 years, indicating that the spread is almost even among different age groups. Alaska cruises have shown a higher growth (about 16%) in recent years as against overall growth (8% to 10%) in the cruise travel market. Growth of Asian cruise travellers including Indians, was the highest at 20% last year. 

*****

There are two options for planning vacation travel; arranging all the components by the traveler directly or availing the services of a reputed travel agency. Choosing the first alternative is costlier as well as involves lot of efforts on working on various minute details of the entire journey. The second option gives the convenience of entrusting all responsibilities for the arrangement to a trusted travel agent, paying a stipulated amount and then hope for the best. Cruise vacations belong to the second type.

Many travel agencies in India have their own arrangements for offering conducted tours from end to end basis. Some of them source travellers to a designated foreign location and then handover the remaining part of the tour to their care. More and more people are availing the services of such tour operators for their vacation tours. With the advent of professionalism and competition being very stiff, offers by such operators are both at reasonable costs and good quality service. While one cannot expect every detail of such tours to be up to their own satisfaction, overall experiences are encouraging. In the present times there are many operators offering such tours to cover destinations all over the world.

For a cost of about 5,000 US dollars an Indian traveler can even embark on a near three weeks tour of Europe covering 10 to 12 countries. While it is not possible to cover all the destinations in all these countries, these tours offer a reasonably wonderful experience within the available limitations. Thus the average cost per day of such a travel works out to about 250 US Dollars per day per person. A cruise vacation trip also would cost around the same level. Thus there is no difference between the costs of a cruise trip and other arranged tours. This is applicable to the basic cost of a trip. The cost would increase depending on the nature of accommodation chosen and other amenities requested, as is the case with other arranged tours. However, before booking any cruise trip one should work out the total costs and satisfy himself about the various aspects of the trip.

What is the ideal length of a cruise vacation trip? A definite answer to this question cannot be given. There are short cruise trips of 3 days as well as those that last for two months! A 3 day trip to Bahamas from Florida costs from USD 200 to USD 500. Similar trip of one week from New York would cost USD 500 to USD 800. A two month long South America Circle Cruise Trip from Florida costs upwards of USD 10,000. Again the low fares are for rooms in inside cabins. Costs for ocean view cabins and balcony cabins are naturally higher. Mini-Suites and Suites cost much more. It is, therefore, necessary to study the amenities vis-a-vis costs and then decide on the cruise trip destinations, length of the trip as well as the type of rooms one wants to book. 

The summary of the above discussion is only to drive home the point that one need not have a feeling that cruise trips are very costly and should not be dismissed on cost aspect alone. 

*****

The next part relates to the conveniences available on cruise tours. Some of the features available on cruise vacation trips are:

• Members of the family/group can converge at the port of departure of the cruise ship, start the trip and again disperse to their own places after conclusion of the trip. This arrangement provides a continuous togetherness during the entire cruise trip without wastage of time on journeys. As the entire group is on the ship and everyone in the group is free from the routine responsibilities, full enjoyment of the vacation is available to all members.
• As the days of cruise is fixed on booking of the trip, travel arrangements to and from the port of departure/arrival can be made by individual members of the group as per their convenience.
• Cruise trips provide for airport/railway station pickup and drop facility.
• A leave of absence of 5 days from work would suffice to take a week long cruise trip.
• Baggage rules are not as strict as in the case of air travel.
• A cruise trip is like being in a floating hotel. In case of other tours, checking in and checking out of hotel rooms, packing and unpacking, luggage movement from/to the bus or train consume much time and cause tension. Cruise trips are like checking into a hotel room once. The traveler is free from these hassles. You go to sleep in one city and get up in another and yet retain the same room!
• Though it is one cruise, there are various options for sight-seeing during the day time. Members of the same group can choose different day time activities according to their own interests. For example, younger members can choose to go on a hiking trip whereas the elder ones can take a train or bus trip involving less walking.
• It is a 24-hour activity driven tour. Even after coming back to the ship in the evening, there are many activities on the ship. There are music  and stage shows, games and even casinos for gambling.
• If some members of the group do not want to go out on a given day, they can stay back on the ship and yet engage themselves in other entertainment activities.
• All cruise trips are inclusive of food while on ship. There are facilities for round the clock dining and coffee shops etc.
• Multiple varieties of cuisine is available on the ships. It is a feast especially for non-vegetarians. Ship bars provide a variety of alcoholic beverages against payment.
• Room service is also available for those who do not want to go the dining rooms.
• There are different activities for different age groups; for children, youth, adults and the aged as well.
• If balcony rooms are chosen, one can enjoy the scenery from the comforts of their own rooms.
• There are libraries, art galleries as well as art auctions. 

