Sinking a titan

The last post has sounded for the Old Lady of the Indian Navy. In a month8217;s time, INS Vikrant, India8217;s first and best-known aircraft carrier, would have been stripped ignominiously of her polished mahogany, leather upholstery and brass fittings and rendered into little more than sheets of scrap to be sold in an open auction. When this battleship was decommissioned in 1997, after 35 years at sea, its first captain, Pritam Singh Mahindroo, is believed to have remarked that 8220;it was like bidding your wife of many years goodbye8221;. The emotion was not misplaced.

To think this 18,000-tonne warship once had ruled the waters that surround this nation with her pennants proudly fluttering in the breeze. To think that once Sea Harrier jets had screamed to their take off and helicopters had hunkered to a halt on the broad, steel expanse of her flight deck. To think that once her grey silhouette out at sea was as familiar to the children of Bombay as the Gateway of India. To think that during the wars on 1965 and 1971,it was the INS Vikrant that was the sheet anchor of naval operations. Today, all these are just fragments of memory. It8217;s truly ironic that when the INS Vikrant was commissioned in 1961, a hymn composed to Aditi, the symbol of eternity, figured prominently in the ceremony. Now the nation thinks nothing of letting this bit of 8220;eternity8221; sink in the waters of oblivion as if it was nothing more than a paper boat fashioned by a child. If this doesn8217;t demonstrate the cavalier manner in which this country treats its past, what does? Although this subcontinent is surrounded by the sea and despite its rich maritime traditions and associations, its maritime history is poorly documented and preserved. Now it appears that Indians are not interested in preserving even the little they have in terms of maritime memorabilia. After the INS Vikrant was decommissioned, the Ministry of Defence had magnanimously decided to hand it over to the people of Maharashtra, to whom it rightly belonged. The idea was to convert it into amaritime museum so that the vessel lived on in a fashion and continued to inspire future generations. The government of Maharashtra seemed initially excited about the project, but in time the enthusiasm seemed to evaporate. The state government couldn8217;t even put together the Rs 5 crore required to refurbish the battleship and keep it from rusting. Considering the money that it was spending just to keep a rapidly decaying ship afloat, it is not entirely surprising that the ministry of defence was then forced to authorise the Navy to auction it.

Whether this decision will provoke the Maharashtra government to wake up to its imminent loss and take the necessary action to put the museum project into operation is a matter of conjecture. If, however, it continues to remain apathetic, it would have lost an opportunity to play host to India8217;s 8212; indeed Asia8217;s 8212; most spectacular maritime museum. In the process, the nation would have lost a valuable part of its more recent maritime history.