VICE ADMIRAL SARMA-A HERO OF THE 1971 WAR

(The Indian Express today carries this piece titled 'A Hero of the Sea'. Virtually the same but for minor changes to fit in their column.)

Vice Admiral S.H. Sarma, PVSM, passed away on 3 January in his hometown of Bhubaneshwar. He was 99.

We are all familiar with the big names associated with the 1971 Indo-Pak war such as the Prime Minister and the three Service Chiefs. However, barring a few, the brave deeds of heroes at the ground, or if you like, sea or air level, remain unknown outside their own Service. I would, therefore, like to highlight the important role that Admiral Sarma played in the war resulting in the huge victory for India .

The Eastern Fleet was formed just a month before the onset of war and Admiral Sarma was appointed as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF). I was appointed as the Fleet Communications Officer (FCO) on the operational staff of FOCEF and we were embarked on the aircraft carrier, Vikrant, which operated as our flagship throughout the war.

Normally, a Fleet Commander gets time to work up his fleet of ships with peacetime exercises so that the Admiral, his staff and the Commanding Officers (CO) of ships can gel together to function as a team. In this case, the Fleet was thrust into the war from the word go. It is to the enormous credit of the Admiral that in the short time available to him, he was able to knit the Fleet into a cohesive unit and the Fleet was able to deliver all that was asked of it and more. Admiral Sarma was specially chosen for this job as Admiral S.M. Nanda, the then Chief of the Naval staff (CNS), had full faith that the former would be able to deliver. Months prior to the event, the CNS had told Admiral Sarma that as and when the Fleet was formed, he would be given its command. The latter did not let the CNS down and got the Fleet to accomplish all the tasks given to him which included destruction of enemy ships and bases, blockade and contraband control. Extensive damage was caused to the Pakistan Air Force and port facilities by air strikes and the Fleet effected a tight control over the Bay of Bengal so that no enemy ship could enter or leave the then East Pakistan ports and we could take 93000 prisoners of war.

The Admiral was more than willing to take necessary risks to accomplish his tasks. For example, considering Vikrant’s limited speed due to one of its boilers being non-operational, Naval Headquarters had advised that the carrier should operate more than 100 miles from the Coast to be out of range of Pak Sabre jets. The Admiral thought this was too far and in consultation with Captain Parkash, CO Vikrant, decided to operate from a 55-60 mile range. This resulted in highly effective air attacks and Vikrant’s aircraft were able to carry out more than 90 sorties compared to around 5 originally planned by NHQ.

Then there was the unique minesweeping effort to clear the entrance channel to Chittagong harbour. This was not envisaged earlier and was not really a job for the Fleet which had no minesweepers. Knowing Admiral Sarma would find a way, the CNS entrusted the task to him. A ‘jugaad’ way of sweeping was devised by renting local fishing boats trawling a length of wire. The channel was swept clear of mines and marked to ensure speedy and safe passage of ships.

A couple of lighter moments come to mind. The Fleet was anchored off the northernmost Andaman Island, Port Cornwallis, awaiting further instructions from NHQ. There was a requirement to make signals to Vishakhapatnam for some urgent supplies. Not wanting to break radio silence self-imposed by us in order not to compromise our location, I found out that there was a police wireless station on the island. I told the Admiral that I would go ashore and get the messages cleared from there. As there was not much activity going on at that time, the Admiral said he would accompany me for an outing. On landing, we met a local man who informed us that the police station was miles away at the other end of the island. Just then, a jeep happened to come by and I asked the driver to please take us to the police station. He flatly refused upon which the Admiral thundered, “By the emergency powers invested in me by the President of India, I commandeer this vehicle and order you to take us to the police station.” I do not know whether the driver understood what was said but that was enough for him to take us to the station, wait while the messages were transmitted and drop us back to the jetty!

A deeply-ingrained memory is of the classic reply the Admiral made to the message from CO of one of our ships, Beas, inquiring what action to take if we came across ships of the US 7th Fleet. Without batting an eyelid, the Admiral replied, “Exchange identities and wish them the time of day.”

