12.1 Maldive Courage

“We were drifting on an open deck, waves rolling over the brim of the platform pretty much like the boat we went to Thora. Barely floating on the ocean, a choppy sea in the distance signalling an outlying danger. Wind in our faces, balmy in the sky and ninety percent overcast, its engine too loud. It was around four in the afternoon,” Mannan recalled how it began.

Farida brought all the members of Club Rehendi in the bed of a pickup truck. They climbed the ‘yard’ near the official jetty in the calm of the inlet harbour, amidst the island boats and fish, buried in the salty odour below Marine Drive. The girls wore casual clothes; maxis, skirts, bell-bottoms – high waist. Each carried a blue canvas bag and their kits. Each wore the golden necklace, bracelets, anklets and rings – all gold. Farida wore a black top with short sleeves and bell-bottoms, the golden necklace worn elaborately over her dress and hair done in a scrunchie band rather untidy.

“At that point I did not know which boat it was, we were moving very slowly. As we approached, I caught that ship lying lengthwise and facing west. An afternoon sun lit the face of the superstructure in midship and the castle in the aft. Main castle, they call the accommodation painted white and three times taller than the hull painted black with a narrow white stripe. Three cranes towering on its deck, two in the front and one in the back. A yellow funnel on the top with a red stripe.

“I believe work was going on,” he refreshed his mind, “because the booms of the cranes were hanging in different angles.

“Salt wanted me to join with them on this trip to the cargo vessel. We sat lunch with Muja, a friend of ours and an officer on the vessel. We talked about Bandiya and he thought about an ‘Entertainment Programme’ for his boatmates. And it came about quite unexpectedly within a week.

“As we came closer, I could read the name on the aft, MALDIVE COURAGE, and the flag. I dug into the bag of a dancer sitting next to me to see what courage looks like. She carried a small mirror, lipstick, cigarettes, nuts, dance costumes…things like that. When I looked up, we were very close. She grabbed my arm little scared and I was scared too. That is our courage.

“That dirty thing loomed on us like a rusty black wall. We were moving behind the cargo ship and straight lines grew more orbed. Getting closer, light switched out of the sky because we were in its shadow by the freeboard as we advanced from the starboard side towards a ladder and it looked like a five-storey building. The girl cried like a baby. She pissed to her pants. I didn’t know.

“We have seen ships all the time. She must have seen them too. But we can’t imagine how huge it was. In its actual size, four hundred and fifty feet long.

“When we coasted alongside the ladder, luckily, they engaged the side accommodation ladder with steps because other guests were expected too, we began to feel the bumps on the sea. Our little craft pitching all around like we sat on the wing of a flying aircraft…a real chance we could be thrown overboard. We can’t stand on it.

“Guys helped those screaming girls up that tall ladder. My goodness! There was a lot of crying. They were scared. I was behind the girl who pissed to her blue pants. Another girl dropped a sandal thumbing down the steps into the sea. The hurdle was the timing to grab that ladder. They keep telling us not to look below. Because of that they peeked and I did too. I caught a sensation of panic in my heels like losing strength. I was thinking, now, now, now, close your eyes, let go off your hands and drop down. It was a towering ladder, narrow, difficult, slippery and steep.

“They dropped a hoist from a crane to lift other apparatus, dancers’ gear.

“I believe it is Level 2 above the deck we landed on the ship,” he recollected, “the Casino Deck, I came to know a little later. Those girls were accommodated on the deck below crew accommodation. Three musicians, Salt, Farida and myself were on the upper deck, on Level 3, the Passenger Deck. Salt and Farida in S3 which was a Deluxe and I was in S9 on the starboard side.”

The girl who pissed to her pants was Mannan’s date. They were steered up the stairs to Level 3 by a cabin attendant who was a local boy, “This is Stateroom Three. Your cabin. Everything here is for you.”

“Thank you,” returned Mannan.

“This is cool!” cried Huda, “Air conditioned!”

“Look! We have drinks here!” he dropped his bag on the bed, “Shall we pour a drink!”

“I’ll get changed,” she picked a fresh towel from the linen placed on the bed.

By the entrance, on his right, stood a wall height louvered closet for cloth hanging, followed by a dressing table, mirror on the wall and base cabinets to the end. All white. A porthole on the far panel, a sofa beneath it and a coffee table by a corner. On his left, the bathroom and a double bed covered in white sheets and side tables. A carpeted floor, ceiling and wall panels white with framed pictures and a touch of beige to bring about shades. All draperies in matching tones, air fresheners and lit bright. Some books and glasses on the table.

Mannan reached for the minibar and opened to find it fully stocked. He grabbed the first one he touched and poured a glass.

“Can you believe it!” cried Huda coming out of the bathroom, “They decorated the cabin with flowers!”

“Yeah, this is thousand times better than a hotel room. What are we going to do now?”

“Afternoon tea at five, an hour acquainting and we get ready for the show. What are you drinking?”

“Have a sip!” he offered, “It is strong. Cog-neck!”

“Cognac,” she said, “It’s brandy.”

“How the hell do you know?”

She wetted her lips on the glass and ran a tongue passing it back to him.

“Where do you play?” asked Mannan.

“At the Casino,”

“Casino? Where is the casino?”

“Let’s go find out!”

He left the glass on the dressing table and both moved out into the corridor carpeted in dark green. Wall panels dark brown and ceiling white. They went down the stairs to Level 2 where they came across Farida with the dancers in the saloon – the Casino.

There were three entrances to this large hall. On the starboard side, third section of the floor contained a mahogany poker table with brass cup holes and chip racks. Middle section served an imbedded wooden floor where the dancers would gig. A carpeted floor around the wooden deck arranged with suites of chairs and tables. First part of the floor on the port side housed a half-circle counter and a bar stocked behind. Drinking glasses hung on a gantry above the bar counter, bells and lights on the ceiling.

A golden logo on the counter he perceived, ‘HW’ intertwined like holding two hands with fingers crossed. Wood panels and dark green carpet. Fully air conditioned and no portholes visible. Main entrance led to corridors on both sides, toilets for ladies and gents, officers’ mess on port side and a smoking saloon on starboard which became the dancers’ greenroom, verandas to the rear.