Cruise vacations are chosen by many families for celebration of events such as Birthdays, Anniversaries etc. Princess Cruises, one of the popular cruises  and the one we used for our Alaska tour, gives away as many as 800 chocolate birthday cakes every day on their ships on different cruises! Their website informs that they have so far hosted over 20 million birthdays on their voyages! Over 25 million anniversaries have been celebrated on their ships from inception.

Cruise ships also offer facilities for celebrating  wedding functions on their cruises. In case of non-availability of marriage halls, this option can also be explored. Those who are already married need not be disappointed. This facility is available for remarriage after divorce as well.

A cruise trip may perhaps be a novel gift that can be given to someone special or to one's own self. 

*****

That brings us to a very important question about safety of cruise travel on vacation. it is said that the chances of death on cruise ships is 1 in 6.25 million. It is safer than driving a car as there are more deaths in automobile accidents!

Vacation on Cruise

Vacations on Cruise has gained a lot of attention these days. More and more people from different sections of the society are undertaking tours on cruise ships. Industry statistics show that this is one of the fastest growing segment in the leisure travel market. The following facts and figures would give a birds eye view of this market:

• This is one industry where demand consistently exceeded the capacity for the last three years.
• Capacity utilisation on cruise ships is 100% consistently.
• Number of global ocean cruise passengers went up from 24.7 million in 2016 to 25.8 million in 2017 and further to 27.2 million in 2018.
• Unless booked in advance, berths are not available on many popular tour destinations.
• More than 1000 ports, big and small, support this activity.
• There is addition of new vessels every year. For the next five years, more than 50 new ships are being built.
• People from all income groups are availing the cruise vacations. Number of passengers from the budget travellers group is showing a higher increase.
• Younger generation travellers are more attracted to cruise vacations. 
• Repeat travellers are on the increase. It is not "once in a life time" any more.
• Demand for cruises to cold climate destinations are on the increase.
• The industry provides more than one million jobs directly and indirectly.
• More destinations from Asia and Africa are being added to the list of places served.

A discussion about the concept of "Vacation" and "Vacation on Cruise" become relevant in this background.

*****

Online Dictionary defines "Vacation" as "a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel, recess or holiday". It is also mentioned as "a part of the year, regularly set aside and freedom or release from duty, business or activity". Thus the word vacation indicates that it is a period of time set aside to give relief from the routine things and a time at which the vacationing person need not worry about the various issues that arise during normal working/living days. This includes maintaining/cleaning of the living premises, buying, storing and managing of daily essential items, worrying about food rom time to time etc. It is not just those who are employed, but also those in business or profession or even those who are enjoying their retirement days. Thus the concept of vacation is all pervasive and applicable to those who have regular working or business hours as well as those who have no work to do at all!

*****

"Vacation on Cruise" has a very interesting history. The first cruises are dated back to 1844 when trips to Gibraltar and Greece were offered from England. It is claimed that the first vessel exclusively for cruise vacations was built in 1900 by a German company. Thus cruise vacations are more than a century old. One of the famous Perry Mason novels centres around a cruise holiday trip Perry Mason takes from Vancouver to Los Angeles. "The Case of the Substitute Face" deals with a murder that took place on the cruise ship by pushing a man overboard. A popular serial aired during 1950s and 60s (can be seen even today on Amazon videos) on this episode shows many scenes shot on a cruise ship Westminster - Liverpool.

Cruise vacations industry has come a long way since then, especially in the last two decades. Luxury cruise ships provide wonderful packages that combine many adventures for attractive and bargain fares. The many advantages of vacations on cruises are encouraging more and more travellers to avail the benefits of cruise vacations.

