On the deck

Manmohan Singh may have been the obvious guest of honour on his day at sea, but the real star for the navy’s officers and sailors was first lady Gursharan Kaur.

At sea, first lady was always a step ahead

Manmohan Singh may have been the obvious guest of honour on his day at sea, but the real star for the navy’s officers and sailors was first lady Gursharan Kaur. Enthusiastic and visibly excited throughout, the PM’s wife displayed a boundless amount of energy charging up the seemingly endless flights of stairs on Viraat for the displays even as the PM’s entourage slowed up from the exertion. Her companion for the duration of the trip was the Navy Chief’s wife Kumkum Prakash, who held Mrs Kaur’s hand and answered each one of her questions, ranging from how Sea Harriers’s floated in the air to what Ilyushin-38s were used for.

Sound and steady

National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, who was happy to come out and mix with the rest of the crew and visitors unlike the rest of the PMO, has had a history of seasickness. He confessed as much over breakfast on Saturday morning, but quickly pointed out that on this trip he felt quite alright — no surprises there. The 29,000-ton Viraat, he admitted, which doesn’t so much as shiver even when four helicopters land on its deck, was much too stable to bring it all up. At any rate, PMO members who fancied a morning walk on the flight deck were shooed back to their cabins. This is an operational area and flying was on, they were politely told.

The show PM missed

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With the IAF constantly flaunting its mid-air refuelling capability, the navy was keen to show the PM its power to do the same mid-sea from a tanker. But what was truly a sight to watch — three ships cruising parallel, 80 feet apart, connected by fuelling tubes — was completely missed by the PM. The reason: Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt was too busy catching the PM’s attention to explain how something else worked. When he finally finished, the refuelling was already over, much to the navy’s frustration.

The grand old lady

Most of the warships on display for the PM were Indian-made. And just before he left, the PM was presented a wooden model of the HMS Trincomallee, a 250-year-old Indian made ship, currently the oldest ship still sailing.

rime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the gathering during the inauguration of the PM MITRA Park and foundation stone laying ceremony of development works, in Dhar, Madhya Pradesh. (@NarendraModi via PTI Photo)

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