WIN AT GOLF - ALWAYS

I am playing bad golf these days.

One reason could be that I haven't played much this year. The first two months I was travelling. Then I had a peculiar viral infection with long-lasting debilitating after-effects. Hopefully I am past all that now.

So golf has suffered. When I played a game last week, my shots were all over the place. Instead of going 200 yards north, they would end up less than 100 yards nor'-east-nor' or at times, east-nor'-east. You might be quick to advise, "Go and practice." I doubt that would help. First, the age; though the spirit may be there, the flesh is weak. Second, it is boring; who wants to stand rooted to one spot and hit 100 balls from there instead of a refreshing stroll through the natural greenery even though some have named golf  'a good walk spoiled.'

In golf, one's ego plays a very important part: one does not want to lose. More often than not, golfers like to bet and it is not that losing money would make a big hole in one's pocket, it is the ignominy of defeat. And that applies even though there might be no bet. One just wants to WIN.

I was pondering over all this when I recalled that some time back on a trip to New York, I had picked up a book, "'How To Win At Golf' without actually playing well" (referred to from now on as 'the book'). I have been going through it carefully and have picked up quite a few tips which I am sure will put me on the winning side always. I share them with you along with some other tricks I have learnt over the years with the hope that you would never be my opponent. I am joking; seriously, I declare that I would never stoop so low as to cheat.

To deal with the subject at hand, the first important thing is to get your caddie on the same page as you. Many years ago, I was taking part in the Navy Championships when I overheard a colleague briefing his caddie. With an engaging arm over the caddie's shoulder, he whispered that he had come to win, the caddie must ensure that his ball should always lie well and not worry about anything as he would be looked after well...wink...wink...wink!!!

Look for a barefoot caddie. It is likely that such an individual would be adept at walking over your ball, picking it up with the underside of his toes and deftly place it on a plush lie. Prior briefing is essential for the caddie should know you are not Admiral Pereira who caught his caddie doing that and proceeded to give him a tight slap though the Admiral broke his own thumb as the caddie attempted to defend himself with a club.

Here is a story I read elsewhere. A player went to a golf course but a caddie was not available. On further insistence, he was told that a nine-year old boy could do the job but he could only count upto five. The player immediately said, "Perfect. I will take him. Who wants him to count more." As you know, in golf, the winner is the one who takes the least number of strokes.

A word of caution though, don't overdo it. There is the story of a guy who got a hole-in-one but was so used to reducing his score that he noted his score as 'zero'. 

(A strange game is golf. Although a player should write his actual score on his card, a hole-in-one would count as zero when working out his net score if the player is entitled to a stroke on the hole by virtue of his handicap. In fact, if the player's handicap is above 18, he may have the benefit of 2 strokes on the hole making his net score -1!)

The book credits a Robert Tyre Jones Jr. with this quote which sums up the psychology of golf, "Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course: the space between your ears." Mind games begin the moment you meet your opponent on the first tee. You are there to beat him, so start messing up with his mind as soon as he appears ready to take his back swing for the first shot. Ask him, "Do you shank?" 

For information of those who don't play the game, 'shank' is a dreaded malaise that at times strikes the best of golfers. Something goes wrong with the forward swing and the ball makes contact with the shaft just above the club head instead of the latter, darts weakly 90* from the intended direction and quite likely, ends up in a hazard, or at best, in a bad lie. The question, posed at the right time, will haunt him through the round.

Another technique is shadow work as demonstrated in the movie "Goldfinger" in which the villain's sidekick quietly moves his shadow over James Bond's golf ball just when he is about to hit it. Or you could do a stifled sneeze at that time. Or, if you are in his peripheral vision, cross your feet or move your arms just as he starts his downswing.         

During the game, when your balls are lying at similar distance from the hole and he is due to play before you, ask your caddie within your opponent’s hearing for a club lower or higher than the one you actually intend to use. Start taking some practice swings before he takes his shot to sow doubts in his mind about club selection. After he has hopefully messed up the shot, change your club to the desired one.

Ask him if he has a 'swing thought' - what does he think when he is preparing to hit a shot? Occasionally, enumerate the various hazards facing him on his next shot ending with, "If you hit it straight avoiding the deep depression on the left and the big bunker on the right, you should be fine."

