Born on a rescue ship, tsunami miracle baby hopes to join Navy: ‘Want to repay the debt’

It was on December 26, 2004, that her parents, B Balram and B Laxmi, watched the tsunami wreck their home and village in Hut Bay Island (Little Andaman).

Holding on to her husband, Laxmi, then nine-months pregnant, clambered up a nearby hill that was still safe from the waters.

“We stayed there for three days, without food or water or anything warm. On the fourth day, INS Gharial came like an angel from above and rescued us both, my mother and sister, along with many others who had also sought shelter there,” recounted Balram, who worked as a fisherman at the time.

“Somehow, we managed to get on the lifeboat that took us to the ship that was in anchorage a little distance away,” said Laxmi, who was just 23 years old then. As she boarded the ship, she started to feel labour pains, she recalled.

Balram told the first senior officer he met about his wife’s condition. “He assured me that all would be fine, now that we were with them,” said Balram.

As the ship started to sail towards Port Blair, Laxmi’s pains intensified. The ship’s doctor, assisted by a motley crew untrained for such situations, successfully delivered her baby girl — B Glory, at 7 pm on December 29, 2004.

When the ship reached Port Blair the next day, Glory and her mother were admitted to a hospital, and Balram was given accommodation nearby. “We stayed in Port Blair for five months while the government rebuilt our house,” said Balram.

While the miracle of the birth was not lost on the grateful family, for the Indian Navy too, it was a first-of-its-kind emergency delivery on a warship. The Navy marked the occasion by declaring that it would “adopt” Glory and take care of her education. Later, when Balram could no longer make a living by fishing, the Navy also facilitated a job for him at his village.

“We had picked up 645 people from the overloaded jetty of Hut Bay on December 29, the priority was to accommodate women and children first. Laxmi was among 4-5 women who were pregnant,” recounted Commodore A Venugopal (retired), the then Commanding Officer of INS Gharial.

“We sailed out at 2 pm. By evening, it was clear that Laxmi would deliver. We had just one doctor on board and he was a little apprehensive, having never delivered a baby before, but it was a normal and smooth delivery by God’s grace,” he said.

Venugopal informed the Naval Headquarters of the birth, and the message was soon relayed to all Naval ships and establishments. “The Commander-in-Chief then sent a request to the highest authorities for the Navy to adopt the girl and look after her education. That was cleared and it continues till date. We also helped the family in their resettlement. I, too, visited them when I went there on promotion a few years later,” said Venugopal, who was later awarded the Nau Sena Medal for the tsunami rescue operations.

Glory now has two younger siblings — a 19-year-old brother and a 15-year-old sister. “Right from childhood, I was aware of how blessed I was to have survived those circumstances and be a part of the Indian Navy throughout my growing up years. They have called me so often for functions, felicitated me, given me a platform to speak, wished me every year on my birthday, have had their personnel checking in on us to see if we need anything and, of course, supported me completely in my education, paying all my fees,” she said.

Two years ago, Glory moved to Port Blair to complete her graduation in computer science from the JNRM College. After her graduation, she aspires to join the Indian Navy as an officer. “Once I graduate, I will appear for the SSB (Services Selection Board) exam and, God willing, join the Indian Navy. It’s the only way I know to repay the debt,” she said.