In normal circumstances, the news of a 99-year old man passing away would have been routine- after all, how many people live to reach that age? What made it shocking was that I had just met Admiral Sarma in New Delhi about a fortnight ago after 43 years. He had come from Bhubaneshwar, his hometown, to attend functions celebrating the golden jubilee of India’s victory in the ‘71 war holding the distinction of being the seniormost surviving warrior of the war. We met at a lunch hosted by the present CNS, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, for naval veterans of the war. I sighted Admiral Sarma and went up to him to introduce myself but before I could speak, he said you are Sharma and you were my FCO on board Vikrant during the war. He then went to say a few more things about me which showed that he had continued to follow my career long after my FCO tenure. Remarkable for a man of that age who I was meeting after 1978.

I told the Admiral that it was an honour and a privilege to see him after such a long time and that it was admirable that he had taken the trouble to come all the way on this occasion. His reply, “Well, the CNS insisted, so here I am.” He went on to proudly proclaim, “You know, I have entered my 100th year on 1 December.” To me, witnessing his mental fitness and fortitude to have made the long journey, it seemed that the Admiral would have many more years to go than it actually transpired.

Admiral Sarma was a modest man, self-effacing with a modest smile. I consider myself fortunate to have served under him and will always have fond memories of the time spent with him. I was blessed with the chance to have met him on 16 December just a few days before he passed on. I shall cherish the two presents he gave me on that day, his autobiography, “My Years At Sea” and a set of picture postcards depicting the highlights of his naval career.

SONGS OF LAUGHTER

 

Up and down conditions and uncertain atmosphere have been the dominant features of our lives during the last two years. Easy to despair but we must step out of it. Let’s begin this year on a brighter note and recall some songs of laughter from good old happy, carefree days.

Husband and wife jokes are common, so we start with the song, ‘Yakety yak’. It’s about a guy who can never be on the right side of his wife. Its lyrics go like this-

“When I come home from work with a big smile and feeling gay (remember the song is pre-present day meaning of gay!)

Suspiciously my wife says, hey, where have you been all day,

But when I come home tired and disgusted, she says, sure I see

Outside you have a good time and home you come to cry to me.”

The husband goes on to sing that when he dresses ordinarily, the wife asks him to make himself presentable otherwise what will people think of her. But when he shaves well and wears a new suit, she is jealous and asks him who he’s gonna see today!

“Yakety yak, blah blah, blah blah, yakety yak, blah blah, blah blah

That’s all I hear all day, yakety yak, blah blah, blah blah.”

In two songs one on each side of an old disc, Jose Ferrer and his wife Rosemary Clooney set out to define Man and Woman. Jose says-

“A woman is something both evil and good,

But too complicated to be understood,

An angel when lovin’, a devil when mad,

A woman can make you both happy and sad.

Afraid of a cricket, she’ll scream at a mouse,

But she’ll tackle a husband as big as a house.

Oh woman, oh woman, oh what can she be,

Whatever she is, she’s necessary.”

And Rosemarie hits back-

“A man oh a man, any woman will say,

Whatever he is, we like him that way.

As strong as an ox, or as meek as a pup,

He’s just a small boy who’ll never grow up.

A leader by day, he can make business hum,

Then wind up at night under some woman’s thumb.”

Rosemary Clooney also had a hit ‘Sisters’ who were extremely devoted and stuck to each other in all kinds of weather, kept an eye on the other and never had to have a chaperone, no sir. She warns-

“Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister,

And Lord help the sister who comes between me and my man.”

Back in 1951, Phil Harris gave us a rib-tickling song, ‘Oh What A Face’-

“…..it’s a disgrace, to be showing it in any public place. 

One morning he took her to a pig farm, he told her to wait by the rail,

But when he returned he couldn’t find her, the farmer had put her up for sale.

She liked to watch the horses racing on the track,

Until the day she wandered near the stable, 

And the jockey put a saddle on her back.”

Man is on the receiving end in Harry Belafonte’s famous calypso ‘Mama Look a Boo-Boo’-

“I wonder why nobody don’t like me, or is it the fact that I’m ugly,

My children don’t want me no more,

And when I talk they start to sing,

Mama look a boo boo they shout, their mother tell them shut up your mout’,

That is your daddy, oh, no, my daddy can’t be ugly so.”

Another huge hit of Belafonte’s was ‘Matilda’, “she take me money and run Venezuela”. The way he performed this song at Carnegie Hall was phenomenal enjoining the audience to sing these lines again and again with ‘sing a little louder…sing a little softer…women over forty…going round the corner…everybody…once again now…’ and so on endlessly.