Many years back, a guy named Puran Pandey, unfortunately no more, God bless his soul, used to play with me and come up with wisecracks. One day his ball was lying inside a circle marked with  'chuna' (lime) indicating that it was 'GUR' (ground under repair) and he was allowed a free drop. He said that was a great idea and he would ask his caddie to always have some 'chuna' in the bag so that he could quickly mark it around his ball whenever the lie was not good and claim a free drop. Imagine my surprise when I found this in print in the book! It aptly names the player "Picasso" who always carried a can of white spray paint in his bag for the purpose!

A quote I came by says, 'He who have fastest cart never have to play bad lie'. To be smart, 'The Improver' rushes to his ball and improves his lie before anyone comes near him or while others are focused on watching another player take his shot.

On the putting green, if your opponent putts close to the hole, praise his shot and carefully examine proximity of the ball to the hole. Just when he thinks you are going to concede the putt, tell him "Nobutaminit" meaning 'it won't take but a minute for you to putt this’.

As for yourself, play the 'inchworm' by marking your ball, lifting it, cleaning it and replacing it a few inches nearer the hole.

What if the opponent has read this book or Sidney Potter's "Golfmanship" and tries his hand at playing on your mind? You have to be smart to recognise that quickly and concoct some long-winded, irrelevant story without an end about a real old golfer like Harry Vardon or Ben Hogan to throw him off and impress him with your knowledge of golf history.

All is fair in love and war and golf is war. Remember, 'golfers who claim they never cheat also lie'. Your relationship with your opponent is inversely proportional to how he is playing. Best summed up in the query, "Is my 'friend' in the bunker or is the 'bastard' on the green?" 

 

Tailpiece: Not a golf story but the poor guy must have been a golfer. In a cartoon I chanced upon, the executioner is ready with his axe held up high to knock off the head of the guy with his neck on the chopping block. Before he brings the axe down, the executioner asks the victim, "Any last wish?" The frightened, shaken  plea, “Don't shank."

 

 

ANDY WILLIAMS - ACE SINGER OF MOVIE THEME SONGS

Last night, as I closed my eyes to go to sleep, Andy Williams appeared in my thoughts. Why, I wondered, did I suddenly remember this great singer from days gone by?

Then I recalled that in the evening, I was reading about how the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seemed to be ignoring Martin Scorsese who is considered by many as one of the best directors of all time but has only one Oscar to his credit despite critical acclaim for many movies and dozens of nominations. His Italian connection brought to mind "The Godfather" and its love theme 'Speak Softly Love'. That song was sung by Andy Williams.

So I indulged in more thinking about Andy Williams, the smooth-voiced crooner who in his prime in the 1960-70s, gave us one hit after another and was as successful as Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley. For the record, he had 15 gold and 3 platinum certified albums and 6 Top Hits on US Billboard Hot 100. 

The first song by Andy that I heard and loved was 'Butterfly' in February 1957. It was an instant hit and topped the US and the UK music charts and our own Binaca Hit Parade.

His next big hit came a year later, 'Are You Sincere?' Others followed and then in 1962, he came up with a song that would put him on the road to everlasting fame. It was 'Moon River' from "Breakfast At Tiffany's", which he was asked to sing at the Oscar Awards function where it won as Best Original Song. 

The success of Moon River made Andy adopt the song as the theme for his TV show. Later that year, he recorded an album, "Moon River And Other Great Movie Themes" which included older movie themes such as 'Love Is A Many-Splendoured Thing', 'Theme From A Summer Place', 'As Time Goes By', and 'Three Coins In The Fountain'. The huge popularity of the album made him keep vocalising movie themes which brought out the best in him.

Among the movie theme hits to follow were 'A Time For Us' from the 1968 film "Romeo And Juliet", 'Where Do I Begin' from "Love Story", and, of course, 'Speak Softly Love' from "The Godfather". 

Some other Andy Williams' version of movie songs include 'The Shadow of Your Smile', 'Born Free', 'The Way We Were', 'Theme From Exodus' and 'Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head'. A tall list with many more.

Andy was also good at Christmas songs and his 8 such albums earned him the title of "Mr. Christmas". The most popular song among them is 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year', a must-play number during the Yuletide season. On the solemn side, he touchingly sang Schubert's 'Ave Maria' at the funeral of his friend, Robert F. Kennedy. 

