The old song goes, "Something old, something new, something borrowed and blue" which, in the context of my recent visit to Cochin, I would change to, "Something old, something new, something altered, it's true". Expected, as I was visiting Cochin after 53 years.
That applied from the word 'go'. Our official destination was Kochi, not Cochin. And our aircraft did not land at the INS Garuda airstrip inside the naval base as it used to, but at the Internartional Airport, 40 kms. away from the base. As you get out of the airport building, huge neon signs of Florida and Santa Monica Hotels stare you in the face from just across the road and you realise that you are on new ground.
Arriving at the naval base secured by huge gates instead of the tiny one of the old days, Akhila and I were subjected to a thorough scrutiny even though we had passes that had been handed over to us on arrival. Reminded me of a story told to me by late Vice Adm SP Govil, when he was a Lt Cdr. He was entering the base in his car when he was stopped by the security guard. He was taking his identity card our of his pocket when the guard waved him on. Cdr Govil asked him why he didn't wait to see the card. The guard replied, "Aapka expressun theek hai." Now our expressions did not matter.
On our drive to the Mess, I noticed that while, of course, the geography of the base remained the same, a lot of new structures have come up starting with a swimming pool to the left and a shopping complex to the right, just as you enter the base. The training schools are in their original buildings which have been expanded and renovated. One exception is the Gunnery School which has moved out to "Dronacharya", a new complex at what was just a small Naval Battery in Fort Cochin (it will always be Cochin for me) in the old days.
Some other major changes. HQ Southern Naval Command is now housed in a new complex while Venduruthy has an expanded office where the original Gunnery School was. On the channel side of the road is the new Naval Ship Repair Unit (NSRU) occupying a vast space. Ships can be berthed alongside on the South Jetty instead of tying fore and aft on the buoys of the destroyer trots on the other side of the Ernakulam Channel. The trots used to cause embarrassing moments for Captains particularly if their ships came in at high tide in which case they had to turn 180 degrees. A story I recall is of the tug Hathi which was carried by the tide to collide with the Ernakulam Bridge. The Captain was court martialled during which he was asked where he was at the time of collision. He replied, "On the bridge", whereupon the prosecutor questioned, "Which bridge, ship's or Ernakulam?"
As we passed the parade ground, we saw a big building, Netaji Block of the NSRU where the old cinema hall used to be. I was reminded of the incident in 1960 when Cdr Malia caught Bakshish Singh and me and a Lieut from a visiting US ship, each of us with a glass of whisky in our hand, making our way merrily to the old US Club near the Mess. We were threatened with dismissal from service but were helped by fate with Cdr Malia having to go on leave for some domestic urgency.
We were put up in a VIP suite next to the Command Mess. This is an area which has undergone major changes with a number of new multistorey buildings for accommodation. However, I was pleased to see that the old shacks where I stayed in 1967-68 to do my Long C course and in 1970-71 as Chief Instructor in Signal School, still exist.
A story for each of the cabins. My cabin during the Long Course was near the new gym centre, Fitopia, which is where the old US Club used to be. Viji Malhotra, doing the course with me, was staying across the road. One day, he told me that his bearer was stealing whisky from a bottle and replenishing it with water. I asked Viji how he knew? He said that to catch the bearer, he had screwed in a tiny hair in the bottle cap and went out. On return, he found the hair missing confirming his suspicion. From then on, I have always addressed Viji as Bond, James Bond.
In 1971, my cabin was on the road to the Mess. One evening, I was listening to Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite" on my record player when there was a knock at my door. It was Capt Malia, then CO Venduruthy, who said he had heard the music while driving past and came to see who was playing it. Apparently, he was very fond of Western classical music and took a number of LPs from my collection to tape at home. From then on, the Captain and I were on the best of terms. Of course, he had forgotten our earlier 'drink' encounter!
The next few days, we went about exploring Willingdon Island, Mattancherry, Fort Cochin and Ernakulam. We made an auspicious start as on our very first outing, we saw three well-decorated and painted elephants heading for a Puja. We followed the elephants and witnessed the famous Kerala ritual with musicians beating drums and blowing horns at the Ganesh temple at the Cochin Port Trust gate.
All the places were brilliantly decorated and illuminated and full of large crowds due to holidays for Christmas and New Year. We had company as my cousin Reeta, Vinnie Mama's daughter and Sanjay, her husband, were still in Cochin winding up after the latter's retirement from Bharat Petroleum. They were often accompanied by Reeta's mother, my 90 year old Mami who, thank God, is still active and keen to participate in all outings. Coincidentally, my cousin Sharad, Mansi's elder son, was also visiting from Australia with his daughter Shaumyikya and her husband, Ben, who had come from New York. So we had representation from three families of Pitaji and Mataji's four children. Among many meetings, we had a joyous singsong session at Reeta and Sanjay's place.
All of us got together to celebrate New Year's Eve at Bolgatty Palace. Bolgatty Island, which previously was accessible only by boat, is now linked to Ernakulam by a wide road which extends all the way to Vypin and Cherai beach, 40 kms from Cochin, where, later during our stay, we spent a pleasant evening having high tea and watching the sunset with Mamiji, Reeta and Sanjay. Sadly, the golf course at Bolgatty is no more although they have preserved the tee boards to remind one of the old Course. I did see the tall palm tree that caught my ball on two successive days in 1971. The first day, my ball got stuck high up on the tree. The next day, I hit the tree again and two balls, both mine, dropped!