Harry Belafonte was a master of funny songs. A classic is his ‘A Hole in the Bucket’ with Odetta. The lady in the song, Liza, asks him to go fetch some water but Henry has a problem-

“There’a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, there’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry, so fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.

With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza…”

And Liza suggests ways of fixing while Henry has a problem with each leading to Liza getting increasingly riled. Liza suggests straw which is too long requiring to be cut with an axe which is too dull and needs sharpening with a stone which is too dry requiring wetting with water which is to be fetched in a bucket but-

“There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, 

There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza, a hole.”

Towards the end of my school days came a song with popular versions by The Ames Brothers and Dean Martin, ‘The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane.’ The arrival of the lady had the town in a whirl who had admirers galore. The town was peaceful and quiet before she came on the scene and disturbed the suburban routine. She throws come-hither glances at every Tom, Dick and Henry and never says no to liquid refreshments. Further-

“The things they’re trying to pin on her, won’t hold much water, for sure,

She just needs someone to change her……

The naughty lady of Shady Lane, so delightful to hold,

The naughty lady of Shady Lane….

And she’s only nine days old!”

In 1960, a song “Goodness Gracious Me” had everyone in fits of laughter. Peter Sellers plays the part of an Indian doctor with Sophia Loren as a rich, Italian patient in love with him. Her consultation with him goes like this,

She, “Oh, doctor I’m in trouble”

He, “Well, Goodness gracious me.”

She, “For every time a certain man is standing next to me, a flush comes to my face and my pulse begins to race,

It goes boom boody-boom boody boom-boody boom boody boom boody-boom-boody boom-boom-boom.”

The doctor proceeds to examine her and finds his stethoscope bobbing to the throbbing of her heart. He says that he has done his share of healing from New Delhi to Darjeeling and cleared up beriberi and dysentery but this complaint has got him really foxed. He sees her tongue and quickly asks her to put it away. All her hints to tell him that he is the cause of her discomfort fail and when she asks him to put two and two together, he wisely replies, “Four”. Finally, he says there is nothing he can do and that his heart is jumping too and the trouble is with him. She, “With you?”

He, “Ah, I’m sorry, it is us. Goodness gracious.”

A 5-year old freckle-faced cartoon character was created by Hank Ketcham in 1951 based on the mischiefs of his own son, Dennis. While Ketcham was planning to give the character a name, Dennis’s mother, Alice, got exasperated by her son not listening to her to take a nap and making a mess of her room. Alice shouted at her husband, “Your son is a menace.” Hank promptly named his character ‘Dennis the Menace’ and his parents after his own and his wife’s names. A song with that title followed, performed by none other than Rosemary Clooney and a kid, Jimmy Boyd. The lyrics are so funny and here are just a few-

Alice,“ Dennis the menace, he’s a bundle of dynamite, 

Oh the things he says and the things he does will make you shake with fright…

His Mom and Dad get nervous, whenever he’s too quiet, 

They never know what will happen next, a cyclone, flood or riot.”

Dennis, “Last night I got a spanking, I don’t know what to think,

‘Cause all I did was fill my water pistol full of ink.

Now I ask you did Mommy have to yell at me like that

Just because I watered all those flowers on her hat.

My daddy love to ride on planes ‘way high up in the sky.

He didn’t see my roller skates and oh boy, did he fly.”

Alice, “(Beware of) Dennis the menace, though he makes your hair turn gray,

When he looks at you with his eyes so blue, he’ll steal your heart away.”

I am afraid there is some disappointing news from Eartha Kitt for couples wanting to tie the knot-

“Somebody bad stole de wedding bell, somebody bad stole de wedding bell,

Somebody bad stole the wedding bell,

Now nobody can get married.”

Tailpiece. In an amazing coincidence, a British artist, Davey Law, created a cartoon with the same name and character in the UK while Hank Ketcham was coming out with his cartoon in the US on the same day, 12 March 1951.  There could not have been any contact between the two artists and this can only be described as a cosmic miracle. The boys are both naughty and lovable but look different. Also the US Dennis has his dog Ruff while the UK one has Gnasher. The two Dennises live to the day and are enormously popular.

