Neil Bruider, 65, is busy giving final touches to Man Pavan, his 150-year old sailboat which he has made up for his dream journey.

Bruider, a pipeline technician and ship builder, came to Anjanwel in January 1995 with four colleagues to work at the Enron site as a technician attached to Bechtel International. Surveying the valleys of Anjanwel, the village standing guard to the Dabhol creek since the Maratha era, Bruider came across a ship anchored on the sands of Anjanwel.

Forgetting his surveying and his job repairing bulldozers and excavators, Bruider eyed the ship longingly. Built in 1861, the ship owned by Shamshuddin Chougule of Anjanwel was being used for transporting tiles. Bruider made up his mind and purchased the boat.

By the time Bruider startedworking on his prized find, the anti-Enron struggle had gained momentum and officials working on the project site were instructed by Bechtel not to leave the site. Bruider, however, did not pay heed to the directives from the company.

He was fascinated by the ship and he kept visiting Anjanwel. Finally, his seniors decided to relieve him. He was asked to resign and leave the project site.

Refusing to budge, Bruider managed to get visitors' visa and made it back to Anjanwel with a strong desire to accomplish his dream.

Why was Bruider attracted to the ship? Bruider says that he had not come across any other old ship built of teak wood. Though the ship was a one and half centuries old, it was modern in design.

When he bought it, the ship was just a body of teak wood. With two local carpenters assisting him for three long years, he transformed the ship into a houseboat. The required material was brought from America and England.

Bruider named his dream boat Man Pavan, which proudly displays theIndian tri-colour and the national flag of United States of America. According to Bruider Man -- human mind is not only heart, but something much more than that. ``It is my dream to take Man Pavan to my house in Michigan. I don't have enough money to take it with the help of the engine. Hence, I will be taking it with the help of sails. First to Oman from Anjanwel in ten days, and then to America,'' Bruider said. The journey would take six months.

Confident of building and repairing any machine, Bruider is presently staying in a rented house filled with ship building material. Bruider recalled having made a bronze dagger while he was posted in South Africa which was brought by an industrialist for about Rs 3 lakh.

He has also constructed a huge wooden house at his 100 acre farm near Michigan. ``No cement concrete has been used for constructing this house which is balanced on 20 pillars each weighing 10 tonne. Even a bulldozer can't damage it if it is rolled over,'' Bruider said. According tohim, it is God's gift to him. ``I can build any vehicle, except for its tyres and windshield,'' he said.

What drives him to do all this and for whom? In 1971, he lost his wife and two children in a car accident. Now, nobody lives in his huge house. Yet Bruider does not feel lonely. According to him, will power is an important which goads one to accomplish, keep busy and helps to overcome all calamities, he adds with a blend of philosophy.