Cochin has become a tourist's paradise with Kerala advertised as "God's Own Country." In the '70s, far as I can remember, there were just two top class hotels, Malabar in Willingdon Island and Sealord in Ernakulam. Now you are spoilt for choice with every big hotel chain represented here. Besides, there are so many well-appointed restaurants by the seaside where you can sit and watch ships and boats sailing in the channel well into the sunset and beyond. Among the ones we visited and liked were Boat Yard, Fort House and Paragon in Fort Cochin. Unfortunately, Malabar which is now managed by Taj hotels was closed for renovation, so we missed that. A popular restaurant from my earlier days was Casino which was one of the few places with live music. That now is part of a big hotel of the same name.
We were lucky in that the Navy's pride, Cochin-built aircraft carrier, Vikarnt, was in harbour. Captain Gurudeep Bala, OiC Signal School, who had been Commander and second-in-command of Vikrant, organised a visit and Akhila, Reeta, Sanjay and I were taken on a tour of the mighty ship. It reminded me of my '71 war days on the old Vikrant which we talked about during tea with Captain Bains in his cabin.
Capt Bala also took Akhila and me around the Signal School. That was again a very nostalgic moment for me and it was wonderful to see the old School and learn about its progress and development to keep uptodate with advanced technology over the years. All success to the School and may it continue to ably train all who undergo various courses there, particularly the Long Cs.
Sightseeing, we visited the Mattancherry Palace popularly known as the Dutch Palace. Actually, it was built by the Portuguese in 1545 as a gift to the Kingdom of Cochin. But the Dutch took over in 1663 and although it changed hands to Hyder Ali and later the British East India Company, the title Dutch Palace sticks to this day. Apart from its distinct architecture, it is popular for its display of murals depicting Hindu temple art and portraits of the Rajas of Cochin.
Close by is the Jewish Paradesi Synagogue built in 1568. The lane leading to it is full of antique shops filled with mementoes for tourists. Akhila's eyes fell on some napkins with exquisite designs uniquely embroidered by the dying art of using 68 shuttles. The owner showed us a fascinating video of how it is done and we bought many napkins for selves and for gifts.
We also did a backwater cruise in Cochin and our final call was on the base at "Dronacharya" in Fort Cochin which houses the Gunnery School. It is a vast area by the seaside and I never knew the Navy had so much land there. All I remember is a small Naval Battery with just a few guns! Adjacent to it is a Naval Museum which nicely captures the history of the Navy from Shivaji's days to the present. A short film on the '71 War and lots of pictures again brought back fond memories. There was a board honouring war heroes and it was rewarding to see names of my good friends, Jayanto Roy Chow, Jack Suri and Aku Roy, all Vir Chakra awardees. A photo of Mrs Chatterji, wife of ex-CNS Admiral Chatterji, taken in 1956 during Lord and Lady Mountbatten's visit to Sanjivini, also caught our eye and it was great to see Mrs Chatterji as a young and pretty lady at 30. We promptly forwarded it to her daughters, Bula and Tuktuk, who were understandably thrilled.
Midway during our stay in Cochin, we made a 3-day trip to Munnar. Our hired car driver, Sajan, a Malayali who spoke 'tooti phooti' Hindi, put on songs of early '70s by Kishore Kumar. I asked Sajan what his age was and he replied 50. I said most of these songs had originated years before his birth. He said maybe, but that was the only music that he liked!
Once the climb to Munnar starts, the scenery is beautiful and soothing to the eyes. The hills are lush with tea plantations and green all around with not a barren spot. After a 4-hour drive, we reached our destination, High Range Club overlooking the Golf Course. The Club was familiar to us as we had all visited it in 1979 from Wellington during a sports exchange between this Club and the Wellington Gymkhana, a practice which I am told is still in vogue. A memory of that visit. While I was playing golf, Akhila was with some lady friends and Ruchir, 5, and Shumita, 2 1/2, with other kids. Suddenly a man came rushing and told me that he feared Ruchir had downed a glass of gin. In panic, I charged to the clubhouse and found Ruchir quite normal and sober. I asked him if he had drunk anything and he told me that he had picked up what looked like a glass of water but it smelled foul so he emptied it in a flower pot. Relieved, I went back to my game.
In early '70s, it was difficult to find good accommodation in Munnar apart from the Government Tourist Bungalow which still exists. Now, there is a plethora of good hotels including skyscrapers somewhat unusual for a hill station.
Over the next few days, we visited a tea factory and were explained how tea leaves are plucked and separated into various flavours. We indulged in tea tasting and, of course, buying fresh tea. Munnar is also home to a small chocolate factory where chocolate is made in front of you and is available in many varieties from dark to light to white.
Sajan also took us to the highest point in the area, Top Station, which demarcates the border between the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In 1970, James Gill, Aku Roy and I undertook a drive from Munnar to Kodaikanal in James' Fiat. The road was bad and the car engine unreliable and Aku and I spent a lot of time pushing the car while James drove. Sajan told us that the road is now blocked and not in use. But the view from Top Station was awesome.
Back to Cochin and too soon it was time to take the flight to Delhi. From the Cochin AQI of 28 and the same temperature, we were heading for Delhi AQI of 420 and minimum temperature of just over 3! Why on earth were we leaving 'God's Own Country'?
Thank you RAdm Sai Venkatraman and Capt Gurudeep Bala for providing all support for making this nostalgic trip memorable.
