Posting my article that has been featured in Veerangana 2014.
My 17 year old tryst with the
Navy continues to gather more memories, but the very first one remains by far
my favourite!
The Tryst of a Lifetime
Posting my article that has been featured in Veerangana 2014.
It was my first tryst with
anything associated with the Navy and I was swept off my feet – not in the
romantic kind of way (though it may well have played the role of a catalyst)
but by the chivalry and genuine concern shown towards us by a group of
gentlemen whom we barely knew.
It was late on a cold December evening and we
had just finished watching an open air classical music concert – part of the
many cultural fests that Pune would play host to – especially in the winter
months when the weather was pleasant. We were a large group of college friends
who would enthusiastically frequent such events, spurred by a common interest
in dance and music. Although unthinkable in today’s day and age, those were
safer times and we would roam on our two-wheelers as we pleased. At this
particular concert, one of my friends had announced that her cousin, a young
naval officer would also be attending with his batch mates. We really didn’t
give it much thought at the time, little knowing that this evening was to
completely change the course of my life and that of my best friend.
The programme culminated in a
musical crescendo and it was past 11pm. We exited the gates and moved towards
where we had parked our scooters, still at a high from the wonderful
performance. We were about to ride away when we saw my friend’s cousin and his
companions approaching and gesturing us to wait. They said that they would ride
their bikes alongside and escort us to our homes. We politely declined their
offer saying that we would be quite alright but they would have none of it.
They were as good as their word and it was only after they had dropped each of
us 12 girls to our respective doorsteps that they went their way.
It was a simple gesture really
but yet it bowled us over, and out of a genuine desire to keep in touch with
our new and gallant friends, it sowed the seeds of an enduring friendship,
which over the course of letters and phone calls, eventually turned into a bond
of a lifetime.
It’s been 17 years now and I feel
just as swept of my feet with pride as I walk beside my husband – dashing and debonair in his Navy whites – a gentleman to the core. If I had to sum up in
just a sentence what I like most about being associated with the armed forces,
it is the charm of the old world chivalry that it extends towards women – not
condescending in any manner but as an acknowledgement of their quiet but brave
role in holding together home and hearth through difficult times. It is a
tribute to her indomitable strength, her irrepressible spirit, her infinite
reserves of love and her unending capacity for hope and optimism. I am sure
that it must have been these very sentiments from which was born the tradition
of offering a salute to every woman who graces the gangway of a ship.
If only the services way of life
could be emulated by the civilian world - where upholding the honour of a woman
would become a tradition and not an exception – ingrained in the very fabric of
its ethos and inculcated in young impressionable minds. I would like to hold on
to this thought and in true spirit of optimism make a wish that this aspiration
sees the light of day.
:) :) :)
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