A song is given birth by an inspired composer and an imaginative lyricist but finally it is the singer who with his voice and style brings the number to us and gets the credit for its popularity and lifespan. At this Andy Williams with his smooth, charming voice and easy-to-listen style was a master and will be remembered long after his favourite composers like Henry Mancini and lyricists like Johnny Mercer are forgotten. So let's recall six of his best songs and their engaging lyrics though you will have to listen to them yourself.

We begin with the Mancini-Mercer 'Moon River' which made Andy a star. Moon River in the song was a metaphor for a lover, a maker of dreams as also a heart breaker, who the smitten one was determined to follow on life's journey right to the end:-

"....Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker,

Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way....

We're after the same rainbow's end,

Waitin' round the bend....

Moon river and me."

The musical score for "Love Story" was written by Francis Lai and then there was demand for its theme to be given lyrics. That was done by Carl Sigman and Andy Williams delivered the sad, heart-rending hit song:-

"Where do I begin

To tell the story of how great a love can be

The sweet love story that is older than the sea....

How long does it last

Can love be measured by the hours in a day

I have no answers now but this much I can say

I know I'll need her 'til the stars all burn away

And she'll be there!"

To take a break from the sentimental, let's go to Andy's first top hit 'Butterfly' which was sung appropriately in a fluttering style conjuring a vision of a butterfly flitting from flower to flower:-

"You tell me you love me, you say you'll be true,

Then you fly around with somebody new

But I'm crazy about you, you butterfly...."

And so:-

"I love you so much I know what I'll do

I'm clippin' your wings, your flyin' is through

'Cause I'm crazy about you, you butterfly".

Another delightful song rendered in a light way was 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You':-

"Pardon the way that I stare, there's nothing else to compare

The sight of you leaves me weak, there are no words left to speak

You're just too good to be true

Can't take my eyes off you."

Back to movies and we have the moving composition by the Italian, Nino Rota, for Franco Zefirelli's outstanding "Romeo And Juliet" with the title roles brilliantly played by two unknown teenagers, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. In the movie, a troubadour character performed a song 'What Is A Youth' in a party with Juliet anxiously searching for Romeo. Andy's song was titled 'A Time For Us':-

"A time for us at last to see 

A life worthwhile for you and me

And with our love through tears and thorns

We will endure as we pass surely through every storm

A time for us, some day there'll be a new world

A world of shining hope for you and me".

Finally, there was the enticing 'Love Theme From The Godfather', once again composed by Nino Rota, which was sung as 'Speak Softly Love' by Andy:-

"Wine-coloured days warmed by the sun

Deep velvet nights when we are one

Speak softly love so no one hears us but the sky

The vows of love we make will live until we die 

My life is yours and all because

You came into my world with love so softly love".

Andy Williams came into our world softly with his easy-to-listen, captivating voice which lives on to delight us anytime we desire.

Tidbit. Was Bollywood listening? Yes indeed. Tune in to 'Raja Ko Rani Se Pyar Ho Gaya' from "Akele Hum Akele Tum".

  

RADIO CEYLON-AMEEN, GREG, AND JINGLES

Ameen Sayani, the man with the golden voice that charmed millions during most of the second half of the twentieth century, passed away recently. The glowing, emotional tributes that followed showed how much the man was loved and remembered.

It was in 1952 that the Commercial Service of Radio Ceylon began the broadcast of the weekly programme, 'Binaca Geetmala', sponsored by the manufacturers of the toothpaste, Binaca Top. 8 p.m. on Wednesdays was the slot for it for half an hour and it started with 7 bestselling hit songs from Bollywood films played in no particular order. It instantly became the most popular programme of the radio service not least because of the way it was superbly compered by Ameen in a delightful, joyous way with a personal touch as if he was speaking to each listener personally. He captured the attention of the listeners with his opening "Behno aur Bhaiyon" adapting the common greeting by reversing the order, and asking them to give him a Binaca Top smile. It was estimated that the number of people who regularly tuned in to the programme ran into millions. From 30 minutes, the programme was extended to an hour counting down from Number 16 to the most popular, Number 1. This continued for around 40 years, earning Ameen a Padma Shri and the title 'Voice of India'.

