It is different. Mhadei the book and Mhadei the boat. Lynn speaks in her author notes on her first encounter with the boat. ‘Mhadei herself was mute. Yet she spoke volumes. She always has. She left me in no doubt that I would have to tell her story someday, as someone who has nothing to do with her whatsoever, whose life does not depend on her, who has no need to earn from her, who does not and will never know how to sail her’.
Yes, in the book Mhadei, the mute Mhadei gets a very expressive voice of Lynn. She speaks about her birth and voyages, her friends and partners. You read the book, and you realise it is born out of passion, love and deep commitment to the centre of the subject- Mhadei- the most celebrated of the Navy boats. One that has clocked more than 1,25,000 nautical miles and gone around the globe many times. One which helped the Navika Sagarparikrama team learn the ropes and practice in the ocean before the all-women team did their around-the-world in Tarani.
This beautiful 52-page autobiographical book Mhadei by Lynn de Souza has been a welcome change from the series of books I have recently read.
I picked it up because Lynn de Souza was the author. I now know Mhadei a bit more, and I have Lynn to thank for that. It is some 35 pages including 5 picture pages and 5 pages of quotes. A short flight read—a one-sitting read.
MHADEI IS ALL SMOOTH SAILING!
Lynn almost lyrical writing style is very soothing and relaxing to the mind.
‘I exist because of water. And I will die because of the water. Unlike humans who are not made to live in water, but can still do so with the right equipment, I am guaranteed to die of drowning should this water that gives me motion on the outside were to start flowing unchecked into my inside. Perhaps this is that firm boundary that makes us a true partnership. Perhaps water knows that I am as resourceful in using it to travel around the entire earth as I am in resisting its continuous attempts to get inside my body’. Page 17.
Here is a short paragraph. It is some deep. A reservoir of expressions and emotion. A culmination of an affair. Reads like an initiation of a ritual.
‘January 23, 2009. It was the Builder’s birthday. He had built many types of boats and ships but had never ever even sat in a sailboat in his life. Yet he bravely took on the overwhelming task of building a boat that would embark on the most difficult of all voyages ever undertaken by an Indian. His birthday gift was my first sail’. Page 18.
SKILLED WRITING.
How rich the book is. How well Lynn is devoted to telling the story of Mhadei. Read this example.
‘ I call him the Sailor, even though professionally he is a pilot. He is as great a lover of the wind as I am, for he has an understanding of its personality that only an aviator can have. He loves to say that he sails his plane and flies his boat, and knows that there is nothing lighter yet heavier than air. My sails became like the wings of a bird when his skilful hands were working the sheets’. Page 28. And immediately after that on Page 29. ‘While the Guru commanded and I obeyed, the Sailor allowed me more freedom. He was well aware that there were places I had been to and situations I had lived through that he had never experienced, so he often deferred to my desires. As a result, I frequently got to choose my speed and direction so that we could reach places of geographical significance exactly on dates of historical consequence’.
LOVED EVERY BIT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
To the numerical inclined, here is a small part of the Mhadei voyage. And I love it. It sounded like the accountant in my book- Chimera of Lansdowne. Obsession with numbers. Debatable for the 12 second part of the statement but yes, there is this detail.
‘We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn at 12 seconds past the 12th minute of the 12th hour of the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012! Having tasted my first well-timed and placed event, we plotted the next one for New Year’s Day when we crossed the International Date Line so that we could celebrate it twice. Later on, in the voyage on our return, we celebrated the Sailor’s 34th birthday at 34 degrees West, Valentine’s Day at the Prime Meridian, and crossed the Equator on the Spring Equinox. On my 4th birthday, we waved past Mauritius at 4 degrees West, and it was also the island’s national day. Friends of the Sailor, who served in their coastguard, gave us a joyful flypast’. Page 29.
FINAL POINT.
Go ahead and pick the book. Mhadei by Lynn de Souza on Kindle. At INR 299- it does seem steeply-priced- but is available under Kindle unlimited. Also initially and from time to time, it is available for free download. But, would request for a change get on to a journey—the life of the highly decorated boat- Mhadei and pay the journey charges of INR 299.
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