In early 1979, I was a Sub Lieutenant posted on board the old INS Krishna, for the award of Watch Keeping Ticket. Since I was the only officer borne for such a duty, I was looked after by everyone on board - each one taking a keen interest to teach me.
This calls for many of the stories on board the ship and the fantastic time that I'd on board to be brought out at a suitable time, later. The particular story that I'm now going to tell you, folks, is about the three efficient stewards viz. Nair, Abdulla and Michael - INS Krishna's version of Amar, Akbar and Anthony, a popular Hindi blockbuster of those times.!
We could get any of our guests on board and the three of them would ensure that the guests enjoyed their time spent on board and spoke volumes about the Ward Room's hospitality. The three boys had a way with children and the little ones would be eating out of their palms by the time they were to set off for home!
Let me touch upon each of their personalities. Nair was a sentimental person and he used to feel upset when any one of us would pull him up for a fault and took a while to come out of his gloom. Abdulla would sulk for a while but it would be too short lived for him to get back to normal. Michael was a happy-go-lucky type of a person and would not allow such infractions to upset him for long.
One of the officers used to complain that the tea/or any beverage, provided by the stewards, was not hot to his standards. The three of them got together to overcome the issue and before the officer used to be given his cup of tea, the cup and saucer used to be immersed in piping hot water. The officer was happy too, because his beverage was hot and to his requirement.
On a particular evening, when the job was exacting, as the Ward Room was being wound up it was found that a full bottle of gin was missing. Now, that sort of lapse was not acceptable to the three musketeers. Once the session was over, they went about the evening's session minutely and found that Michael had poured the entire liquid into an ice tray in a fit of absentmindedness!
They were fond of me, looked after me and ensured that I never missed breakfast, which used to be a common habit of mine those days. As the Ward Room Mess Secretary, it was my duty to run a taut mess, give the best food acceptable to most, if not all and these boys were my able assistants.
We had a fantastic Ward Room then, with Cdr Suresh Chand (Commanding Officer), LCdr AC Jose (Executive Officer), Lt Sharat Jain (Gunnery Officer), Lt Gursharan Singh (Navigating Officer), LCdr A Sarkar, Lt Arunabh Ghosh (Electrical Officer), Surg Lt P Vijayashankar (Medical Officer), Lt HN Shirgavi (Supply Officer), Lt HS Manhas, Lt Philip Vanhaltren and Lt SAS Rizvi (Senior Engineer) and it was one hell of a team! Lt Ranjan Seth (Navigating Officer), LCdr AS Pandey (Electrical Officer) joined us subsequently. In fact, many of my course mates used to be jealous of me!!
It's my fond hope that I would be able to pick up the thread of relationship with which each one of them after this post of mine. There's one gentleman who'll never answer my call - later Cdr AC Jose (who was my Executive Officer, yet again, at INS Agrani in Coimbatore) and had passed into the mist of time due to cancer, a few years back.
And I must say that he has immortalized the dish 'Mutton-do-pyaza' by calling it 'Mutton-do-paisa, in his unique lingo'!
I would also like to meet up with Nair, Abdulla and Michael anytime, anywhere and know as to what they are up to now!
Tailpiece.
Had got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. The sky was overcast for most of the day and it rained from time to time. Consequently, the temperatures were low and the day was pleasant.
This calls for many of the stories on board the ship and the fantastic time that I'd on board to be brought out at a suitable time, later. The particular story that I'm now going to tell you, folks, is about the three efficient stewards viz. Nair, Abdulla and Michael - INS Krishna's version of Amar, Akbar and Anthony, a popular Hindi blockbuster of those times.!
We could get any of our guests on board and the three of them would ensure that the guests enjoyed their time spent on board and spoke volumes about the Ward Room's hospitality. The three boys had a way with children and the little ones would be eating out of their palms by the time they were to set off for home!
Let me touch upon each of their personalities. Nair was a sentimental person and he used to feel upset when any one of us would pull him up for a fault and took a while to come out of his gloom. Abdulla would sulk for a while but it would be too short lived for him to get back to normal. Michael was a happy-go-lucky type of a person and would not allow such infractions to upset him for long.
One of the officers used to complain that the tea/or any beverage, provided by the stewards, was not hot to his standards. The three of them got together to overcome the issue and before the officer used to be given his cup of tea, the cup and saucer used to be immersed in piping hot water. The officer was happy too, because his beverage was hot and to his requirement.
On a particular evening, when the job was exacting, as the Ward Room was being wound up it was found that a full bottle of gin was missing. Now, that sort of lapse was not acceptable to the three musketeers. Once the session was over, they went about the evening's session minutely and found that Michael had poured the entire liquid into an ice tray in a fit of absentmindedness!
They were fond of me, looked after me and ensured that I never missed breakfast, which used to be a common habit of mine those days. As the Ward Room Mess Secretary, it was my duty to run a taut mess, give the best food acceptable to most, if not all and these boys were my able assistants.
We had a fantastic Ward Room then, with Cdr Suresh Chand (Commanding Officer), LCdr AC Jose (Executive Officer), Lt Sharat Jain (Gunnery Officer), Lt Gursharan Singh (Navigating Officer), LCdr A Sarkar, Lt Arunabh Ghosh (Electrical Officer), Surg Lt P Vijayashankar (Medical Officer), Lt HN Shirgavi (Supply Officer), Lt HS Manhas, Lt Philip Vanhaltren and Lt SAS Rizvi (Senior Engineer) and it was one hell of a team! Lt Ranjan Seth (Navigating Officer), LCdr AS Pandey (Electrical Officer) joined us subsequently. In fact, many of my course mates used to be jealous of me!!
It's my fond hope that I would be able to pick up the thread of relationship with which each one of them after this post of mine. There's one gentleman who'll never answer my call - later Cdr AC Jose (who was my Executive Officer, yet again, at INS Agrani in Coimbatore) and had passed into the mist of time due to cancer, a few years back.
And I must say that he has immortalized the dish 'Mutton-do-pyaza' by calling it 'Mutton-do-paisa, in his unique lingo'!
I would also like to meet up with Nair, Abdulla and Michael anytime, anywhere and know as to what they are up to now!
Tailpiece.
Had got up at our usual time, the chores and was ready by a half past 9. The sky was overcast for most of the day and it rained from time to time. Consequently, the temperatures were low and the day was pleasant.
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