AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 75 of 237 rationed. Every man was authorized one glass of water with each meal. The Captain also issued orders forbidding shave and bath until we reached Port Blair. When we reached Port Blair, the whole ship was stinking. As soon as the ship was alongside the jetty and fully secured, many of us rushed out of the ship to bathe. The food that was served in our wardroom that afternoon was the most delicious food we ever had! The next day we were south bound and soon reached Nicobar Islands. On and off, the ship would anchor close to a small island, and the boats would be lowered for some of the ship’s company to meet the local tribes. One day, our medical officer (a Bengali) sat on the quarter deck and threw a fishing tackle into the sea below. The water was crystal clear and you could see the bottom of the shallow sea close to the coast. There were myriads of fish of many hues and many sizes floating and swimming lavishly in those lucid waters. It was the best natural aquarium one could ever witness. A small fish, by then was hooked to the bait. The doctor started drawing the fishing line in. Five more seconds, the line would be clear of the water. Before you could blink your eye, a shark darted from nowhere and snatched the fish from the bait and disappeared. All that the doctor was left with was the hook at the end of the line and a bit of remnant of the bait. We all burst into laughter. We were reminded of the old adage that there is many a slip between the cup and the lip! INS Tir was fitted with an ancient gun just to train the cadets. Our ship carried limited ammunition. Patrolling independently, as a lone warrior, near Nicobar Islands was not without any risk. Those islands were less than fifty miles away from Indonesia which was not on friendly terms with India at that time. Luckily for us, Indonesia did not initiate any game of adventure on its own. The 1965 war was basically an army engagement. The Navy had no role or some minimal role. The Captain was keen to get the latest news. Out at sea, there are no morning newspapers to read at the breakfast table. He designated me as the nodal officer to gather news by listening to all possible news bulletins (AIR, BBC, VoA). One receiver in the communication center was set aside exclusively for me. I was listening to each and every possible news bulletin and jotted all the points. I produced two news bulletins each and every day. A communication sailor would type the bulletin of two to three pages. I would personally handover the first copy to the Captain. The other five copies were distributed to officers’ wardroom and sailors’ messes. Whenever heroic and victorious accounts were highlighted in the bulletin, you could hear loud cheers from sailors’ messes. Around that time, Winston Churchill breathed his last. As I was the official reporter on board, the Captain coined a new name for my daily service. Throughout the ship, it became popular as Raghunath News Agency. When