I joined Signal School at the naval base INS Venduruthy, Cochin, just before Christmas in 1969. This was to be a temporary assignment as I was standby to go to UK for a course for joining a Weapons Acceptance Testing and Trials (WATT) team for inspecting and accepting equipment for the Leander class frigates under construction at the Mazagon Docks, Bombay. However, in about a month we learnt that the Royal Navy had cancelled the Course presumably as the UK government was irked by India placing an order for buying ships from the Soviet Union. Consequently, my appointment at Cochin became permanent.
The Oic (Officer-in-charge) headed the School and I was third in seniority on the staff after the Chief Instructor (CI) and another officer. I was given the portfolio of W1 in the section for teaching Radio Organisation. The then CI who had risen from the ranks and the next officer had reportedly fallen foul of the Oic and were soon eased out and the mantle of CI fell on my shoulders. Not that the Oic thought much of me but with his modus operandi of having one smart and intelligent person as his aide and confidant who he had already picked before I joined the School, someone was needed for the unglamorous daily grind that went with the job of the CI. Actually, the designation of CI was a bit of a misnomer; the CI was more of an administrative head rather than that of training.
At this point, let me say that the Oic was simply the worst officer I ever suffered under! There was something wrong with the man; he was tall but he only used his height to look down on people; he would have been handsome if only he wore a smile instead of a perpetual scowl which PG Wodehouse would have attributed to dyspepsia. I heard him laugh occasionally but the laughter was derisive and not joyous. He was always bitter and sarcastic and never seemed happy and content.
The base at Cochin had two major establishments, Venduruthy and Garuda. While the former consisted of various schools for training, Garuda was the naval air station. Off working hours, the personnel at Cochin were kept busy with sports and cultural activities. Tournaments and competitions were held with Venduruthy fielding a team for each school and Garuda as one unit. This was quite unfair as it put the schools at a disadvantage firstly because of sheer numbers and secondly, the schools had a floating population with trainees coming and going while Garuda staff was stable. Garuda, therefore, used to win most of the competitions. Our Oic saw this as an opportunity to make his mark. He told Cmde RS Malia, CO Venduruthy, that Signal School would break Garuda’s monopoly. Thereafter, our entire effort was to build teams that would beat Garuda. I was tasked to get the best signals sportsmen from the Navy on our staff, if necessary on temporary duty for the duration of an event, and put them under intensive training and special diet for each competition.
As a result, the events became exclusively Garuda vs Signal School affairs. Competition was intense which would have been fine except that it often took a dirty turn with unfair practices and protests gaining priority over sportsmanship. ‘Win at any cost’ became the motto for Signal School and consequently for Garuda. A loss would incur the Oic’s wrath for long after the event while a win would be treated as routine.
On one occasion after a tense final, I went to the US Club to bask in the glory of a victory and have a drink. The Oic and his confidant were already in the bar. The former asked me in a taunting tone, “What are YOU celebrating?” as if the School win should be anathema to me !
I used to look forward to weekend golf at Bolghatti to unwind. I would drive in my Standard Herald to Ernakulam and catch a ferry to the island. To begin with, I was the only golfer from the Navy and my co-players were largely from the Cochin tea community. Later, Rear Admiral Vasu Kamath took over as Flag Officer Commanding Southern Naval Area (FOCSOUTH). He was a keen golfer and asked me to join him. The bonus was a ride in the Admiral’s barge to and fro instead of the earlier car and ferry routine.
Cdr L Ramdas was Oic Naval Academy. Adm Katari, his father-in-law and the first Indian naval chief, used to visit Cochin occasionally. He was also a golfer and we had many games together including one in which both the Admiral and Cdr Ramdas hit a British tea planter on the leg with their drives one after the other. Sure had the guy hopping mad!
Apart from golf, I had my pet Pomeranian Lucky to keep me occupied in my spare time and give me company at home - my cabin. Lucky’s popularity among children of the base earned me the sobriquet of ‘Lucky Uncle’! There was music, of course, and friends naval and teawallahs. I used to meet the latter quite often and remember Timmy Thimaiyya who used to sing Pankaj Mullick songs beautifully. Then there was Jani Uthup who bagged Usha Iyer!
Having learnt to tolerate Oic’s ways and with the School coming on top in most activities, I thought things were reasonably under control. Then came ACR (annual confidential report) time and Cdr Kewal Gulati, Secretary to FOCSOUTH rang me up and asked me what was going on between the Oic and me? I was taken aback by the question and he continued by saying that the Oic had given me a stinker of a report which totally surprised Adm Kamath. The latter had got to know me well and told Cdr Gulati that even if I had some professional shortcomings which the Oic could perhaps be the best judge of, overall I could not be as bad as made out in the report. He asked Cdr Gulati to return the report and have it rewritten. This was done and the report was considerably mellowed! I guess a lot of damage was averted although I feel that my non-selection of Staff College in 1973 was a consequence of this.
Mercifully, we had a change of Oic at the end of the year and Cdr SD ‘Clinker’ Karve took over. What an enormous relief it was. Clinker Karve was a cool, relaxed, pipe smoking officer, always smiling. He was a thorough professional who expected the best but gave a free hand for one to do the job and would not interfere unless absolutely necessary. Extra curricular activities remained important but not at the expense of professionalism and sporting spirit.
Life now proceeded smoothly and happily. Visits of ships from Bombay were looked forward to for meeting friends. These visits were also utilized for operational exercises. It was on one such visit that prompted Cmde Malia to come out with his ‘Romeo Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?’ quote which I have written about in my earlier post “Naval Operations And Exercises That Went Awry”.
In October 1971, I went to Bombay to take part in the Navy Golf Championship. On my return, I found a message from Cdr Karve to contact him immediately. I rang him up and he told me that I had been appointed Fleet Communication Officer of the newly formed Eastern Fleet and should leave for Vishakhapatnam the very next day. One had to change trains at Madras and en route I should check if Vikrant was in port in which case I was to board it there itself.
Fortunately, as a bachelor my worldly possessions were scant. I put everything in a box and a bedding and left behind my car, music system and golf set with a friend to be transported later. There were many contenders for Lucky who was finally whisked off by Vijay Prasada.
Next afternoon, I was 'beered' out by Cdr Ravi Sawhney and Kailash Kohli in the US Club and deposited in the train.
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