I am a Graduate in Marine Engineering from a reputed university in Manila. But the introduction doesn’t end here, a ‘sawla’ (dusky) skinny teenager from the small town of Jodhpur, Rajasthan, dreamed of studying in a foreign university with limited resources. I succeeded in the first part, got admission, and got a home loan to take care of the ‘resources’ bit.
However, the real struggle starts after college ends. My friends used to say “Bro! You can get a good placement easily, your life is set” which flattered me a lot. I requested for a professional license (called COC in maritime terms) from the Philippine government, which was accepted and then got permission to take the exam.
Before moving forward, I would like to say that Filipinos are most humble people that I have ever seen. After getting permission, I applied for the examination. However, the Maritime Authorities put a hold on not only mine, but the applications of five other Indians and over 100 other foreign nationals from countries like Nigeria, Bangladesh etc.
The reason for this was our nationality. According to the Maritime official’s, foreigners can’t take the exam and license from the Philippines without giving up their nationality. Ironically, these were the same officials who passed the advisory and wrote to the Indian Embassy stating that I could take the exam. Now, they are denying me the opportunity to do so.
As we all expect, Indian Embassy took note of it and wrote a letter to Philippine Government. However, after that, neither parties did anything to help us. Repeated requests to the MEA have not worked. However, I was able to talk our Member of Parliament Shri Gajendra Singh Ji Shekhawat and found him helpless too.
After three months of consistent follow up with the Maritime Authority, we have lost hope. Most of us fear that our career might end right here as our visa is about to expire.
Today, I wonder, was I wrong to dream?