*****

In the Indian context, understanding evolution of "vacation" is very interesting. Some fifty or sixty years ago, when we were children and studying in schools, most of the families had a number of children living under one roof. The idea of Family Planning, or Family Welfare, as is now known, was not existing then. Joint family actually meant generations of persons living together under one roof, unlike today's definition of joint family where husband and wife living together is sometimes referred to as joint family! Having a number of children was the norm for couples. Early marriages and marriage for life in the absence of divorces was another cause. Economic criteria was not relevant despite the fact that many families struggled to provide basic necessities to their children. After independence in 1947, Government of India laid emphasis on birth control to contain population explosion and the ministry taking care of Public Health was renamed as "Ministry of Health and Family Planning". Family Planning earned lot of notoriety during the Emergency period (1975-77) due to forced surgical operations to enforce family planning. After the Janata Party came to power in 1977, Shri Raj Narain who defeated Smt. Indira Gandhi from Rae Bareli constituency in UP became the minister of health and renamed the same as "Ministry of Health and Family Welfare" to make it appear more acceptable in those days. Small family norms became a mass movement in the society.  

The initial recommendation was for three children for a couple which got reduced to two in due course. Next generation further simplified it to one child family and the latest generation is tending towards no child family. A day may come when a group of families (couples) may decide to have one child for the whole group and share the expenses of raising the child as the popular opinion nowadays is that "Children are costly". Of course, same sex marriages which have now become legal will also contribute abundantly in this cause.

Fifty years ago, when the family head was finding that his earning was not sufficient to provide for the basic necessities to his dependents, the concept of going on a vacation was very far from his mind. Most of the women were not earning (they were working at home alright, but not paid) and did not have much say on various matters. They would have certainly loved vacations, but did know what a vacation was. At the most they would have extra work during school holidays when guests arrived for their holidays (not vacations)! The ideas of vacation remained only in the annals of the affluent and aristocratic families.

Improvement in service conditions for salary earners and development of small families helped enhancing the economic conditions of working people. Introduction of LFC/LTC in government and public sector undertakings brought the concept of vacations to more and more sections of the population. Leave encashment facility put more money in the pockets of families to take care of expenses when they went on vacations. Improvement in communication and transportation facilities made visiting far off places convenient and possible. Advent of computerisation and internet made access to knowledge of vacation sites easy and mobile phones brought this within the reach of common man. 

Development of hospitality industry bringing in good hotels, resorts and recreation facilities further enhanced enjoyment of vacations. Reduction in cost of travel and creation of budget travel apparatus has given higher fillip to vacationing. Even weekends have become time to go away on brief travel as many families own cars and those who do not own can hire them according to their economic status. Enhanced educational and employment opportunities have made members of families to live and work in different parts of the world. Traveling has become both necessity and easier. Family get-togethers  with going on vacation has become so common that one can hear people talking frustratingly about not taking any vacations for more than six months or a year! Organised tour operators are now giving end to end travel solutions with confidence that paying a certain sum of money will take care of all expenses on a given trip. Experience of those making such trips are spurring more uninitiated to plan for vacation travel.

*****

Options for Vacation on Cruise is to be viewed in this background. There are many popular cruise routes around the word. Modren luxury cruise ships provide fantastic amenities while vacationing on them. There are various options for enjoying vacations on cruise ships. A discussion on these areas will, however, have to wait for another day! 

Entire Life is a WASTE

We were visiting Vancouver, BC, Canada on 25th September 2011 and enjoying the scenery standing in front of downtown Canada Place.  A few minutes before 6 PM we heard some noise in the corner and went there to see the revelry.  Luxury liner "Diamond Princess" was ready for departure on a cruise to Alaska.  The huge luxury cruise ship was decorated with buntings and balloons and as she set on her journey at 6 PM sharp, we also joined the waving friends and relatives of the cruise going passengers.  The huge ship leaving the dock and majestically moving towards the sea was a wonderful sight.  Cruises to Alaska are available from Vancouver, BC and Seattle, WA, USA.  Some times one can get a last minute seat on the cruise to Alaska for 500 US dollars and cabins with better facilities are available depending on the capacity to pay.  These liners are floating cities and the facilities they have astound us.