Actually, for his outstanding success, Ameen might have thanked another hugely popular announcer who was on the English service of Radio Ceylon, Greg Roskowski. Greg, son of a Polish father and Japanese mother, had a deep, smooth voice and was a master at catching listeners' attention. He would introduce himself as 'Happy-go-lucky Greg' and start the morning asking listeners to 'wakey-wakey'. He would get over 500 fan mail letters every day, many from girls pledging their hearts to him forever. Frankly, I felt quite jealous of him!

In 1952, Greg launched 'Binaca Hit Parade', a half-hour programme of best selling English pop hits broadcast in the reverse order of popularity on Monday evenings at 8 p.m. It was a success from the word go. Listeners then flooded Radio Ceylon and the makers of Binaca toothpaste asking why there couldn't be a similar Hindi programme. Radio Ceylon got in touch with Hamid Sayani who already worked for them and ran a studio in Bombay, Hamid coaxed his younger brother Ameen, age 19, to do the programme and thus was born Binaca Geetmala to bring music and joy to millions of Indians and others.

I was an ardent listener of the English service of Radio Ceylon. It became an integral part of my daily routine as I switched on the radio on waking up and used the ads to get ready for School. The radio kept time for me as on the hour Greg would announce, "Check your watch by Rolex time, it is exactly, (tic-toc-tic-toc....DINGG) 8 O'clock, Indian Standard Time." Ads would continue throughout drawing attention to them by the two tiny double-toned 'ting-tong'. Reminder to brush teeth would come with a jingle, "'Did you Maclean your teeth today, show your smile, what does it say?' ... 'Yes I Macleaned my teeth today, that's why they're white and dazzling!'" For bath, there was 'Lux Beauty Soap, the favourite soap of movie stars'. Combing hair was advised by dabbing some 'Brylcreem' as endorsed by my favourite cricketer of those days, Denis Compton.  For breakfast the recommendations were for Brittania biscuits, Polson butter, Kissan jam and Ovaltine. 

Coca-Cola had arrived in India by then and I was tempted to carry a bottle with me by the line, 'What you want is a Coke' or, a few years later, 'Things go better with Coke'. For a snack, 'Have a break, have a Kit-Kat'. If all that made your tummy growl, the cure. 'When you're feeling low... Eno'. 

Down the years, Radio would yield to TV and we would see Kapil Dev on the screen running his hand smoothly over his cheeks and chin and saying with a content grin, "Palmolive da jawab nahin." But I miss the radio and for me, "Radio Ceylon da jawab nahin."

TULIPS FROM AMSTERDAM IN DELHI

The second annual Delhi Tulip Festival ended on 21 February. 

My introduction to tulips dates back to the early 1950s when I read a book and heard a couple of songs that named the flower. The book was an Alexandre Dumas novel, "The Black Tulip", a classic story of love, jealousy, misfortune, obsession and revenge in which the hero pursues his dream of producing a black tulip despite being wrongly jailed and is helped in the task by the jailer's daughter who he falls in love with. The book inspired real life flower breeders to cultivate a black tulip and the first that any one came close to producing such a flower was a man called Geert Hageman from a tiny village Oude Niedorp in Holland, who on 18th February 1986, exactly 38 years ago, succeeded in growing one very dark flower and named it 'Paul Scherer', after a mayor in Germany, whose society had aided Hageman in his dogged pursuit.The flower has been preserved and is on display in the Amsterdam Tulip Museum. Paul Scherer tulips are now being grown and are the darkest breed of tulips but darkly purple and not truly black!

Now the songs. The first one was, as far as my memory goes, by 'Little' Rita Faye, so named because she sang the song in her teens. Lyrics of the song I recall distinctly go thus, 'Tulips in the springtime, apples in the fall, I don't care what mama says, I'm gonna marry Paul!'

The second song,"Tulips from Amsterdam" was a happy, romantic number with a promise by the singer to bring the flowers to his loved one in spring all the way from Amsterdam. He goes on,"Like the windmills keep on turning, that's how my heart keeps on yearning, for the day I know we can share these tulips from Amsterdam."