 

2021 - A SEESAW YEAR

 

The last two years have been dominated by Covid-19. 2020 was totally shutout by the harsh lockdown resulting in no activity at all. This year began on a promising note with the numbers going down and by end-January, it was being proclaimed that India had achieved complete victory over the dreaded disease.

Apart from immediate family, Akhila and I had met no one in the past 11 months. Then some very close friends of my cousin Anjula decided to host a lunch on her birthday on 14th February and invited us. Overcoming reluctance built over almost a year, we decided to go for it encouraged by the fact that it was in the open. That was our first outing of the year and a good time was had by all.

Soon after, I decided to resume golf and recall the pleasure of the nervous first drive going straight and to a fair distance. One felt life was getting back on track.

There was further hope with the opening up of vaccinations for senior citizens and we got our first dose on the 3rd of March. We undertook a trip to Jaipur during which Capt RN Singh hosted a dinner for us in Diggi Palace and surprised us with around 20 guests including my St. Xavier's and Navy mate, Admiral Madhvendra Singh. So far so good!

Back in Delhi, the Covid numbers started rising again while we got our second jab on 27 April.  Soon the graph became almost vertical and India was completely caught off guard having believed that the disease had been conquered. Horror stories about lack of hospital beds, oxygen and medicines and increasing fatalities abounded frightening the hell out of us. The peak of the second wave came in end-May/June but, by mid-July thankfully, the numbers began to show a sharp decline.

In the next few months, hope mounted and we gladly accepted the ‘new normal’ with masks, social distancing (read anti-social!), avoiding crowded places and preferring open restaurants and cafes to enclosed ones. A couple of trips to Jaipur followed and end-September, we were bold enough to go and spend two nights in the beautiful Samode Palace. For a few  dinners on special occasions, we went to the splendid Rambagh Palace sitting in the spacious verandah with its spectacular view and lighting.

As far as eateries are concerned, the discovery of the year was two adjoining restaurants in Narain Niwas, Jaipur. There is the Bar Palladio with its fascinating peacock blue Mughal design, serving Italian food both indoor and outdoor. Next to it is the Shikaar Baagh with Indian cuisine which also has outdoor seating on static buggies, coaches and rickshaws. A unique ambience to savour!

Satisfying ourselves that it was reasonably safe and that a James Bond film had to be seen on the wide screen, we went to a cinema hall after a year and a half to watch “No Time To Die” in Jaipur in early October. There were 10 people in the 200-seater theatre! We expected a lot from the movie but were a bit disappointed. Then in Delhi, we saw “House Of Gucci” in Director’s Cut, again with about 10 fellow watchers. We didn't expect too much from this one but it turned out to be quite interesting with great acting by Lady Gaga.

This lull in Covid incidents in India though in the face of rising global cases again led to conjectures among many responsible people that India would perhaps avoid a third wave. After a forced miss last year, the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) held the customary Navy Day Reception on 4th December at his residence. Then on the 16th, he hosted a lunch in Kotah House for veterans of the 1971 War as part of the Swarnim Vijay Parv celebrations. It was a delightful surprise to meet Vice Admiral SH Sarma who in his 100th year is perhaps the oldest living naval officer. Ordinarily resident in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, he took the journey for this event at the insistence of the CNS. To recap, he was the first Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet and I was his Fleet Communications Officer (FCO) on board Vikrant during the war. The Admiral’s memory is still sharp and he amazed me by not just remembering me but recalling some details which showed that he had continued to follow my career even after my FCO tenure. We exchanged precious memories of the war days and he presented me with his autobiography and a set of picture post cards capturing highlights of his naval career. I also met some other war heroes including SK (Gigi) Gupta, Maha Vir Chakra, leader of the first air attacks on Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong, and Inderjit Sharma, Vir Chakra, leader of the first missile attack on Pakistan Navy ships and Karachi harbour.

It was around early December that the spectre of a new Covid variant, Omicron, started rising. With the fear of its spreading three times faster than the earlier Delta, restrictions are multiplying day by day. Delta too is showing an increase particularly in west and north India including Delhi. Ruchir had planned a trip for us, close relatives and friends to the Gir National Park to bring in the New Year and we were all looking forward to it eagerly. But after deliberating on the present situation and the growing numbers, the older generation of my cousins and the two of us decided to give it a miss with a heavy heart. 

That is the story of 2021, a seesaw year of hopes and disappointments. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY-A CHRISTMAS SONGS STORY

 

‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la,

Strike the harp and join the chorus, fa la la la la, la la la la.’

