The annual lunch for retired naval officers was hosted by the navy chief recently. The large gathering included many former chiefs and officers of flag rank. But for me, it was an occasion to meet and remember some fine old venerable gentlemen who for some reason or the other didn’t get that far.

There was Commander Rameshwar Batra, commanding officer of ‘Gomati’, my first ship on completion of training. A genial, modest and unassuming person but a thorough professional, he never let me feel like a rookie. At the same time, he was ready to offer guidance and advice whenever necessary. I never ever saw him lose his cool during his entire tenure.

Then there was Commodore Jaggi Bawa, CO of ‘Trishul’, my first ship after my specialisation in communications. With him as captain and the other specialists, Rollo Lewin as the pilot, Bunny Suri followed by Jayanto Roy Chowdhry as the guns, and Gulu Kumar as the TASO (torpedo and anti-submarine officer), we ran a real hot ship. On the ball at sea, we always had a ball in harbour and the wardroom was always full of life, laughter and music! Memorable days indeed.

I remembered Commander Sirajuddin, our officer-in-charge when we were under training at Cochin. A minor incident involving me was being blown out of proportion by another senior officer but Cdr Sirajuddin had the maturity and large-heartedness to brush it away. Later, he commanded ‘Ranjit’, and I was fortunate to be posted on the ship for my watchkeeping certificate, which he granted in the minimum permissible time.

... contd.