We passed out of Naval Academy Kochi in December 1980 and left on vacation to our Homes . I had started liking the bounty of nature and its serenity and we were to return to Kochi on number of occasions during our career being the Training Command. For our second phase of afloat training we were to report on board INS Mysore at Bombay! Time passed quickly among family and friends in telling my stories of woes and wonder and soon it was time for departure to Bombay!
Early January 1981 I boarded the famous
Bombay mail from Allahabad and this train remained my priority of innumerable journeys thereafter. We landed
at famous Victoria Terminus railway
station in the afternoon from various directions and the Gothic
architecture looked grand! The familiar three tonner was waiting for
us!
We entered the Lion gate at Colaba and the historical
Naval Dockyard greeted us. INS Mysore ( C 60 ) was about 9000 ton mighty cruiser 555 feet in length of second world war vintage and her glorious
days were behind her. It was secured at outer side of South break water jetty . It had
three huge six inch turrets with three guns each , four four inch guns with two
guns each , many anti aircraft guns ,
torpedo tubes and
looked Majistic even alongside . We got the taste
of its power when we would lift its ‘Six inch shells’ as punishment!
It
had pounded Goa in
1961 during Goa liberation and played a formidable role in 1971 operations when
it was the Flag Ship.
We were about 93 cadets including those from NDA (
National Defence Academy) who joined for their Navy phase after three years of
training and graduating. We were graduates already and so our total training
phase was one and half years. There was some initial period of confrontation . We from Naval Academy were more in number
and so they could not dominate us as was done earlier . They bore a sense of
superiority , rightful
inheritors they thought they were,
having undergone training and ragging for a prolonged period at NDA but we
considered ourselves no less having passed out from the portals of prestigious
universities and seen civil life . However, as we started
training together, playing together and dining together the differences diluted . Some of us became lifelong friends.
Since the ship was old and much of the machinery was
not functioning it was staffed thinly. For us it was ‘Alice in Wonderland ‘
moment as we would explore many unmanned compartments and there were enough
places to hide! It would be last of its
class in Indian Navy soon. The quarter deck was wooden and the wardroom ( officers’ dining
room) and the bar opened out to it.
where we would frequently be tasked to do ‘Holy Stoning’ ( scrubbing the deck with a ‘Holy stone’ and water) . Since we were an
unexpected large number the bunks and lockers were scarce and we had to share
and manage . Many of us slept in the open on the deck and in the morning our toes would be bloody ,
bitten by rats ! At first it was alarming but later, routine!
The duties assigned were in a roster system and some
of us would perform ‘Mess Men’ duties . A group of five to six cadets was
responsible to get the meals for the rest from the galley ( kitchen) and distribute .
The most attractive item was the sweet dish and specially ‘Gulab Jamuns’ during
lunch . On such days the team would surreptitiously remove some from the
container on the way and hide it to be savoured later . Adjacent to our Mess there were large number
of heavy duty toasters fitted against the bulk head ( wall ) of which some were
operational . We were provided the large 800 gm Brittania bread in good
quantity and would save it for our
evening and night time snack of crisp and warm toasts ! Some cadets managed
condensed milk tins and tinned fruit during ‘store ship’ , my friend Rajesh had
dragged one 60 kg sugar gunny bag next to his locker and this was his energy
supply for months!
Life was interesting, from the ship we would watch
many boats with tourists plying between ‘Gateway of India’ and ‘Elephanta
caves’ and I was reminded of the 1954 ‘Taxi Driver’ film song of Dev Anand
romancing Kalpana Kartik in a sail boat
near where our ship was berthed and ship
staff waving at them ! ‘ Dekho mane Nahin roothi Hasina na jane kya baat
hai’ .
There were
some unforgettable personalities in our course and one such was ‘Shekhu’ .
No barrier could hold him and the lights of South Bombay from a distance
beckoned him . He would ‘monkey crawl’ on the thick forward ropes of the ship
and thus escaped the duty staff and return late at night after roaming around
the Colaba causeway. Once on his return he was noticed by the duty staff but escaped on
benefit of doubt . Fear of relegation restricted his further escapades . But
then he would climb the ladder to GDR (
gun direction room) where the strong binoculars were still operational and
watch the activities in Taj Hotel !
The first
‘Liberty’ was granted to us on a Sunday after more than a month. However, our
first ‘Darshan’ of Colaba happened soon on reporting on Sunday morning during the first ‘cross
country’ . The route showcased us the grandeur of South Bombay as we passed
through Colaba causeway , Khusro Bagh, Sassoon Dock , Colaba Post office opposite to which the
famous actress ‘Nutan’ lived. The Afghan
Church , R C Church returning via Cuffe parade , Rafia Manzil . My friend
Rajesh Sareen was first , I as always
was in the last enclosure . Later I learnt that some cadets who were children
of Naval Officers climbed the ‘Double Decker ‘ No 3 to Navy Nagar and
somehow escaped the instructors placed enroute.
We looked for
opportunities to proceed ashore !Our unforgettable experience was participation
in a ‘Song and Dance Competition ‘ of the Command . A few including me were selected to represent the
‘Afloat Team’ . We would practice on board Vikrant in the afternoons and this
gave us opportunity to stay away from the ship . A domestic senior sailor was
our in-charge and we were famously called ‘Nautanki Party’ by
other cadets and one day we left the
ship early for final rehearsal and went
for the Matinee show at ‘Capital Cinema Hall’ opposite VT Railway station. On
the day of performance our In-charge had
got dinner packed for us from the ship and after the performance we relished the same
on the historical steps of the “ Asiatic Society Library ’ just outside ‘Bombay
Castle’ and opposite ‘Horniman circle’ .
Sometimes early
morning Admiral M P Awati the Commander – in – Chief who had Commanded
the ship earlier and was a decorated 1971 war hero , would be seen walking in
his PT rig without socks and made an
impressive picture with his white flowing beard , smart features and tall look
like an European Admiral of yore ! He
would walk up the ‘Gangway’ and say ‘Ek cup chai milega’ and the
duty staff would be alert from
experience and provide immediately! He appeared in a ‘Digjam suiting ‘ advertisement later.
Time passed quickly and our second phase of training days was nearing end
and the ‘Mid’s ( Midshipmen) Night’ with
music and cocktails was in our mind!
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