From old diary jottings. I joined the navy fifty five years ago on 4th August 1959. It is not possible for me to project myself back to the mindset of a twenty three old embarking on a new career adventure. Fortunately, there is a fallback- the diary I have been maintaining. Here are some extracts from the old tome. QUOTE August 2 1959- Arrived at Ernakulum station and met by my cousin Viji. He took me to their lovely home at Perumanur facing the backwaters, a beautiful wooden house facing the water with a boat shed housing a canoe for excursions in the river and fantastic greenery. Greeted by my elderly uncle, aunt and their daughter- in-law, Hema. Her husband Desi a practicing lawyer had gone to the court and came in the evening. Went with them to the main market of Ernakulum in the evening, and bought miscellaneous stuff There is an impressive department store called Chakkolas which seems to stock everything. August 3rd- Relaxed, fussed over by my aunt. Treated like a hero for my joining the Forces. Went round the neighborhood. The city is verdant and green. Heavy monsoon rains. Could not sleep at night, wondering how the future will be for me in the Navy. I had defied my father who wanted me to go to MIT Boston and joined the service. August 4th- Viji dropped me at INS Venduruthy. Completed the joining formalities in a haze . Tailor took measurements for uniforms. Shown my cabin and met the ward boy. Met my classmate Kamath joining the corps of constructors along with me. We were to be in Cochin for a much reduced B & D exposure and were teamed with direct entry electrical officers. The batch consisted of RV Singh, Badve, Pawnday, Hariharan, Narayan Rao, Nair, Agarwal, Rajan, Kohli, Hariharan and Srivatsa (whom I had met a month earlier at MH in Pune.) Rajan, Kohli and Agarwal were from IIT, one year junior to me. A few were already in uniform having joined the navy in their final year as university entry. They were already senior to us! August 5 to 27- The three weeks passed in a haze. Getting used to shorts and shirts, No 8 uniform. Had a miserable time in the parade ground with the GI asking me to run round the ground all the time! Rowing was hell. We developed blisters. Dog tired at nights. A S/LT Lewin tried to rag me and Kamath but did not get anywhere. We were guilty of a major faux pas. No one told Kamath and me, what ‘Dining out’ meant. When told we were being dined out, we thought there was no food for us in the mess and were walking towards Woodlands for dinner, when a search party collected us and took us back to the mess We were ragged like hell at dinner. Hiding my misery, I am showing off to my relatives in Perumanur. They think I am smart, handsome and a hero, Badly needed the reassurance after the buffeting I get at the base. . We still have not learned to salute properly. We dart under cover whenever we see a senior officer approaching, to avoid saluting. This cannot be a long term solution! August 28- 29- I went by train to Coimbatore, leaving for Mumbai next day by rail. We took our mother to a movie starring her favorite Vyjayantimala. ( I did not know then that was the last time I would be seeing her. She passed away a year later, when I was at Greenwich. I could not even attend the funeral.) UNQUOTE POSTSCRIPT Time has flown. The beautiful Perumanur house was demolished a few years later for construction of the Cochin Shipyard. My uncle, aunt and Desi have passed away. Hema lives in Chennai and Viji is in Bangalore. Srivatsa, Kamath and Agarwal have passed away. Narayana Rao became a VA and COM. Kohli went to DRDO and retired as a VA. Roy retired as a rear Admiral. Badve left early as a commander and set up a thriving industry. He lives in US now. I am in touch only with RV now. He had gone round the world, Naaru, Jamaica and Kabul and now lives in Delhi. He is a member of our group. All of us are in our seventies. I am a grandfather now, with a grandson working as an engineer, granddaughter at MIT to compensate my giving it a miss and a eleven year old Grandson. All are in the US along with my kids. Life is unpredictable. C’est la vie!
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 04:07:46 +0000
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