Well, Delhi has been sharing tulips from Amsterdam since 2017 when 18000 bulbs were imported and planted. For the last four years, they have been planted in Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri, and a regular festival organised since last year. This year, as many as 126000 bulbs were imported with some of them planted on different roundabouts in the city such as Teenmurti and Mandi House. The pity is that they only last for about 15 days.

As a kid, I recall inquiring why we do not grow tulips in India and was told that our climate was not suitable. However, Srinagar now has a regular tulip park with 68 varieties of the flower, overlooking the Dal Lake. In Delhi, we had them in many colours, red, orange, pink, purple, dark purple (almost black), white, purple and pink, pink and red, and appropriately timed with this year's Basant Panchmi, yellow. 

Although we immediately associate Holland with tulips, it was interesting to learn that the tulip was a wildflower growing in Central Asia. Turks were the first to cultivate it around 1000 A.D. and a 'Tulip Mania' struck Turkey in the 16th century with the Sultan desiring cultivation of the bloom for his pleasure. The name 'tulip' itself comes from the Turkish word for turban.

Those of us who saw the 1981 hit film 'Silsila' will recall Amitabh Bachchan and Rekha romping among tulips in the Keukenhof gardens in Amsterdam with the romantic song 'Dekha Ek Khwab' and musing at the twists and turns of life with 'Yeh Kahaan Aa Gaye Hum'.

JAIPUR LITERATURE FESTIVAL

The 17th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) ended a few days back. As in the past, it was vastly attended and a resounding success.

JLF had a very humble beginning in January 2006. It was conceived by well-known authors, Namita  Gokhale and William Dalrymple. They roped in Sanjoy Roy, head of the event management company, Teamwork Arts, as the Producer and held the first edition in a small heritage hotel, Diggi Palace, with free entry. A total of 18 writers including Gokhale and Dalrymple participated and around 100 people attended. As Dalrymple put it, most "appeared to be tourists who had simply got lost!"

Truth be told, my story of the discovery of the Festival is on similar lines. After my retirement from the Navy and settling down in Delhi, Akhila and I regularly visited Mummy in Jaipur starting mid-January and staying till after Mummy's birthday on 3 February. It was the same in 2006. Our house is a stone's throw, albeit a strong one, from Diggi Palace Hotel. On arrival from Delhi that afternoon, we saw a fairly large crowd on the road leading to the Hotel and inquired from our well-informed maid what was going on. She said Amitabh Bachchan was coming for a book launch, hence the crowd, and that was that. 

In the evening, with no intention of going anywhere, we changed into our sleeping clothes when we heard some nice music emanating from the Hotel. Curious, we wrapped ourselves in shawls and walked to the Hotel. There, on the lawn, a live concert was in progress and we sat down and listened to some entertaining music.

Further inquiries revealed all that was part of a literature festival that was being staged at the Hotel. We took a copy of the programme and returned the next morning to listen to some interesting discussions. And then decided to attend items of interest at the rest of the Festival.

Next year, we came to Jaipur as usual and were glad to find that another edition of the Festival was scheduled. We attended that as well and discovered that the Festival was going to be an annual feature. From then on, we have been attending every edition of the Festival barring 2022 at the height of the Covid pandemic.

Gokhale and Dalrymple's idea had caught on and every year the numbers of writers/speakers and attendees rose exponentially. In just four years in 2010, there were 172 authors and speakers and 30000 attendees. By 2015, it was clear that Diggi Palace could not handle the huge crowd and the evening music programmes which were part of the Festival were shifted to Hotel Clarks Amer. 

In 2021, the Festival could not be staged live due to Covid and a Virtual edition was held. The normal Festival was resumed in 2022 but the venue shifted to Clarks Amer and attendees had to pay a small fee. To maintain past connect with Diggi Palace, names of the five intra-venues were retained, Front Lawn, Char Bagh, Mughal Tent, Durbar Hall and Baithak. Also, the Festival was now available both on-ground as well as on-line. In 2023, its digital reach was said to be over 250 million and digital views over 25 million.

