During my Army service, I had the occasion to work with the Indian Navy closely, both in my official capacity and due to my involvement in the sport of yachting. On many occasions my friends have assumed I am in the Navy due to this. Many trips for international events in the 1970s and 1980s when foreign travel was rare also led the immigration authorities in India and abroad asking the same question from me! My first foreign travel was in 1977 when I was returning from Tehran on completion of my leg of a sailing expedition in a small 19-foot Seabird Class boat from Mumbai (then Bombay) – Karachi – Bandar Abbas (Iran).

• 

• 

The association with the Navy has been a pleasant one, and I enjoyed their work culture whenever I was officially working with them.

• 

It was during my posting as Chief Engineer with the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam in 2006 that I was fortunate to be closely involved in the planning and preparation for one of the biggest Naval events – the 9th Presidential Fleet Review. President APJ Abdul Kalam would be reviewing the fleet.

This mega event is held once during a President’s tenure, the first being held in 1953. The fleet review is a long-standing tradition observed by all major navies. It is a ceremonial event where the President witnesses the navy’s strength and reaffirms his faith in its ability to safeguard the nation’s maritime interests.

All the previous eight Reviews had been held in Mumbai and this was the first occasion it was being held in Vizag. To cater to a large number of VIPs, various infrastructures of the Naval base, as well as the city itself underwent a massive upgrade. And I was involved in the thick of it all.

In a coincidence, which is another story, the C-in-C came to know about my interest in photography and he appointed me as one of the (numerous) “official” photographers for the event. This ensured that I had a helicopter at my disposal whenever I wanted to go for a photo-shoot! This was not very often owing to the myriad civil engineering construction and maintenance projects to be completed within seemingly impossible deadlines before the event. It was an opportunity not to be lost and I did fly over the fleet of ships at anchorage, and while they were sailing in the Bay of Bengal, on a number of occasions.

• 

• 

Around 60 capital ships and submarines accompanied by about 55 aircraft was an impressive number and I was fortunate to be able to sail on various ships, fly overhead and land on some. The aircraft carrier INS Viraat was the showpiece and I had numerous landings on it – mostly to refuel during the long hours of flying. The carrier was decommissioned in 2017 after a long, eventful history. I was lucky to have seen it at close quarters in operation.

The only dampener to the whole show was the haze that hung over Vizag harbour and Bay of Bengal most of the time during the practice and on the final day.

• 

• 

The Fleet Review itself was a grand show with ships decked up at anchor and lit up beautifully at night. The whole city used to come out to watch and it looked as if the whole populace was at a mela.

The president sails on the Presidential ship to review the fleet and take salute.

The President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces, stood on the deck of INS Sukanya, which went past ships lined up in four columns off the Ramakrishna beach for the review.

The Fleet Review was followed by an aerial display in the afternoon, another breathtaking show of acrobatics and marine commando operations.

The acrobatics was accompanied with a flypast of various naval aircraft.

Once all the events and celebrations were over, it was time for the ships to return to their base ports. That was the last opportunity I got to take photographs from the helicopter. The fleet sailing out in the Bay of Bengal was a grand sight indeed! Something that one would never forget.

And I made the best use of the opportunity. After flying throughout the day, when dusk started approaching our helicopter made one last pass behind the aircraft carrier, before dropping me off on one of the destroyers that would be returning to Vizag.

With the sun having set, it was time to head back to the destroyer which would take me back to Vizag.

As is obvious from the above photographs, the event for me was one beyond what I could have imagined. I had a grandstand view of the events and got an opportunity to take photographs from unthinkable angles. In addition, I had the chance to see the operation of ships and aircraft out at sea. Such moments come rarely, and I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to be there when it presented itself. It was the C-in-C who gave me the opportunity, just because of what he had seen earlier about me in passing. Nothing escapes the eyes of a great leader!

In passing, I handed over about 2500 photographs I had taken to the C-in-C. This included a photograph of every ship sailing! That was a lot of flying. To give an idea of the quantum of flying, on one day my helicopter landed thrice on INS Viraat to refuel during a photoshoot session!

Note: All photographs displayed above are my exclusive property; their use is prohibited without explicit consent, in writing.