Norwegian Honeymoon?

Being an expatriate has its own shocks. While it may look glamorous residing in a foreign land for a length of time can cause severe hardship and many times one feels a sense of being buffeted in strong winds without an anchor to root you.
The incident of an Indian couple having their children being taken away from them by Norwegian Child Services Authorities is a great case in point. Anurup and Sagarika Bhattacharya lost custody of their three-year-old son and one-year-old daughter eight months ago after authorities branded their behavior inappropriate. While the authorities have remained tight lipped some of the reasons for this seemingly harsh decision are:
1. The children were fed by hand.
2. The children shared the parent’s bed.
3. The children were fed yogurt (curd) and rice.
4. The children were slapped on occasion.

None of the above would probably send a normal Indian into a tizzy and the issue has many Indian’s foaming at the mouth but Norwegian authorities view it differently. The parents have been told that they can only see their children twice a year, for an hour during each visit until the kids turn 18 when they will no longer be bound by the current restrictions under current Norwegian law. This prompted the Indian Government to intervene and the latest is that the kid’s uncle will take custody of the children and leave Norway with them. How that is a solution, is something that I fail to see.
Amidst this brouhaha one can sympathize with the Norwegians a tad. In a country with a declining population and despairing at poor birth rates, children are precious and might cause them to see fairly normal (as seen by Indian’s) parenting traits differently. However should Norway want to integrate itself into a flat and extended world and avoid bad press it would need to understand that people do things differently across nations and need to be accepted with their cultural traits?
Amidst this mess, it would be interesting to hear what support the Indian couple received from their employers, an American MNC in dealing with this trauma. Norway's Child Protective Service has come under much scrutiny in the past for excessive behavior in their handling of child cruelty. However that is how Norway is and expatriates and their masters need to sensitize folk setting up shop there.

Titanic Revisited!

Once in a while there comes a story, which sounds like a fairy tale, except for those who chose to be a part of it. The sinking of the Costa Concordia, a luxury liner, is one such story.
The ship floundered and sank a few days ago in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Tuscany.Off the 4200 people on board, thus far eleven are dead and twenty one still missing.
The ship's captain, Francisco Schettino, is under house arrest on suspicion of multiple manslaughter. He is also charged with negligence and sooner than latter will be for causing pollution. It is not be forgotten that Giglio is one of the most beautiful 'marinas' in the world.
Strangely, the Capt;, decided to stray off course and go close to the island to salute a friend! Incredible to say the least. Even more strange is that, when the ship went off her laid down course; the Head Quarters would have been alerted, if they had had an Automatic Tracking System (ATS ). What was their action?
After hitting rocks, floundering and shipping water, the Captain ( or an officer on the ships bridge ) calmly informs, the loacl coast guard, that the ship has had a black out ( generator shutdown ) and that they are trying to fix the problem.A similar message seems to have gone out to a terrified body of passengers on the Captain's orders.
As the ship keels over and is capsizing,the order to abandon ship is given and there is general confusion and a lack of command by the Captain. Apparently he has abandoned ship and fled the scene. Mistakes might be tolerated but this is sacrilege in the marine world. A Captain stays on board his sinking ship till the last person is safely out of it. In his defence the ship's captain, Francisco Schettino, says that he tripped and fell and when he awoke found himself in a life boat. That’s a story that a marine court might find hard to digest leave alone believe!

To add to the quagmire is a report that there was a woman (not part of the ship’s crew) on the bridge, when the incident occurred. The ships bridge is a restricted area and not an area for spectator sport. If this woman is identified, the Captain will be hard pressed to defend her presence on the bridge, particularly when he too was there on the bridge.
Ship Captains are process driven, so what caused this ( mis )adventure? My take is poor hiring and a lack of training. Being a commander of a cruise liner is serious business and requires serious people to do it and not gents like Francisco Schettino, who comes across as a gregarious, weak willed person who likes to take short cuts for a lark!
Like many industries the navy too faces a serious shortage of talent and unless pundits have a well thought out plan in hand we are sure to hear of more Concordia’s in the days to come.