Nostalgia Yashoda Maiyya reared Lord Krishna and enjoyed his childhood pranks but never saw him again after he left to Mathura to reclaim his heritage. In Ramayana Vishwamitra and Guha never appeared again after their role was over. Many of us retired officers, who have settled down deep inland, do not get to visit ships or even naval establishments again. After leaving MDL service in February 1984, I never went inside a functional ship again for many years. Nearly thirty years later by the kind curtsey of Vice Admiral Jacob (retired) who was the commissioning CO of CGV Vikram and DG Coastguard, I was invited to the decommissioning of the ship in Vishakapatnam in January 2012. It was poignant to witness a ship which I had designed and about which I had presented a paper at an international conference of naval architects in London, being paid off. My wife and I had attended the glittering commissioning ceremony in 1983, attended by then DG Admiral Schunker and the grand old man of Indian industry Shantanu Kirloskar. Surprisingly all equipment was working till the end. Even the laundry and galley were functional. The ship’s last CO was as proud of her as Jacob had been when she was commissioned. I am truly grateful to the Coastguard for remembering a long retired old man living in distant Bangalore. I devoted nine years of my life to INS Godavari. I first pen and pencil to paper in 1975 for the first calculation and the first GA sketch of the ship. I attended the commissioning ceremony of a magnificent frigate in naval dockyard in December 1983. I never went on board after February 1984. The ship must be nearing end of life now. I hope the Navy will repeat the gesture of the Coastguard and remember to invite an old man who loves the good ship Godavari like his own daughter, when she is finally decommissioned.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 03:27:32 +0000
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