Mid January 2012 was a sad period for cruise industry.  When I was watching News on the flight from Frankfurt to Bangalore, the visuals of a sinking cruise liner were being shown.  Italian Cruise Liner "Costa Concordia" was on a cruise in the waters of Tyrrhenian Sea just off Tuscan island of Giglio and hit a rock tearing a 160 feet long hole in her hull.  The ship owned and operated by Costa Cruises was named as "Costa Concordia" to signify the name of the company by the word Costa and "CONCORDIA" meaning the wish for "continuing harmony, unity and peace between European nations".  When it capsized, the ship was carrying 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew members.  Of the 4,252 persons on board, 4,221 were saved, including some Indians who arrived here after a week.  16 persons were dead and their bodies were recovered with another 16 reported missing.  An estimated 2,380 tons of fuel was still left in the storage tankers of the ship which is posing a great challenge in safe removal to avoid an oil spill in the Italian coast. 

The ship "Costa Concordia" was a six year old ship and cost 450 million Euro (about 2,850 Crore rupees).  The 17-deck ship had 1500 cabins, 505 private balconies, 4 swimming pools, a spa, 13 bars excluding coffee and chocolate bars, 3-level theater, a discotheque and a casino!  There were 5 restaurants with two of them were reservation only dining, meaning even in the middle of the sea and with limited passengers on board you have to reserve a seat for dining there.  But that is all history now and one has to go under the sea to see the ruins of these amenities.  Preliminary estimates have declared that it is a "Total Loss" in insurance language, meaning that the ship is gone for ever and cannot sail again.  There were complaints of life boats not being accessible or opening and the crew members not knowing what to do in the crisis situation.  Rescued passengers who arrived in India informed that they swam to the shore in zero degree Celsius freezing water.  Some of the dead were believed to have died due to inability to survive the freezing cold in the sea water.  Some might have died due to not knowing swimming as well.

When I heard of this tragedy, the first name that came to my mind was of Mihir Sen.  I was still a school boy when Mihir Sen was swimming in the seas and making news.  There was no Television in those days and Radio also was a luxury.  I was following his exploits by reading the newspapers and would wait for the arrival of the newspaper in our town municipality office library reading room every morning.  Mihir Sen went to England for a bar-at-law examination but the English Channel attracted him to swimming. He set many records for swimming in the seas and was the first Indian to swim across the English Channel in 1958. He covered the distance in 14 hours and 45 minutes and was awarded  "Padmashri" for this achievement in 1959.  Mihir Sen was not content with this and his love for swimming took him literally across seven seas.  In 1966, he swam in seven seas across five continents including  Palk Strait, Straits of Gibraltar, Straits of Dardanelles, Bosporus and panama Canal.  He swam despite the treacherous sharks in the Pakl Strait, between India and Sri Lanka. This achievement got him the "Padma Bushan" in 1967.

I had written a blog titled "Why poverty in words?' sometime back. (Click here to read "Why poverty in Words?")  A similar story comes to my mind now.  A Pundit had to cross a full flowing river to go to the other side and got into a boat.  The Pundit was very proud of his knowledge and would tease anyone less knowledgeable and he had plenty of them.  Once in the boat he asked the boatman, "Do you know Ramayana?'.  The boatman said he did not know.  Pundit said, "A quarter of your life life is a waste. Do you know Mahabharata?".  The boatman said he did not know.  Pundit said, "Half of your life is wasted.  Do you at least know Bhagavata?".  Boatman said he did not know that too.  Pundit enjoyed this and told the boatman, "Three fourth of your life has become a waste".  The boatman felt very sad that he did know anything and his life was wasted in ferrying people across the river whereas the pundit had so much of knowledge.  The boat had reached the middle of the river and the pundit wanted to ask one more question.  In the meanwhile there was a sudden flash flood in the river and the boat started sinking.  Despite his best efforts the boatman could not control the boat.  The boatman now asked the Pundit, "Do you know swimming?".  Pundit said he did not know.  "Your entire life is a waste" said the boatman, jumped into the flood waters and swam to safety.  The Pundit with all his knowledge was swallowed by the swirling waters.

Those aboard Costa Concordia and knew swimming escaped to safety.  Those who did not know swimming died taking all their knowledge and wealth with them.  It is advisable to teach swimming, cycling and driving etc. to children when they are young.  Remember the cyclists in the film "Great Escape".  Who knows when these skills can save their lives in future!