What is it
that binds the Navy as an integrated service and a formidable Arm of the Armed
forces ? What is the glue which has held her so well since its inception and
rise as the guardian of our Seas , our Ambassador to the world and our insurer
of economic independence through the sea routes?
Each person
who joins the Navy takes oath on the ‘Constitution of India’ and affirms that
he shall protect the Nation even at the
peril to his Life! The Preamble states
four fundamentals -Justice, Liberty , Equality and Fraternity.
It is the
‘Fraternity’ which holds the Navy and plays the primary role in maintaining its Unity and Integrity! Fraternity flows like a pure river of
compassion and brotherhood in the veins of its personnel . As in the case of
the State so in the case of Navy fraternity is both the responsibility of the
Navy and the individual . And in Navy
all Officers and Men realize that it
would be ‘fraternity’ which would redeem them in the hour of reckoning and even
in day to day routine life. Phrases such as
‘Pull together’ and ‘ the strength of the cable is the strength of its
weakest link’ are perennially ringing . We are taught and learn early that it
is not the large seemingly formidable ‘Anchor’ which holds the ship but it is the
cable of many fathoms holding the anchor and lying at bottom of the water , which holds it.
Fraternity is a progression and is built and
cemented over a period . The first place is the Training establishment
where we arrive from all over India and the first visible symbol is the
uniform we wear . White uniform by all personnel and other uniforms as prescribed for the occasion . We train
together, run together ,march together, eat together , remember our homes
together get collective punishment even for fault of an individual so that we remember that we sail together and
sink together. The first bond is of life long ‘course mates’ as we move to
various ships . This concept of
‘uniformity’ invokes ‘uniform perception’ and differences are reduced.
Fraternity
is instilled over a period when we do collective activities such as evolutions
at sea , sports and games . Officers and sailors are in one team playing
against the team of the other ship . We cheer for our teams , we are dejected
in its defeat and rejoice together in victory. We dine together on many
occasions and partake the same food . We have family get togethers and picnics
. And periodically after a long sailing
, on ship’s anniversary , sometime on transfer and retirement of key personnel we
drink together and these occasions are when one opens out . Some discontent
which may be simmering is revealed and
a feedback is received – ‘Hum Nevala ‘(
same food) – ‘ Hum pyala’ ( same drink )
is an age old tradition of the Armed forces .
The ship life opens a ‘New World’ . We make
‘ship mates’ on account of the fact that
we have served together on board . We move from ship to ship and make new mates
. Serving on board is a matter of pride and honour and the experience and
loyalty remains for ever . In our conversation of Navy we always talk about our afloat appointments as we know
that Navy is Ships! All shore organizations and even Naval Headquarters serve
Ships and their purpose and policies are
for Ships.
Our Aim on
board is to do good for the ship , to endeavour to contribute in seeing the
ship achieves its tasks and missions . We may be of different departments but
perform collectively, various slogans of the ship help us in our zeal and
enthusiasm such as ‘Vijay Vijay Ranvijay’ for warship Ranvijay a destroyer and
‘ Veer Veer Ranvir’ for Ranvir and such others.
Working together for long periods at sea , imbibing the Navy culture and
vocabulary strengthens our bond and the spirit of comradery .
Traditionally
and with purpose the Armed forces were kept insulated from civil society and
Navy too lives in its Naval areas which is restricted and so it helps in
contributing toward fraternity.
The spirit
of fraternity is such that that the children of Navy personnel prefer to remain
in Navy . I have witnessed cases where Navy children have joined companies such as TATA and Infosys with respectable pay and
perks but left it within a year as they found the atmosphere not congenial and
they missed the wholesome work and play
culture of Navy as they had witnessed .
We were from distant places when we entered Navy but our children were ‘Navy children’ and Navy was their ‘Home’ .The wives are connected through
their Navy wives association and the
children connect through Navy schools . Therefore as we raise our family our relationship with
our Navy is further strengthened by
family members. In many cases
officers and Men would like to leave Navy after pensionable service but are
stopped by the family members as they do not want to leave their friends and
society.
The Navy personnel over a period realize that their new family was ‘Navy’ having spent considerable time with
ship mates and colleagues . In large number of cases people spend more time with Navy than with their parents and original home . This indeed
happens in large number of cases . I joined the Navy when I was 21 years and
stayed for 36 years.
Once a
corporate executive who was visiting our Command Headquarters for a
meeting asked me as to what was the source of motivation of our men and
officers? what keeps them together ? Without much musing I stated that money
was not our motivator as we were not in the business of creating monetary
profits and fat balance sheets . Our
motivator and binder was the fact that
we provide a sense of security to the Nation and take pride in it . It was reported in the newspapers recently that
according to a survey conducted by Ipsos Global Trust 71% Urban Indians
consider Armed Forces to be the most Trustworthy profession.
Many streams
flow within the service. Regional leanings, Sainik school spirit, NDA( National
Defense Academy ) links, RIMC( Rashtriya
Indian Military College, Dehradun) group
, Branch loyalty etc. But all these streams mingle into that broad river of
togetherness and all encompassing the Navy in whose cause all differences are
set aside. Navy may be having
certain shortcomings , grievances regarding appointment , promotion,
local issues etc as all services have
but it makes up for it by continually
fostering ‘Fraternity’ !
Deep inside
every Naval personnel has this feeling ,
‘an idea’ which he cherishes and nurtures that he was here for a ‘Higher Cause’
a ‘Lofty Aim’ , ‘ A Mission’ to protect his country in the hour of crisis and
need! It is maintained by what is famously called ‘Esprit de corps’.
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