When I was young many years ago,
I joined the Navy, why I don't know.
I served my time, with honour and pride,
for this young boy, it was a great ride.
I went places; I'd never dreamed,
time went so fast, or so it seemed.
I met people, I'll never forget,
and even some, I wished I'd never met,
but as I think back on those days gone by,
my ship, my shipmates, brings a tear to my eye,
I didn't know it then, never gave it a thought,
but my time in the Navy, could not have been bought.
I guess we all feel the same after we're out,
the pride we feel, that's what it's about,
having served our Nation, keeping it free,
protecting our way of life, and our liberty,
and the friends, I made along the way.
Would I do it again? Any day, and to all my shipmates,
Anchors Aweigh!
Unknown.
* * *
The National Security Apparatus
Sri Dutta Padsalgikar, a former Police Chief of Bombay has been named as Deputy National Security Adviser. He is now one of the three Deputy NSAs; the other two being Sri Rajinder Khanna and Sri Pankaj Saran. Thus the senior leadership of the national security apparatus of India is now provided by Sri Ajit Doval, an IPS officer who has been the director of IB, Sri Rajinder Khanna, a career RAW officer, Sri Pankaj Saran, an IFS officer and Sri Datta Padsalgikar, an IPS officer.
Conspicuous by the absence of a military officer in the set up raises questions about its balance. Should we infer from this set up that while the Indian Armed Forces are considered absolutely essential to maintain the territorial integrity of the nation against any kind of external threat, they are not considered capable to handle the overall national security?
To me it is more of a case of bias against Service Officers rather than any kind of merit based appointment. It is nobody's case that the Police for internal security, RAW for external intelligence and diplomatic presence in the set up for shaping international opinion are important. However, absence of any kind of military presence at the apex in this National Security Setup makes it absolutely unbalanced.
It may be interesting to note that from the time the system of NSA was introduced (Mr. Doval is the fifth NSA), it has always been the preserve of either IFS or IPS officers.
The government should seriously think in terms of making it more balanced by adding an officer from the Armed Forces as part of this set up.
Note. Adapted from What'sApp and I subscribe to the views articulated in the article!
Tailpiece.
A quiet Wednesday when Lekha had gone to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram - in the morning around a half past 9 - for her weekly tryst and on her return, I'd gone to the town to finish certain pending work and collect grocery. Indira kunjamma is at the temple, as part of the 'Narayaneeyam' team, but we won't be meeting each other because of her tight schedule. It was a wet afternoon and there's a yellow alert in the district, tomorrow, due to anticipated heavy rains because of the low pressure over the Arabian Sea.
I joined the Navy, why I don't know.
I served my time, with honour and pride,
for this young boy, it was a great ride.
I went places; I'd never dreamed,
time went so fast, or so it seemed.
I met people, I'll never forget,
and even some, I wished I'd never met,
but as I think back on those days gone by,
my ship, my shipmates, brings a tear to my eye,
I didn't know it then, never gave it a thought,
but my time in the Navy, could not have been bought.
I guess we all feel the same after we're out,
the pride we feel, that's what it's about,
having served our Nation, keeping it free,
protecting our way of life, and our liberty,
and the friends, I made along the way.
Would I do it again? Any day, and to all my shipmates,
Anchors Aweigh!
Unknown.
* * *
The National Security Apparatus
Sri Dutta Padsalgikar, a former Police Chief of Bombay has been named as Deputy National Security Adviser. He is now one of the three Deputy NSAs; the other two being Sri Rajinder Khanna and Sri Pankaj Saran. Thus the senior leadership of the national security apparatus of India is now provided by Sri Ajit Doval, an IPS officer who has been the director of IB, Sri Rajinder Khanna, a career RAW officer, Sri Pankaj Saran, an IFS officer and Sri Datta Padsalgikar, an IPS officer.
Conspicuous by the absence of a military officer in the set up raises questions about its balance. Should we infer from this set up that while the Indian Armed Forces are considered absolutely essential to maintain the territorial integrity of the nation against any kind of external threat, they are not considered capable to handle the overall national security?
To me it is more of a case of bias against Service Officers rather than any kind of merit based appointment. It is nobody's case that the Police for internal security, RAW for external intelligence and diplomatic presence in the set up for shaping international opinion are important. However, absence of any kind of military presence at the apex in this National Security Setup makes it absolutely unbalanced.
It may be interesting to note that from the time the system of NSA was introduced (Mr. Doval is the fifth NSA), it has always been the preserve of either IFS or IPS officers.
The government should seriously think in terms of making it more balanced by adding an officer from the Armed Forces as part of this set up.
Note. Adapted from What'sApp and I subscribe to the views articulated in the article!
Tailpiece.
A quiet Wednesday when Lekha had gone to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram - in the morning around a half past 9 - for her weekly tryst and on her return, I'd gone to the town to finish certain pending work and collect grocery. Indira kunjamma is at the temple, as part of the 'Narayaneeyam' team, but we won't be meeting each other because of her tight schedule. It was a wet afternoon and there's a yellow alert in the district, tomorrow, due to anticipated heavy rains because of the low pressure over the Arabian Sea.
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