One last time in Jul 2005, I stepped out of my
Submarine as my sea tenure ended. As I climbed out of the Control Room well
stairs, the holding stair rails were cold. They were smooth as so many human
hands had put their weight on them to slide down the steps or to haul
themselves up. I stood on the Submarine’s black casing, looked back at the fin
of the boat and walked out of the gangway to begin a new tenure into the
Submarine Base from the next day. From this day onward, I converted to an
off-shore Submariner from an on-board one. My skills on Submarine were now
considered to be apt to support the next generation of Submariners taking over
afloat duties. I had become “In my days” kind
variant. I simply loved this transition as it brought higher responsibilities
and greater challenges.
Today, as I ponder about the life gone by and
its tales, a couple of people come into my thoughts. The memories with them are
fading away but they impacted my initial years and contributed to what I am
today. My paternal and maternal Grandmothers were the two grand folks in my
life. Sharing the shape of their respective fates, both these ladies faced the
impact of partition in their respective lives. Born in early 1900s to a
landowner’s family, my paternal Grandmother completed her education before
marrying my Grandfather- a banker positioned across the western borders of
India (as of today). Imagining the travel of 745 Kilometers between the city of
marriage to city of settlement provides perspective on how these folks moved
their respective lives to adjust to new surroundings. The family grew as time
elapsed and even as the fate of the British Empire appeared to be on a wobble
in the Indian Subcontinent. She bore the pain of losing her few children as
illness struck and there were no remedial measures.
The spirit of freedom touched India with
fervor and during the Lahore Session of 1929, the “Purna Swaraj” (Complete
Independence) of India was announced by the freedom movement leaders. This
touched chord with Indians as the nationalists moved ahead to push for the
dominion status at the earliest followed by freedom. My Grandmother donated her
jewelry as the call for fund raising was spread in the region. The Indian
Sub-Continent went through its own thick and thick even as WW-2 raged near its
boundaries. Did my grandparents lived more stable lives even as the World
around them was creating new fault lines by replacing the existing ones is a
question which I ponder upon?
My maternal Grandmother was younger to the
paternal one and growing up in the old walls of Delhi. A marriage at a young
age was the norm of the era. She had my mother in her lap even as India divided
and a 1000 kms away my father too was a toddler oblivious of the pangs of
partition faced by his parents. The lives of both my Grandmothers changed as
new Nations came into being and their distances reduced to less than 100 kms
before the year 1948 struck its arrival. Both the ladies had a moment of cheer
as they say when their respective grandchildren come into the world. They had a
definitive role to play in these young lives and so they did with aplomb.
The discipline of student life was inculcated
on the first day of school life by my paternal Grandmother. She was turning
blind and this was a setback to an educated, well-read lady. She found a
resource in my young soul and made me learn reading newspapers at the young age
of 4 years! This was a boon not for her but for me. The young mind started
shaping up thoughts around human dimensions as the newspapers and magazines
became early partners. I would read out for her and could feel her expressions
as the world around us moved at its hectic pace. 27+ years had passed since she
had left her vast setup in the other Nation. She could make the sense of the
World around her and its implications. Her commentary on multiple subjects gave
me an insight into her analytical capability and helped in connecting dots to
craft the figures emerging out of some where! In-spite of losing their
hard-earned grandeur, she never lamented the changes around her. She embraced
them with ease and taught us to fight on to live another day. She could live
well within her meager sources and kept aside a little sum inside a holy book
to take care of her rituals after she was gone. I was the custodian of her secret
saving and could only reveal about its existence when she was gone!
The value of time was another virtue which she
drilled inside me. The work is worship and she would be waiting for me as I
came back from school. Keeping my uniform neatly, stacking my books correctly
and finishing the homework before stepping out to play had a clock work
precision. A walk into the parks and market area with her taught me to wish
elders and handle money on behalf of her blind self. The days began and ended
with something accomplished for good. The power of dressing correctly and
treating humanity alike was also a great gift from her.
The maternal grandmother was an epitome of
gentleness and calmness. She would never raise her voice and her white face
reflected purity of thoughts. She would always be adjusting towards others and
taught us to give other humans a place before claiming your own space. Today
such thoughts might rattle humans, but this helped her to stay out of many
conflicts in her personal life within the boundaries of a large family. There
must have been many a volcano which she did not let erupt outside as this would
have disrupted many lives in her innermost arena. These were important lessons
in handling humans with a smile on face and good thoughts in the heart. The
mind behaved clearly as it knew that the path of conflict needs to be avoided.
The respect that she gave to family elders was a treat to watch and feel. The
old patriarch and matriarch of the family always admired her patience and
grace. The turmoil of her inner self was never visible to anyone outside. She
remains a symbol of divinity for many of us who saw her.
As I settled into my new work place in the
Submarine Squadron, I knew that it was time to give best support to the men who
sailed those machines. It was a transition into another World as new roles
would emerge. Keeping the learning from the elders and training into
perspectives, I continued to carry out my trysts. The results had to be
measurable and the results were delivered with no inconvenience to any other
human. It was great team effort to count the success and a rare failure had a
definitive accountability. The World around me kept evolving but I kept the
lessons given by my grandmothers fresh with my actions. The World around us
does not expect to be subdued but expects more frankness towards humans. With
clarity of purpose, no target is difficult and if humans are willing to listen
the right inputs. A correct command on the Submarine makes the actions tick
like a clock. A gentle guidance from the Grandmother always brought in the best
results and the process got ingrained smoothly.
Life in all its ways has a lot to offer, learn
and teach. We expect to learn easily so we must also teach calmly. I was taught
the Hindi Language Numbering System by my Grandmother as a game- I learnt it in
no time. My first dive of Submarine was an easy one as I just gamed it happily.
There were absolutely no hitches ever as the clarity within the fog of events
is there to be assessed, analyzed and actions performed.
I bow my head in reverence to my elders who
taught me patiently. Maybe they knew that the VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain,
Complex & Ambiguous) World was a reality. Now we know that the Artificial
Intelligence enabled VUCA World has already raised its envelope for humans to
be engulfed. What do we need? Maybe, the Grandmother’s conduct of her life
holds the keys. Is it, eh?
