One day at Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala

In the words of Rajeev Rao (on Buzz) - "wow wht a weekend!!! sharing a drink wid an ex-NDA Navy officer listening to his experiences seemed like a déjà vu.. thr wasnt a single moment in the last 2 days tht i didnt think of u dad.. miss ya n cheers :)"

Our last paper got over by 4:15 pm and the train for Payyanur was to leave at 5:35 pm. All four of us Devang, Sunny, Rajeev and me took 3 bikes and dashed to Railway Station. On the way, while I had a near death escape, Sunny had to waste some time when stopped by a traffic police. But, we somehow made it in time. Train route had a panoramic view with sea and backwaters crisscrossing each other. 40 min past Kannur and we were in Payyanur. (Lt.)Praveen had sent a Maruti Gypsy for us. We reached his cabin in no time. A nice, comfortable, bachelor accommodation with plenty of milk powder (which Rajeev and me finished by next day's evening) and a big unopened jar of Bournvita (i dipped my beak here too - well, this 'dipping of beak' phrase i've borrowed from Adiga's White Tiger). We changed into something that resembled red (dress code for the party) and were escorted by Vibhushan (fresh from Praveen's land) to the party venue - sea beach. I met Praveen and did not find much change in him except his close cropped hair and a cigarette between his fingers. The party started as soon as we reached there. Well, with Praveen as DJ we were bound to be noticed. And noticed we were. Esp. when there was a call for bachelors and forced bachelors, we (Rajeev, me as one pair and Devang, Sunny as another) were letting ourselves pass through a ring. We ran off when one of the ladies, in order to see more action on the floor, decided to reduce the circumference of the ring. After that we went back to our table and picked from where we had left. Cool sea breeze was blowing, light house so romantically visible beyond the rocks. To quote Longfellow

it does not hear the cry, nor heed the shock,
but hails the mariner with words of love.

Rajeev broke the news of German Bakery blast in Pune. I remembered how Tutu and I had gone there few times. We felt the need of alcohol more. No sooner had we gulped down one or two, Praveen asked us to come to dance floor. So there we were dancing to the tunes of the DJ. Officers and their wives after seeing the dance floor once more alive decided to join us. We were hungry now. We moved towards serving counters. After we were done with dinner, party had almost come to end with Praveen still trying to woe few guests with his numbers. At last, we all ate and left for Abhay's cabin. By the way, Lt. Abhay Singh was another officer who took great care of us. Once in his cabin, we again sat down for more gulping down. In between pegs, loud music and few philosophical insights from Abhay, we clicked few pictures. At around 3 am we left for Praveen's cabin. We chatted a while and by 4 am we all dozed off promising each other to wake up at 6 o'clock and go to the beach for swimming. What a joke! I was the first to wake up at 7 when bearer came with tea. I tried waking the other guys up but realising the futility of my attempt, I too joined them. I woke up again at 11. Woke everybody up. We freshened up and had tea. We needed more tea. Praveen made some nice beaten coffee. And in between the coffee sips, he narrated many interesting incidents of his old Academy ( read NDA). Once ready, Praveen took us on a campus tour. Our first stop was Parade ground. Few cadets were running under a scorching sun with their boots on, rifles in hand. I was finding it difficult to stand there. From there, we moved to Cafeteria. We had a nice lunch and then went on a tour of Cadets' hostel, Praveen's office, Cadets Mess (was reminded of SST mess) etc. On our way out, we saw cadets practicing for cross-country. I realized the insignificance of completing 10 km during Calicut Mini marathon. We again went back to Canteen to have some nice banana shake. From there we went to see the exclusive beach maintained by Indian Navy. The water was blue and sand was very clean. We realized what we had missed in the morning. After that we went to see the Mount Deli Lighthouse whose light we had seen the night before. We climbed on top of the lighthouse. It was my first experience of standing on top of a lighthouse. We could see the full 8 km stretch of beach which was under Navy's control. We could also see Dolphins in the sea.  After that we saw Officers' Institute. Saw a squash court after a long time. Felt a strong urge to try few shots. But, was not properly geared. Then we left for Officers' Mess. The bar had still not opened but not for (Lt) Praveen. We took some chilled beer and peanuts. I had a cursory glance at the rate sheet. One peg of Blender's Pride costs Rs 18. It was already 8 pm and our train to Calicut was at 8:30. Praveen drove us to station and we said good byes.

We all had had a great time. Not only that, we were also motivated not to crib about having to work so hard. Our salute to all those who save our land, air and water.

Jai Hind