Nostalgia revisited

This morning I’d a surprise visitor at my office, amidst a flurry of activity. Commodore Palaniappan Jayapal, who currently looks after the Embarkation Headquarters, Madras and is a course mate, dropped in to meet me, albeit for a short period. Actually, Balbir had earlier called up to ask as to whether he could get somebody over as the guy was insistent about meeting me, over a cup of tea. Refusing to divulge as to who he was, he let out a clue that he was a combination of Jaya Bhaduri and Paul Newman and pronto, there was instant recognition. We were meeting after a gap of about nine years.
Jayapal had joined me on board INS Delhi during spring ‘77 as a cadet, after passing out from the Naval Academy and he was one of the three surveyors of our batch. His English was accented with a tinge of Tamil and he used to pronounce his name as ‘Jayapaul’, prompting me to come up with the cheeky remark that he was a Jaya Bhaduri – Paul Newman combo! This became an instant hit and Jayapal continues to be known more popularly amongst us course mates as a Bhaduri – Newman combine and being the good sport that he is, doesn’t mind it a wee bit. A thorough gentleman, he cannot even hurt a fly and continues to be his simple self.
Life had been unkind to him in between, when his son had to be pulled out of college where he was doing his engineering, due to a misdemeanour and Jayapal and his wife went through trying times. One could only provide moral support to the family during those days. However, the boy has since regained his composure, branched out and joined the deck side of the merchant marine and is currently doing his course for being cleared as ‘Master’. And his daughter is a software engineer in WIPRO at Bangalore.
As he was taking leave of me, he did something very embarrassing – I always hide my emotions, however overwhelming they are, when in uniform – he hugged me. Did I see a hint of a tear in his eyes or was it all my imagination? I shall never know! Anyways, we’ve promised to be in touch with each other more regularly, from now on.