A LUNCH TO REMEMBER

 

As part of ‘Swarnim Vijay Parv’, a festival commemorating the golden jubilee of the glorious victory of our Armed Forces in the 1971 War, the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) hosted a lunch on 16 December for naval officers who were part of the action, and their wives. Akhila and I were invited.

As we walked in, wondering how many veterans I would meet, I sighted an old man (by which I mean older than me!) sitting on the sofa. After all these years, he would not have been easy to recognise but fortunately, I had received a few WhatsApp messages about him recently including his photographs. He was Vice Admiral SH Sarma who was the Eastern Fleet Commander during the War. He entered his 100th year on 1 December and I never expected to see him as he is a resident of Bhubaneshwar, Odisha. But the CNS persisted on his coming and he graciously accepted and came accompanied by his younger son, Navin, and daughter-in-law.

I went up to greet him and started introducing myself. He cut me short saying “I know who you are, you are Ravi Sharma and you were my Fleet Communications Officer. I remember you were also part of our minesweeping effort. After the War, you went to Staff College and stood first in the Course.” 

I was astounded at his memory particularly the last bit as Staff College rankings are not usually disclosed although Cmde JG (Podgy) Nadkarni, then Chief Instructor (Navy) and later CNS, had hinted at that during my final interview at the College.

I was absolutely delighted to meet Admiral Sarma and we chatted for a long time recalling the War and Vizag days including his later stint as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command when I was commanding Katchall. He then presented me his autography, “My Years At Sea” and a bunch of picture post cards with photos of himself and ships he had commanded.

Sitting with him was Commodore Inderjit Sharma who had commanded Nirghat, the missiles of which sank the Pak destroyer Khaibar, the minesweeper Muhafiz and a merchant ship besides setting a few Karachi harbour oil tankers on fire. He was awarded Vir Chakra for his actions. Inderjit and I were neighbours in Bombay during the ‘80s and his charming wife, Rekha, taught Ruchir in Cathedral School and remembered him fondly.

Then there was Rear Admiral SK (Gigi) Gupta, Squadron Commander INAS 300, who right at the outset of the War on 4 December, led the Seahawks in air attacks on Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong. I remember the anxious moments on board Vikrant during the first time they were in the air. All of us on the carrier were overjoyed when they returned safely and the air handlers garlanded Gigi as soon as he alighted from his Seahawk. He was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.  

It is worth recalling that Gigi Gupta and Inderjit were the first in their respective sectors to carry out attacks on Pakistan, Gigi with air attack in the East and Inderjit with missile attack in the West!

Among others, there was Cdr RK (Rocky) Mehta, Signals Communications Officer, Vikrant. He and I worked closely during the War and he was most co-operative and helpful to me during those days. As he is a resident of Delhi and an avid golfer, we have played a lot of golf together including a game in which he was attacked by a bird much like in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie!

A lady walked up to me and introduced herself as the daughter of Cdr Kulbhushan (Ustaad) Sood. Ustaad was the First Lieut on Vikrant, a champion golfer and my mentor and senior companion in my early years of golf. In the days before the War when we were lying off the Andaman Islands with time on our hands, he had rigged up a net on the quarterdeck of Vikrant where we could swing a club and hit balls with all our might without causing any damage to the ship or losing a ball.

Among serving officers, I met some who had just entered the Navy in my final years and remembered me. Vice Admiral Adhir Arora, Chief Hydrographer, recalled his time as Midshipman on Trishul in 1985 when I was commanding the ship. He said he cherished the memories of those days and they had a great time on board besides learning a lot.

It felt nice to know that at least for some, I am not 'that easy to forget'!