AFVOA Newletters of Year 2004

Page 107 of 153 34. Maj VV Chandrasekharan and Smt Visalakshi celebrated their ‘Sashtiabdapoorthi’ on 23 rd September 2004. AFVOA wishes the couple many more happier and healthier years to come. Obituary 35. Members of the AFOVA mourned the demise of the following: a) Mrs Rathna Mary Louisa Rajan, wife of Lt Col RM Rajan, VSM, Signals, passed away on 25 th August 2004. She lived at No 1, Defence Officers’ Colony, Ekkaduthangal, Chennai – 600 032; Telephones: 2233 4234; 22345014; and 98411 38367. b) Col N Sundaravadhanan, AMC, who breathed his last on 13 th Sep 2004. He resided at Plot 272, 11 th Street, Periyar Nagar, Korattur, Chennai – 600 080. Telephone: 2624 3570. We pray for the departed souls. Life’s Like That 36. We are giving below three accounts – the first by one of members which occurred ouring his initial days in Service, and two incidents that occurred on the 32 nd birthday of two of our brother officers, who live outside Chennai, and narrated this incident in another egroup. You may wonder what is the significance of 32 years. Initially in that eGroup discussions had centred around people like Jesus Christ, Adi Shankara, Swami Vivekananda Subramanyam Bharathi and others. During the discussions it was highlighted that the greater ones such as Jesus Christ and Adi Shankara passed away at the very young age of 32 years; and within that short span of time their teachings revolutionised the way of living. Thus two of the officers of the group recounted what happened on their 32 nd birthday, which is reproduced for your reading pleasure. We request our readers and their spouses to share similar experiences with us – the age is immaterial, the experience is more important. RAIDERS OF THE DARK 37. By the end of June 1968, our appointments for our “small ship” time had come through. Six of us were appointed to the “state of the art” frigate, at that juncture, INS BRAHMAPUTRA. It was the senior ship of the “three ships”-16 Frigate Squadron - the other two being INS Beas and INS Betwa. Our ship was commanded by a “four striper Captain”, while the other two had Commanders as their respective “Old Man”. 38. It was also the first time since our NDA days that “the Mob” was being dispersed!! This evoked much mixed feelings and emotions in all of us. After a traditional “pre-lunch drinks” farewell on the Quarter Deck of INS MYSORE, we bade adieu to the “good old lady”, who had looked after us the last six months. We had sailed the seas for protracted durations during our tenure on board, and had gained a broad overview of life onboard the Flagship. It was to come in very handy at a later date!!! 39. The six of us boarded INS Brahmaputra at anchorage around lunch time, only to be told that the ship was “under sailing orders” and that we would be sailing around 1600hrs!! A fine welcome indeed!! The Navigating Officer of the ship was to be our “snotty’s nurse” for the duration of our tenure on board. He had evidently done his “staff work” and had our