Names of speakers at past Festivals read like a Who's-Who of literature. They include Nobel laureates JM Coetzee, Orhan Pamuk and Sir VS Naipaul, Booker Prize winners Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, Pico Iyer, Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood and Geetanjali Shree, Sahitya Akademi awardees Vikram Seth, Ashok Vajpeyi, Girish Karnad, Gulzar and Javed Akhtar, and literary superstars Amish Tripathi and Chetan Bhagat. Going beyond literature, Nobel laureates Dalai Lama and Amartya Sen, and eminent personalities like Amitabh Bachchan, the late APJ Abdul Kalam and Oprah Winfrey have participated in the Festivals.

In 2013, Ruchir was on stage discussing his maiden book, "Breakout Nations", with Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and head of Infosys.

Over the years, the Festival has expanded internationally and has been held in US, UK, Canada, Australia, Qatar, Maldives and Spain, preserving the brand name 'Jaipur Literature Festival'. From the small beginning, it is now described as 'the greatest literary show on earth.' 

Inaugurating the 2024 Festival, Diya Kumari, Rajasthan Deputy Minister and Minister of Finance, Tourism, Art, Literature and Culture, and other departments, stated that 'The contribution of the Literature Festival to the city of Jaipur in terms of tourism in just 5 days is more than what the Department of Tourism does in an entire year' and that 'The organisers have put Jaipur on the world map with JLF.' Strong words indeed from the state tourism minister herself!

This year, over 250 speakers participated and over 4,00,000 people attended the Festival. Prominent foreign authors included Paul Lynch, Booker Prize winner for "The Prophet Song", Kal Bird, Pulitzer Prize winner for "American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer", Bonnie Garmus, "Lessons in Chemistry", and Nicholas Shakespeare, "Ian Fleming: The Complete Man". Among Indian speakers were Neerja Chowdhury, SY Qureshi, Sudha Murthy, Margaret Alva, Navin Chawla, Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj.

Of particular interest to me was the discussion on a book "Guardians of the Seas" by Rear Admiral SK Gupta, MVC, and Commodore Gurnam Singh, conducted by Commodore Srikant Kesnur. The book tells the naval story of the '71 war highlighting the operations of the aircraft carrier "Vikrant" and the Seahawk squadron which Adm Gupta, then a Lt Cdr, commanded. Lt Cdr Gupta led the first air attack on East Pakistan and was given a hero's welcome on his successful return by being garlanded and carried round the flight deck on the shoulders of the ground crew. Many more attacks followed till the eventual surrender and birth of Bangladesh. I was on Vikrant on the operational staff of the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet with a ringside view of all operations and can relive them vividly. Lt Cdr Gupta's brave actions were accorded recognition with the award of Mahavir Chakra to him. It was great meeting him after many years; our acquaintance dates back to 1956 when, as cadets in 'King' squadron, NDA, he was the Squadron Cadet Captain and I, two years his junior. Also nice was spending time with Cmde Kesnur who is a fellow Communications specialist.

There was naval touch in another discussion when Tarun Tahiliani spoke about his book on fashion. Tarun is the son of late Admiral Tahiliani, ex-Chief of the Naval Staff.

Curtains came down on the 2024 Festival with the customary Writers Ball wherein all the participants and sponsors are invited along with a small number of guests. It is said that a person invited for the Ball is deemed to have ‘arrived’! Well, Akhila and I have been rooted where we have always been so we have not 'arrived' anywhere either. However, we are blessed with good friends who have facilitated our presence at the event most of the years.

A regular feature of the Ball has been the outstanding music. This year, two bands, The Bluegrass Journeymen playing Bluegrass music, a synthesis of southern American, English, Irish and Scottish music, and Chugge Khan and Rajasthan Josh providing Manganiyar folk music, first performed individually and then combined in superb fusion leading to a rousing crescendo.

Next edition, please!

Tailpiece: Naval connect. Some may not be aware of the deep connect between the Festival and the Indian Navy. Sanjoy Roy is the son of the late Vice Admiral MK 'Micky' Roy, a distinguished naval officer and aviator. He was the head of the Eastern Fleet when I was commanding Katchall, one of the Fleet ships. He liked my ship and Mrs Roy always addressed Akhila as 'Bahurani'. He retired in 1984 and I had lost touch with him. Imagine my surprise when I bumped into him at the 2009 JLF and learnt that Sanjoy was his son!

