Finding My Feet in the Navy

Although I decided to carry on in the NDA after shaking everyone, including myself, by the anxious one month at the beginning of the second term when I seemed determined to leave, I went through the remaining years till passing out like a robot without much feeling and interest. Cadet days on Tir were similar. Just as stomping my feet on the ground six inches from the air during drills at the NDA didn’t make sense to me, I could also not understand why, in Seamanship, it was necessary to get knotted up with all kinds of complicated knots which I couldn't tie for nuts! As far as I knew, banging the feet deadened the brain and why learn the sheepshank knot when there were no sheep on board!

Midshipman time on Mysore was spent in the same way. Our Course Officer, Lt Gulu Wadhwani, and I took an intense dislike for each other and he ended up by nearly failing me in Officer Like Qualities giving me 95/180 (Pass mark being 50%)! The officer we admired the most was the smart and efficient second-in-command, Cdr KM Nanavati. We were on board when he went on a short leave and shot his wife's paramour. We followed the famous trial anxiously day by day, shell-shocked and saddened.

Time came to continue our training on small ships and I was sent to Ranjit with two of my colleagues, Jayanto “Chow” Roy Chowdhry and BB “Munna” Singh. Perhaps it was the fact of separating from a herd and getting more independence and individual responsibility that resurrected my interest in the Navy. I enjoyed the stint on Ranjit and recall some impressionable officers like the XO, LCdr Fraser (later Chief Hydro), who worked hard, enjoyed his drink and was fun in the Wardroom where he introduced all of us to the bawdy songs of Oscar Brand! Another fine officer was Lt Mani Rawat. He was intelligent and meticulous with a beautiful handwriting which was a work of art. I never understood why he didn’t go far in the service.

Then came our Sub Lts courses. My performance in the courses boosted my confidence as I discovered that I could hold my own with the best of my coursemates.  After the courses I was transferred to Ranjit for my watchkeeping certificate. My Captain was Cdr Sirajuddin to whom I was beholden for saving my naval career earlier! He was a thorough gentleman and a sporting one. Once while driving to the dockyard, his Morris Minor broke down. Following him in his limousine was his Engineer Officer, LCdr Rajnish Bahl, husband of Nutan, the famous actress. LCdr Bahl stopped his car and offered his Captain a lift. After which the former asked, “Shall I put your car in the boot?” The Captain smiled.

To earn a watchkeeping certificate which was necessary to become a complete Executive Officer, one had to do a minimum of 3 months seatime as an assistant Officer of the Watch. I had completed two and a half months when I had to leave the ship and proceed to Venduruthy to do my Gunnery Course with the 16th Course as I had missed it with my own course due to a thumb fracture. I requested Cdr Sirajuddin if he could give me a letter saying that he considered me fit for the certificate after completing the minimum balance time required . He readily gave it to me with the result that I was given the certificate 15 days after I joined Mysore on completion of the Gunnery Course.

I had finally found my feet in the Navy!