So goes a popular Christmas song-“Deck The Halls”.  Let the joyous yuletide spirit flow as I take you to a ride on my favourite Christmas songs.

We begin on a nostalgic, sentimental note with “White Christmas” which has numerous versions and I like Bing Crosby’s the best. A few lines-

‘I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know,

Where the tree tops glisten, and children hasten to hear the sleigh bells in the snow….

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas with every Christmas card I write,

May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white.’

Bing Crosby was at his best with Christmas songs. His “Silent Night” sung in his calm, soothing voice, touches the core of one’s heart and is unforgettable.

‘Silent night, holy night, all is calm, and all is bright,

Round yon virgin, Mother and Child, holy infant so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.’ 

On a humble note is “The Little Drummer Boy-

‘I’m a poor boy too….I have no gift to bring….that’s fit to give our King….

I played my drum for Him, pa-rum pum pum pum….

Me and my drum, me and my drum.’

No Christmas song list would be complete without “Jingle Bells”. 

‘Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,

Oh what fun it is to ride, in a one-horse open sleigh.’

Children love Christmas with its gifts, sweets, songs and merrymaking and wait for it to come impatiently throughout the year. In the late 1950s, a group called Alvin and the Chipmunks emerged. Their voices were modulated to sound like squirrels squeaking. They were immensely popular with “The Chipmunk Song”-

‘Christmas, Christmas time is near, time for toys and time for cheer,

We’ve been good, but we can’t last,

Hurry Christmas, hurry fast….

We can hardly stand the wait, so Christmas don’t be late!’

The festival is fun for all. So how can Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer with his shiny, glowing nose be left out! All the other reindeers used to laugh and call him names till 

‘One foggy Christmas eve, Santa came to say,

Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleigh tonight.

Then how the reindeers loved him, as they shouted out with glee,

Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, You’ll go down in history.’

For Santa to bring them gifts, children are supposed to be good throughout the year. They are warned of this in “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”.

‘You better watch out, You better not cry, You better not pout, I’m telling you why….

He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice, He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice….

He sees you when you’re sleeping, and knows when you’re awake,

He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake….

Santa Claus is coming to town.’

The gift which a child wishes for can be a personal need as in “All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth”. The poor kid complains that everybody stops and stares at those teeth which are gone and the kid does not know who to blame for this catastrophe. So-

‘All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth….

It seems so long since I could say,

“Sister, Susie sitting on a thistle”,

Gosh, oh gee, how happy I’d be, if I could only whistle….

Gee, if I could only have my two front teeth,

Then I could wish you, ‘Merry Christmas’.’

Children can be very naughty too. Listen to-

‘I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus, underneath the mistletoe last night,

She didn’t see me creep, she thought I was tucked up in my bedroom fast asleep….

Then I saw Mommy tickle Santa Claus, underneath his beard so snowy white,

Oh, what a laugh it would have been, if Daddy had only seen,

Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night.’

And so, “We Wish You A Merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year”.

P.S. It was 11years ago on Christmas day that Mummy transcended with a smile on her face.

 

  

AFTER THE WAR - AN UNSCHEDULED STAY IN CHITTAGONG

Pakistan surrendered on 16 December 1971 and the war came to a joyous end for us. Spirits on Vikrant were at an extreme high and all of us looked forward to going back to celebrate with our families and friends. An aircraft had flown to Vizag and came back with a month-long awaited mail. I too got a few letters and season’s greetings and wedding cards, past and future! It was good to know that life was carrying on as usual back home.

HQ Eastern Naval Command ordered the fleet to return and Vikrant set sail for Madras. Just then we received a personal signal from the CNS to the Fleet Commander that his task was not over and that he should proceed to Chittagong and ensure that the harbour channel was clear of any mines and open for shipping. This really was not a Fleet Commander’s job nor did we have any minesweepers with us. But ours was not to question why, ours was but to do….. So the staff was herded onto a helicopter and flown to Chittagong.

At Chittagong, we were received by some Bangladesh personnel who took us to a swank hotel named Agrabad. We had a nice long bath, ate well and had a good night’s rest after a long time. 

