I always wanted to change my country and help my society. That is why I wanted to pursue a career as a police commissioner.

In 1992, I got a chance to study in Ukraine. The process was easy and very soon I was at the airport saying goodbye to my family. I was highly ambitious and motivated and was excited to land in the country of my dreams.

Due to poor weather conditions, our flight landed in Finland. We spent a night there and left for Moscow the very next day. From Moscow, we took a train to Odessa. It was October 1992 when we stepped into the charming city of Odessa. The city was beautiful, the people were good and the energy of the youth was there with me. All felt like a dream come true.

With the help of courses and friends, I learned Russian in a brief time of 3 months only. I also got acquainted with few girls during this time period. From there, I got distracted from my studies and started getting lower grades. I felt like my dream of earning a degree was falling apart. I was even unable to fly back home and most of the money got wasted on partying.

During that, one of the seniors approached me and showed me a way to join the Odessa State Maritime Academy. From there my whole life changed and I finally found myself on the right path.

After passing through tons of hurdles and challenges I finally reached the Maritime Academy. I decided to keep my path straight and not indulge myself with girls and partying anymore. However, I passed through a lot of financial crises and tough situations were many friends supported me and directed me towards better opportunities. One of my good decisions during this time was to join a maritime company where my life changed. The company even paid my 5th-year fee at the academy. Brick by brick, things got better for me until I finally got a chance to step into Ph.D. and stay in Ukraine for a longer time.

In 1999, I went back to India and visited many companies. Unfortunately, there weren’t any opportunities waiting there for me as no one was ready to hire Ukrainian seafarers until Pelican Marine gave me hope. I am still grateful to Capt. Partho who gave me a chance to set my feet in the business.

I am very glad today that Ukrainian seafarers are finally accepted globally and I am working with all my energy to change this mindset that the world has about Ukrainian seafarers. There are 100’s of issues that were facing me still and I had to find a way out!

To know more of my journey and the hardships I faced in between, stay tuned for my book “My Adventurous trip to Odessa” that will be launched on the eve of my birthday in November. Cheers!