Down Memory Lane I -Fourteenth Course Tir Days

In July 1958 we, the naval cadets of the 14th NDA course, embarked  INS Kistna at Madras (now Chennai) for Trincomalee where we were to join our training ship, Tir. It was the first time we proudly put on naval uniform provided by the leading Bombay (Mumbai) naval outfitters of those days, M/s FX Fernandes. We were provided with 2 caps, one to be preserved for Ceremonials and one for daily wear. On the very first morning at sea, I was violently seasick and rushed to the shipside to let it all out. Flying into the sea went my new cap leaving me with only one all purpose cap till we got back to Bombay two months later.

Seasickness aside, Trincomalee was extremely welcome as by landing there, I proved wrong a palmist’s prediction that I would never go abroad. We transferred to Tir and sailed across the Bay of Bengal on a cruise to Singapore, still a part of Malaya (later Malaysia), other Malayan ports and Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). The seas were very rough and quite a few of us were seasick. How much I deeply regretted joining the Navy against the advice of my mother and grandparents! Many of us would put our food away. Bobby Bhandoola, God bless his soul, was sick too but that did not deter him from grabbing our share of breakfast!

This was our first trip to foreign lands and all of us had novel experiences from being swindled by money changers, shopkeepers and bar girls, to being pickpocketed. On the plus side, one highlight was a trip from Saigon to the Vietnam naval academy at Nha Trang by air which for most of us was a maiden flying experience.

By the time we sailed back to Bombay, we had more or less found our sealegs and begun to see the lighter side of sealife. Magoo Nehra (named after the cartoon character who was very short-sighted and wore thick glasses) was the 'Course jester’.  At the time of falling in for entering/leaving harbor, he would drive our bos’n  Mr. Chowgle, named 'joggle shackle' by us, nuts by imitating the ring of the sound-powered telephone from the Bridge. Mr. Chowgle would shout at us to man the phone but no one would move and finally he would angrily pick up the phone himself.  Mr. Chowgle couldn’t figure out why the phone kept ringing or why we wouldn’t attend to it and would punish us in frustration but no one seemed to mind!

We were also kept amused by the Gunner, Mr. Nooruddin, who had the habit of adding an ‘s’ to most words. A titter or two in consequence would also result in punishment but we were unrepentant!

There were a few attempts at ‘murder’ but thankfully none succeeded. On one occasion in harbor, Jai Misra, coxn of a motor boat, was having a tough day with endless trips. Finally, he got a little time off and was lying down to rest when Magoo, the duty Quartermaster, gave the call on the bosun’s pipe for another trip. Jai did not move despite a number of calls. Finally, Magoo blew the pipe and shouted “Away motor boat alongside” right into Jai’s ears.. This infuriated Jai who picked up the hand lead and line lying nearby and started chasing Magoo all over the ship. The pair made quite a sight with Magoo running for life being followed by Jai swinging the lead over his head. The tough man of our course, BB Singh, caught Jai and managed to calm him down!

On another occasion, PK Roy was teasing Vishnu Bhagwat with the nickname LSM (short for Long Tall Streak of Misery) we had given the latter because of his height, build and serious nature. Eventually, it got Vishnu’s goat and he grabbed PK by the throat and started throttling him! BB came to the rescue again by disengaging Vishnu’s vicelike grip before any permanent damage was suffered by PK.

Vishnu was involved in a few other incidents. In one of them, he was cleaning the shipside on a stretcher when Magoo lowered one end without the other being attended. Vishnu lost his balance and fell into the sea amid all the muck floating in the water. Then there was the time when due to miscommunication Vishnu, the bowman, did not let go the boathook of the FMB from the shipside while the Cox’n went astern. This left Vishnu hanging by the boathook till he plunged into the briny! Luckily, unlike me, Vishnu is a good swimmer.

We had a nightly ritual of Jasmel Gill (also called Jesus Christ because of his looks) and Minna (sometimes called Machchar because of his tiny size) Achreja fighting for a sleeping place. Somehow, Minna would always claim the spot where Jasmel spread his bedding, as his! He would keep pushing Jasmel till the latter reacted with a violent shove which would send Minna flying to the bulkhead. Minna would recover and the ritual would be played again and again till an arbritrator intervened to pacify both!

We had two Nigerians with us, Bekele Tilahoun and Lakew Berhane. The former was fun-loving  while the latter took life very seriously but had a difficulty with English language. On one occasion, we were being shown around the ship. Lakew was at the rear, and not catching the name of the compartment asked Mel Kendall, “Vath room is this?” to which Mel, never one to let go of an opportunity to pull someone’s leg, replied, “This is not ‘bathroom.”
Lakew, “ I did not say bathroom. I said ‘Vath’ room is this?”
Mel, “ I told you this is not bathroom.”
This exchange went on for sometime in increasingly angrier tones till they were at each other’s throat. Fortunately, both were equally strong and eventually separated but Lakew never got the answer from Mel!

Thus the seeds were sown for the blossoming forth of a future CNS,  CinC,  shipowner and other distinguished gentlemen!