The next day we were taken to the naval base which was totally deserted as all Pakistani personnel had been taken prisoners. There were all sorts of abandoned imported vehicles lying around but no keys! We found rooms where we could set up our offices and living accommodation. Furniture and mattresses etc. were left behind, so the bare necessities were available. The landing ship, Gharial, with its shallow draught had been able to enter harbor safely and would take care of our meals. 

Admiral Sarma did not want us to impose ourselves on the hotel and after another night, we shifted to rooms in the base. All well except that in the latter half of December, Chittagong was pretty chilly particularly at night. For clothing, all we had was two sets of summer uniform and what is known as Red Sea Rig where the shorts are discarded for trousers and a cummerbund. Remember, the summer uniform comprised of shorts at that time as trousers were introduced much later. I don’t know how we survived the cold- perhaps whisky on Gharial was the saving grace!

To get on with our task, Cdr Vyas, Fleet Operations Officer (FOO), and Lt Cdr Bikash Ghosh, Fleet Torpedo and Anti-submarine Officer (FTAS), huddled together in a room with senior sailors to decide how to minesweep without any equipment. Soon, Bikash got out and seemed to be in a rush. I asked him where he was going and he said in his heavily accented voice, “I am going to look for some ‘whair’.” I asked him what kind of ‘ware’ and he replied somewhat irritably, “Whaair, not where.” Someone then whispered to me that what he meant was ‘wire’. 

We had been told that the mines laid by Pakistan Navy were floating ones just below the surface and moored to the bottom of the sea. FOO, Bikash and their advisers decided that they would trawl a big length of wire towed by two boats in order to trap the mines and destroy them. Bikash and a few sailors accompanied by some local men went to the market to buy the wire and other equipment and requisition two boats. 

The next few days, Bikash and Lt Cdr Mohan Chandy, Fleet Gunnery Officer (FGO), went up and down the channel in the two boats sweeping the wire between them. Cdr PP Sivamani, Fleet Navigation Officer (FNO), and I kept ourselves busy sifting through publications and documents left by Pakistan Navy and writing the war report. If we needed to go anywhere, we would pick up any stranded car and start it by directly putting together the two starter cables and triggering the engine. Petrol was available from idle pumps in the base. I drove plenty of Mercedes and Toyotas in those days!

By 31 December, Bikash and Mohan had done a good number of sweeps up and down. It was decided that they would do one final check sweep on New Year’s Day and mark it before declaring the channel safe for shipping. That night, we were invited to the new year eve dance at the Chittagong Club. While the Bangladeshis sang, danced and made merry, we without partners dreamt wistfully of home and contended ourselves with the available whisky. By about 11 pm, my colleagues said they had had enough and headed back to the base. I decided that having come all the way, I would stay to bring in the new year. At midnight, Auld Lang Syne was sung and I headed back to my room looking forward to a long sleep.

When I reached my room, I found Cdr Vyas waiting for me. He said that Bikash and Mohan were going for the final check sweep at 7 a.m. They felt that a rescue boat was needed in case any boat struck a mine and an extra boat had been requisitioned for this purpose. I was required to be in that boat.

That put paid to any hope of a long sleep and I got up at 6 in the morning of 1 January 1972 and joined the others to go to the harbour. When I was directed to the rescue boat, I saw to my horror that it was the biggest of the three with the deepest draught. While the shallow draught sweeping boats could sail over the mine, the rescue vessel was more likely to hit it. However, there was no time to protest and we set off to carry out our task.

My boat in-charge was an oldish guy who could only speak Bengali. Communication was a problem as I tried to explain to him that he should keep his vessel at a safe distance behind, in the centre of the two sweeping boats. Having watched him for some time, I decided I had nothing much to do and might as well go down for much needed sleep. I was taken to a cabin and hit the hay for a few hours. At about noon, I had had enough sleep and went up to the bridge. I was stunned to see that instead of following my directions, the boat was sailing almost abreast of one of the sweeping ones on the outer side and not the centre of the boats. Some more frenzied instructions to the non-understanding man and we got back to where we should have been. For the rest of the sailing I stayed on the bridge not taking any further chances.

Fortunately, we did not strike any mines, marked the swept channel and returned safely to the jetty at about 6 p.m.

By that time, it was pitch dark and we were hungry and tired. A bus was supposed to pick us up and we waited impatiently for quite a while but there was no sign of the vehicle. I noticed there was another bus parked on the jetty which we had also seen in the morning. I offered that if anyone could start the bus, I would drive it back to the base. A number of sailors jumped to the task and did the wire trick to get the engine running. I took over the wheel and drove the bus successfully making it the one and only time I have driven a bus in my life!

