WRITE UP OF EVENTS BY U.V.GOKHALE ON OUR REUNION AT
WELLINGTON GYMKHA CLUB WELLINGTON – CONOOR, FROM 02.12.2022 TO 07.12.2022
PARTICIPANTS
SANAT BHATE
U.V.GOKHALE AND SHABNUM
S.K.SHANTAGIRI and Son IN law VIMAL PARHTASARATHY
AMARAJ NAIN AND GULLU
SOMESH BATRA AND UMA
SOMAN MANI and Son JELJIT
SIRISH SINHA AND PILLAR
SATNAM SAHI AND INDERJIT
SUDHIR SUBHEDAR AND CHITRALEKHA
When we disbursed after our Reunion at Secunderabad in 2020, we had no idea that it would take two years and about ten and a half months to get back together again. The Corona epidemic took its toll, we survived but Suresh Kanwar had a bad attack which ravaged him and it has still not fully left him, Shalini and the girls did their bit so he was there in person, cheerful and vibrant, at yesterday’s lunch hosted by Satish Sud on 16.12.2022
Our chosen venue the Wellington Gymkhana Club [WGC], was a repeat of our 2018 foray, chosen because of its wonderful location and good service. No 5 star but reasonably priced spacious, single floor, units having sitting, bed and dressing rooms with a decent and well maintained clean bathroom. Accommodation is stretchable to include one or two extra guests – a small family. Rates charged are also quite affordable considering the beauty and
peaceful surroundings, tucked away from the noise and fumes of road traffic.
We trickled in to the WGC, most on the 2 nd of December 2022 and some the next day. Names of the participants are listed above. We were greatly reduced in number especially because none of the Aussies could make it. We certainly missed them. A new addition to our group was Sudhir Subhedar of the 1965-67 batch, his wife Chitralekha joined us as well. Sudhir is an active participant and functionary in the Marine world as well as having served in the I.M.O. His roots are in Kanpur just like mine although his family have a long history of being historically, politically, as well as socially influential people of Bithoor, a satellite town of Kanpur. He also runs a college in Bithoor, which is doing yeoman service for the people of his area. Shashi brought along Vimal, his son-in-law and Soman brought along Jeljit, his son. I hope we continue to have their attendance at our future reunions. Well, inspite of being the second smallest group in our history – Kolkata 2009 – took that honour, with 9 participants, we had a jolly good time with a very crisp and easy schedule efficiently managed by Shashi Shantagiri, who dotted all the ‘i’s and crossed all the ‘t’s – with the generous help of Ronald Victor D’Rosario, our junior. Ron helped us with getting the accommodation at the Wellington Gymkhana Club, Coonoor, as he had done when we gathered in 2018 for our first reunion there. He and his wife KAYO were a joy to be with and they gave us the opportunity to enjoy memorable lunches at the Ooty and the Coonoor Clubs, relics of the British Raj which have been well preserved in their original style.
This time, we did not go haring around the place sightseeing but stuck to basics, lunches being away and evenings at the WGC. First lunch was at a beautiful hilltop restaurant called “CELESTE BY MINDSCAPES “, situated somewhere between Coonoor and Ooty, almost an hour away, some got there by including a train ride from Coonoor to Ooty on the famous Nilgiris Railway. Sanat Bhate took a hairy car trip to Cochin and back the same night to meet his seriously ill batchmate, Peter Manilal in hospital there. He had an emotionally charged meeting with Peter, who we are told, is now on the way to recovery. On the way back he had to struggle through the chaos caused by the visit of Hon. Mr. Stalin, Chief Minister, to
Coimbatore, which must have delayed his return by at least an hour.
One of the highlights of this outing was the surprise [for us chance visitors] arrival of the Chief of Defence Staff by helicopter which landed at the Golf Course adjoining the Clubhouse. One morning we saw an unprecedented buildup of security personnel and support services in the club parking lot. Word got out about an anticipated event so we all waited outside our rooms on the lookout.
Good lunches gave way to leisurely siestas followed by teatime gossip under the Gazebo outside the clubhouse. Evenings were all spent at the WGC itself, which was a nice venue for a drink and a bite. The almost complete absence of room service relieved us of the tendency to linger in our rooms and head for the bar & lounge after the ringing of seven bells [ 1930 hrs. quarterdeck time]. One variant from this was the night of 4 th December which we had in the first floor balcony of the Golf Club-house, when we remembered, paid homage to our batchmates gone before us. Sadly, Anup Ganju [cadet no. 1766] left us in March 2019, which loss further lengthened our honour list. He and I had made our sea service debut together on the SCI ship m.v. State of Bihar.
On the last day that we were together, Ronald and Kayo along with their charming daughter and her family, treated us to drinks at their beautiful house in Coonoor. We thanked them for their help and wonderful company during our stay and thereafter adjourned to the ORCHID restaurant in town for lunch. A hearty South Indian meal and back to siesta time at base. Our last evening, with the whole group intact was back in the club bar and lounge with a somewhat subdued but nevertheless cheerful atmosphere. You cannot keep sailors down for long.
Rather than dwell upon the gloom of parting, and to end this narrative on a positive, please give it your best shot and come to these shenanigans, big or small, you will always be welcomed and as far as is possible you will be reminded of a period in your lives when you were sent through the thick and thin so that you could do the same to those who followed you and yet stay afloat against man’s biggest adversaries- nature and time.
Lastly, a word of thanks to Shashi Shantagiri for having looked into all aspects of the event and for nailing down the most daunting needs of this whole jig, transport and khana peena. Every bit of info which any participant might need was dutifully passed on to us. You cannot keep him down, he has already got a bee in his bonnet about the next one. Keep on chooglin’!!