This is about a morning many summers back, when I was a young gentleman cadet in this elite academy, perched atop a hillock in the picturesque Goa, wrapped on its three sides by the beautiful river Mandovi.
We were a small privileged batch of selected 14 who were chronically sleep deprived. Our mornings started at 0500 hours with morning muster and PT.
That day, around 0830 hours, as we were marching towards our classroom after a heavy 3 course breakfast, we were told that the day’s classes were canceled and we had to go on a field trip. We boarded a bus and the moment the wheels set in motion, half of us, including yours truly, had dozed off.
I woke up to the stirred up smells of iron, rust, paint and the smoke of heavy fuel oil that’s quintessential to sea ports.
We got down, walked for a few minutes, and stood in formation in front of something. Facing me was a large Grey wall whose ends on my left and right, I could not see. It was much taller than a multi-storied building and its walls were chock-a-block with pipes of various dimensions. I could see window like openings from where men appeared to be busy at work.
Our guide, a lieutenant, pointed at the wall and told us, “Gentlemen, this here, in front of you, is India’s biggest ship, Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat.”
That was my first tryst with the then, and emotionally now, pride of the Indian Navy. We were lucky that INS Viraat had just docked in Goa, and we were the chosen batch, to the utter envy of our seniors who haven’t had the opportunity yet.
The memory of the next 3 hours on board the monumentally majestic INS Viraat will always remain deeply etched in my mind.
Today, INS Viraat formally gets decommissioned from the Indian Navy.
May your glory live long! Adieu, you mighty one!!!
We were a small privileged batch of selected 14 who were chronically sleep deprived. Our mornings started at 0500 hours with morning muster and PT.
That day, around 0830 hours, as we were marching towards our classroom after a heavy 3 course breakfast, we were told that the day’s classes were canceled and we had to go on a field trip. We boarded a bus and the moment the wheels set in motion, half of us, including yours truly, had dozed off.
I woke up to the stirred up smells of iron, rust, paint and the smoke of heavy fuel oil that’s quintessential to sea ports.
We got down, walked for a few minutes, and stood in formation in front of something. Facing me was a large Grey wall whose ends on my left and right, I could not see. It was much taller than a multi-storied building and its walls were chock-a-block with pipes of various dimensions. I could see window like openings from where men appeared to be busy at work.
Our guide, a lieutenant, pointed at the wall and told us, “Gentlemen, this here, in front of you, is India’s biggest ship, Aircraft Carrier INS Viraat.”
That was my first tryst with the then, and emotionally now, pride of the Indian Navy. We were lucky that INS Viraat had just docked in Goa, and we were the chosen batch, to the utter envy of our seniors who haven’t had the opportunity yet.
The memory of the next 3 hours on board the monumentally majestic INS Viraat will always remain deeply etched in my mind.
Today, INS Viraat formally gets decommissioned from the Indian Navy.
May your glory live long! Adieu, you mighty one!!!
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