The swept and marked channel was declared safe and open for shipping. No case of a mine striking any ship was ever reported although there were a few merchant ships that were struck at the harbour entrance wide off the channel.

Our task completed, we embarked on the landing ship Gharial for our journey back to Vizag. We were given camp cots to sleep in the huge tank space in what was the biggest bedroom I have ever had!

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'!

 

LESSER TOLD STORIES OF THE 1971 INDO-PAK WAR

 (This piece appears in today's Times Of India online edition under the heading 'How INS Vikrant Cleverly Evaded A Pak Submarine'. I had given it the heading as above. The sub-heading in TOI is their own too though I don't quite agree with it. Anyway, here is the main piece as it is printed there.)

The 1971 war was the first time that the Indian Navy was pressed into action, with it having been kept out of the loop during the 1965 Indo-Pak war due to some obscure fear of escalating the conflict. Our largest ship Vikrant was in fact undergoing repairs in a dry dock when war broke out in 1965. The Navy had been hurting ever since; in peacetime, the Armed Forces exercise regularly to be ready for war. When war comes, and if an arm is not assigned a role, then what is the purpose of that Arm? Pakistan naval ships in 1965 had fired a few shells at random on Dwarka port in Gujarat. The shells caused no damage, but Pakistan’s huge publicity of the attack made our Navy seem inept. Vice Admiral SM Nanda, who was then commanding the Western Naval Command, prophetically stated in a 1969 interview to the Bombay tabloid ‘Blitz’ that “...if war comes again, I assure you that we shall carry it right into the enemy’s biggest ports like Karachi”.

That assurance was fulfilled by the missile boat attack on Karachi two years later, and in fact spearheaded by Admiral Nanda, who was now Chief of Naval Staff. He insisted and succeeded in obtaining a major role for the Indian Navy in 1971. Despite the short operating range of our missile boats, innovative planning was devised for attacks on Karachi and Pakistan ships in the Arabian Sea, while a far more effective role was seen for Vikrant by deploying her off East Pakistan to provide support to our Army and attack coastal targets leaving the Air Force to focus on inland targets. The ships, led by Vikrant and its air surveillance, would bottle up the Bay of Bengal and prevent reinforcements of men and material either reaching or escaping East Pakistan.

Vikrant had been facing a persistent problem with a leak in one of her four boilers, but after repairs to the extent possible in Bombay, it was ordered to sail for the eastern coast to be ready for quick action if war was to be declared. Utmost secrecy was required to keep her movements concealed from Pakistan to preserve the element of surprise, as well as for Vikrant’s own safety as she was the main target for Pakistan’s Navy. For us, the carrier’s deployment off the east coast had an added advantage: only one Pak submarine, Ghazi, had the endurance to operate that far from its home base at Karachi.

Covering such a large ship’s tracks aren’t easy, however, and an elaborate plan was conceived to conceal Vikrant’s movements. Dummy signal traffic was generated from other locations to give the impression that the carrier was operating elsewhere. This was backed by other ruses: for example, with dummy signals indicating that Vikrant was near Cochin, food and other supplies purportedly to meet her demands were rushed to Cochin even though the carrier had already crossed over to the east.

Until 1971, our Navy had just one fleet based in Bombay. Admiral Nanda decided that for better control and coordination, there should be two fleets, Western and Eastern. Consequently, the Eastern Fleet was formed on 1 November 1971 with Vikrant as the flagship and a few other warships. Rear Admiral SH Sarma was appointed Eastern Fleet Commander and I, the Fleet Communications Officer on his operational staff. At that time, I was busy with my job as an instructor in Signal School, Cochin, and was unaware of these new developments. So when my boss, Commander ‘Clinker’ Karve, told me about my new appointment, I told him to quit playing April Fool 6 months late – or early for that matter – as there was no such thing as an Eastern Fleet! He had to show me the written orders to get me to start packing my bags for Vishakhapatnam (Vizag), which was designated as the base for the Eastern Fleet.