The other connect is with the owner of Diggi Palace, Ram Pratap Singh, who is married to Jyotika, daughter of another fine naval officer and pilot, Capt RN Singh. The latter has a unique achievement of having travelled from London to Delhi or vice versa by air, sea and land, the last by driving a car all the way with two colleagues after completing initial training in early-1950s in the UK.

HEART OF MY HEART - MY SCHOOL DAYS GANG

'Heart of My Heart, I love that melody

Heart of My Heart, brings back a memory

When we were kids on the corner of the street

We were rough and ready guys

But oh, how we could harmonise....'

Cochin followed by Jaipur, I am overwhelmed by nostalgia, memories. 1951 to 1954, 3 Hospital Road, St. Xavier's High School, the gang mostly from that street. 

There was Pramod Pareek, his house just across the street. Four years my junior and his elder brother, Vinod was just a year senior. But those days, I was thin and of small build, so I fitted in with a younger lot. Youngest in the gang, Pramod was fondly called 'Puddy'. Pramod was fond of Cricket, so we had a common interest and used to play in the long driveway of the official house of Pitaji, my Nana. Pramod was a Polly Umrigar fan and adept at imitating cricket commentary of  'Vizzy', Maharajkumar of Vizianagram. Telephones were few and far between those days and Pramod was proud of the fact that his father had one. So did Pitaji and Pramod and I were constant users. I remember Pramod's number, 312, although I have forgotten ours! The 3-digits have expanded to 7, though Pramod's number still ends with the same three digits, 312. 

Pramod followed me to NDA and joined the Army. In the early '80s, we were posted together in Bombay. Our houses in Colaba were close by and we used to meet often. After retirement I moved to Delhi and Pramod to nearby Gurgaon. Unfortunately, Pramod fell victim to Covid end-2020 and passed on.

Pramod's cousin, Suresh, of about the same age, lived in a house just behind ours and used to climb over the boundary wall to join the gang. He was a fast bowler who used to meet with a fair amount of success. He went on to become a doctor, child specialist, whose treatment was a mix of Allopathic, Ayurvedic and Homeopathic medicines. He still lives in the old house and we often consult him and, if necessary, request him to come over in emergencies. Todate, he has never shown any reluctance to answer our call. 

A few houses down the road stayed Krishen Bhargava. He was not a cricketer but, of course, a Xaviermate, one year my junior. He wasn't averse to watching Cricket and I have recounted elsewhere our trick to approach our Test playing heroes for their autographs by posing as photographers armed with his dud and filmless Donald Duck camera. He had a good sense of humour and he introduced me to Archie comics. He was a topper of his class and joined the IAS after which he was in and out of Jaipur but one of the few friends to come to Bijnor for my wedding. He passed away a few years ago.

As did Vinod Jain, Krishen's classfellow. He literally stayed on the corner of the street in the last house before the curve towards Statue Circle. Another non-cricketer but fellow bicyclist to School and good company. He joined the Rajasthan state government service and was not quite in touch with me thereafter.

Ashok Sarin was good company too. 3 years my junior, he joined the Indian Air Force and became a pilot but, alas, met his end in a crash shortly after his initial training.

For a short while, we had Yogeshwar Dayal in our gang. He used to stay on Vivekanand Marg, the road parallel to ours. He was my classfellow for about a year before he moved to Delhi. He became a doctor and went abroad. We lost touch for more than 50 years before he met a common friend in the USA and got in touch with me. It was a delight meeting him in 2015 when he came over to our house in Delhi. 

That brings me to the last of the gang, Yaduendra Sahai, another fast bowler and in the School Cricket team with me. He was two years my junior and stayed close by. He became the Curator and later the Director of the City Palace Museum. He was constantly in touch with me and we would get together every time I visited Jaipur. Fond of a drink, our favourite haunt was the Polo Bar at Rambagh Hotel. Fate took him away at an untimely middle age.

'Heart of My Heart meant friends were dearer then

Too bad we had to part

I know a tear would glisten

If once more I could listen

To the gang that sang Heart of My Heart'.

Note: "Heart of My Heart'' sung by The Four Aces entered the US Billboards in 1953 and retained its popularity for a very long time. Many other versions followed including those by Bing Crosby, Frankie Laine and Trini Lopez. 

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW - COCHIN OLD, KOCHI NEW

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.