Lanka’s trending pandemonium

SUNDAY PUNCH 2

Consider the present scenario in a nutshell. An intransigent captain determined to stay at the wheel unto the last with an equally intransigent Chief Mate bent on weathering the storm, come what may. The staunchly loyal second and third mate along with first deck officers, responsible for navigation and safe passage, have all been thrown overboard. In their stead, deck cadets or nautical trainee navigational officers, and deck ratings used mainly for mooring and cleaning jobs, including whitewashing, have been recruited as the new deck officers.

Outside the captain’s bridge, the passengers have emerged from their cabins and are staging a mass protest, demanding the captain and his chief mate to walk the plank and surrender the wheel. Below in the galley, rises the mutinous cacophony of the crew clamouring to take the wheel.

The beleaguered captain, still stubborn to stay at the helm, has dispatched an SOS for help but only after the ship had hit the rocks and sprung unpluggable leaks in its hull. Rats, which had furtively fed and grown fat on the sumptuous cargo, had listened to its instincts and jumped ship to swim to foreign coasts. All are certain that the raging storm tossed waves will soon wash them all down with ship.