Admiral Sarma, along with his staff, embarked on Vikrant on 6 November by helicopter off Vizag and we sailed for Port Blair in the Andaman Islands. The Fleet eventually moved to the northernmost island, Port Cornwallis, to be within hours of striking distance at enemy shore targets. Throughout all this while, the Fleet followed a strict regime of radio discipline in order not to give away our position to Pakistan, which could intercept our radio communications and thus fix our location. No signals to shore authorities were made while at sea; instead, naval facilities ashore at Port Blair were used for communicating with Naval Head Quarters and the Eastern Naval Command HQ at Vizag. Port Cornwallis lacked any naval organization and when the need arose to contact Vizag for some urgent supplies, I found a police wireless station on the island to transmit our signals from.

Meanwhile, Ghazi kept operating off Vizag in search of Vikrant, believing it to be there thanks to the dummy traffic and radio silence, when, in fact, the carrier had already moved to the Andaman Islands. Ghazi sank off Vizag on the night of 3-4 December, ceasing to be a threat. Vikrant launched air attacks at Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong and other ports immediately on commencement of war, catching Pakistan by complete surprise and our Fleet was exercising total control over the Bay of Bengal.

When planning for the war, Indira Gandhi and the three service chiefs considered the possibility of a third country intervening. China was thought to be a risk as it could potentially come to the aid of Pakistan by creating tension along the Sino-Indian border, thus tying up large numbers of our forces. Winter was chosen for the operations so that snow would prevent any meddling by the Chinese.

As it happened, it was the US that threatened intervention. On 10 December, it announced with much fanfare that the Seventh Fleet, normally operating in the Pacific Ocean, would enter the Bay of Bengal. Gandhi summoned Admiral Nanda, who told her that if the US Navy interfered with our ships, it would be an act of war. He wondered if the US would really want that but believed that the US was only trying to bully us, and that we should fearlessly continue with our operations. He also said that he was going to tell his ships that if they come across American ships, they should exchange identities and invite their Captains for a drink! Gandhi was quite satisfied with the Admiral’s answer.

At sea, we learnt that a US Task Force led by their biggest aircraft carrier, the nuclear- powered Enterprise, had been directed to sail into the Bay of Bengal. US National Security Adviser, Henry Kissinger, wanted this widely publicized with the ships sailing through the Malacca Straits in broad daylight. The Commanding Officer of one of our Fleet ships, Beas, sent a signal by light to the Fleet Commander, Admiral Sarma, asking what our ships were to do should they encounter the Seventh Fleet. The Admiral’s reply was short and crisp: “Exchange identities and wish them the time of day”. Morale on Vikrant was high and everyone’s attitude was, ‘Let’s carry on with our job and tackle any situation as it develops’. As it happened, we never encountered any US ship and saw the war through to the birth of Bangladesh.

Admiral Nanda and Admiral Elmo R Zumwalt, who was then head of the US Navy as Chief of Naval Operations, have described these events in detail in their respective autobiographies. Admiral Zumwalt wrote that despite diplomatic pressure by the US on Gandhi, nothing deterred her from going to war. Henry Kissinger was enraged and ordered Enterprise and other ships to be deployed in the Bay of Bengal. When Admiral Zumwalt asked Kissinger what his ships were supposed to do if they came across the Indian ships, Kissinger replied: “That is your problem”. Admiral Zumwalt wisely told his ships to stay away from East Pakistan and to operate south of Sri Lanka. Nowonder we never even saw them on our radar screens.

Years later, after both Chiefs had retired, Admiral Zumwalt came to India and met Admiral Nanda. The former stated that he was worried that should the ships of the two Navies meet during the war, it might lead to an inadvertent situation. When Admiral Nanda told him that his instructions to Indian ships were to invite the US Captains for a drink, Admiral Zumwalt responded, “We need not have worried!”

It seems the ordered entry of US ships into the Bay of Bengal caused more anxiety to their naval personnel than it did to ours.

Tailpiece: The meeting between Gandhi and Admiral Nanda on entry of the US ships took place when the Eastern Fleet was at sea. Any instructions from Admiral Nanda to Admiral Sarma could only be through a radio signal which would have been seen by me. I do not recall any such signal and Admiral Sarma’s reply to CO Beas seemed to be totally on the spur of the moment. I have often wondered at the similarity of the language of both the Admirals- was it just pure telepathy?

Ravi Sharma is a retired naval officer who now lives in New Delhi and enjoys blogging his memoirs.