THE STORY OF MY LIFE
Allow me to introduce myself and thanks for visiting my page
Hi! Thanks for visiting parani.org.
If like me you're passionate about shipping and sea stories, then we're on the same boat. You're in great company- let's share our experiences and insights, and expand our horizons in the process.
Allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Parani. I grew up in the lovely Andaman & Nicobar Islands which are a chain of 572 islands and rocks in the emerald waters of the Bay of Bengal. With the sea constantly as a backdrop, a love for ships and the sea was just natural for me.
I entered my career at sea at the age of 17, quitting my studies in civil engineering after a month when I realised what my true calling was.
I joined as a deck cadet, sailing on various kinds of ships for 3 years out of home at a stretch. I joined the ship as a fresh teen, and finished it a man in every sense, having undergone some rigorous time at sea, testing me to my limits, both mentally and physically.
After my cadetship, I became an officer and continued to slowly and steadily learn the trade. At the age of 24, I was suddenly the second-in-command of a ship as the Chief Officer, responsible for the safe loading, care and discharging of cargo, as well as the safety of the crew and the maintenance of the ship.
On one of my vacations, I learnt meditation because a cousin told me that if you mastered it well enough, you could do it with just 3 hours of sleep a day! More on that on my blog! Also during one of my vacations, I met and married a wonderful woman called Vidhya who sailed with me on my ships for the next 3 years.
Command of the ship for me came as a fulfilment of my childhood dream; when it came through, I was filled with both excitement on the occasion, and trepidation, on the huge responsibility I was undertaking. At the age of 29, I was the youngest ship captain in a fleet of 300 ships. I soon took to manoeuvring a ship like it was an extension of myself. I enjoyed every minute of my time on the ship’s Bridge. It was my ship! I would learn a lot of things about ships, and about myself during this period.
During my vacations, I did a variety of freelance assignments, assisting in berthing tankers at an oilfield, training at a nautical school, an examiner for ship’s crew and a marine advisor to a shipping company. I narrate some of these experiences and insights in my blogs. I could have been a ship captain forever!
Life had other plans though! One of my vacation endeavours, writing an exam for the Institute of Chartered Ship Brokers landed me the first position among all candidates worldwide. The achievement caught the attention of my company who invited me to head the Safety and Quality Department at the company’s headquarters in Hong Kong. My next 6 years in Hong Kong was an interesting period that transformed me from being a ship captain to a corporate executive. Most importantly, I got promoted to a father! The responsibility of such a position is immense. My job was to develop and implement the right strategies to ensure our safety management systems were robust and could deliver the desired results. It was an exciting period though there was also the share of accidents and operational issues which kept us awake for many a night. Safety Management is one of the most important controls in industries such as shipping, aviation, nuclear and chemicals, and I cannot stress enough the involvement of people in making it a success! Hong Kong is a nice place to live; I made several friends, learnt Kung-Fu, and was part of my Nautical Institute Dragon-Boat racing team.
Command of the ship for me came as a fulfilment of my childhood dream. At the age of 29, I was the youngest ship captain in a fleet of 300 ships.
Enjoy the books, videos, podcasts and blogs on my website. Safe seas and fair winds. Hey, and have fun!
A company restructuring brought me and my family to Cyprus where I am currently based. Here my versatility came to the fore again. I now was in charge of the Crewing & Training functions of the company, for over 8000 seafarers. The ability to interact with professionals from different countries, backgrounds and mindsets was a great learning experience. It gave me valuable insights into how people work when they are most vulnerable, and these insights gave me the idea for my book Golden Stripes. I currently work for an asset/fund management organization where I represent the owner's interests in marine-quality assurance matters. In short, I'm available on the phone 24 x 7 x 365 as many other maritime professionals are.
I do believe in practical experience is the best teacher but it is also important that such learning is augmented by formal education. While working round the clock in challenging roles, I managed to study for and obtain a Master’s Degree in Business Law (LLM) from De Montfort University and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Cyprus International Institute of Management, the Oxford Executive Leadership Program, and an NLP Practitioner’s Certificate. I also teach part-time at the Cyprus Institute of Management in the Bachelors in Shipping Management Course.
When I'm not working, I can be found in the nearby gym, on the yoga mat, or swimming at a nearby beach.
I would recommend you to subscribe to my blog and podcast so you get the latest updates when I upload them to the website. All views in my books, blogs, articles and podcasts are my own and are not to be associated with my employer. Neither do I get paid or sponsored for any of the content so you can be sure I'm not promoting anyone else's agenda. I do it because I enjoy the creative process and learning along the way. I hope, like me, you have an opinion on these matters and I invite you to send in your comments to my email.
This is my fun conversation on the popular #Ask Virardi show, about me and my books.
Safe seas and fair winds. Hey, and have fun!
