Vasantha was on board a ship called ‘S.S. Rajula’. She was travelling to Singapore, after her stay with her grandparents. She spent the day exploring the ship. It looked like a big house. sdThere were furnished rooms, and swimming pool, a room for indoor games and a library. The next day morning, the captain announced that they had received a message about a storm in the Indian Ocean. Most of the adults panicked. But Vasantha was excited about it. She remembered 1 her class teacher telling them in class about a big storm. The teacher was on her way to Singapore.
Due to the storm, the ship rocked to and fro. Everything in the cabins rolled up and down. This 1 incident, which was told by her class teacher, made her imagination run wild. She thought it would; be fun, if the storm broke when they had lunch. It would be a merry-go-round to all of them sitting on the chairs.
In the evening, a strong wind started blowing. The ship rocked to and fro. Huge waves were dashing against it. She noticed a man vomiting over the rails and looked rather blue about the mouth. A huge wave lashed the ship and the man tumbled over the railings into the wild sea. Vasantha shouted to save him. The captain heard this and sent the rescue team officers to save the man. Two life-boats moved towards the man. The captain was watching the rescue operation through a pair of binoculars. Vasantha could not see what was happening, as the boat was too far for her. But the captain was giving a running commentary to Vasantha.
The ship had dropped the anchor but was rising up and down. The two sailors caught hold of a rope. One of them tied the rope around his waist. With the man between them, the sailors swam back to the life-boats. The boat headed back to the ship. The ship’s doctor was ready at the railings with two nurses and a stretcher. The man was given immediate attention to improve his condition. A nurse told Vasantha that he was saved and would regain consciousness after a few minutes. The capt ain called Vasantha to his cabin and gifted her with a beautiful model of a ship. On it was inscribed “B.I.S.N. & Co. S.S. RAJULA.” She felt happy. She hugged and kissed the captain. She proudly showed the present to everyone. She was the happiest person on board that day.