Telegenic exercise

It was the early morning of September 17, 2000. After riding out typhoon Saomai for four days, I, as fleet commander, led a formation of Indian naval ships up the overcrowded Huang-Po river to the bustling port of Shanghai. The 60-odd miles up the river were rather hair-raising. Numerous boats went by literally inches from the flagship, INS Delhi, despite the escort of an impressive array of Chinese naval patrol boats. Then our Chinese liaison officer said in flawless English, 8220;Sir, would you like to exchange gun salutes?8221; The flagship was ready and I agreed to this 8216;short notice request8217;. Just before they were to commence, the officer said, 8220;Sir, can you please delay the salutes a little? National TV can8217;t get a proper shot.8221; The gun salutes were exchanged a few minutes later and duly recorded.

Our hosts were determined to make our visit a success. The jetty was lined up with a ceremonial band, VIPs, the entire 200-strong Indian community and, yes, national TV! Later we were given a grand dinner, where the admiral pointed to the first of two large TV sets and said, 8220;Now this function is on Shanghai TV.8221; A few minutes later, he pointed to the second TV and said, 8220;Now we are on national TV.8221;

It was impressive, and the hosts and guests were on their best behaviour as they basked in their celebrity status. When this moment was over, the admiral raised his glass of Mao-tai wine and said, 8220;Now that we8217;re no longer on TV, let8217;s enjoy ourselves like good seafarers. Campay cheers!8221;

Protocol visits, sports and cultural activities and the planning for our brief 8216;Indian Navy-People8217;s Liberation Army Navy exercise8217;, which was to take place after departure on September 21, followed. Every day duty officers regaled us with stories of extensive TV coverage.

At noon, on September 21, we sailed out after another grand function at the jetty, again captured on TV. It was past sunset when we reached the open sea and commenced our basic exercises with a Chinese warship, literally in the dark. On completion, as we bid goodbye to each other at sea, a young officer remarked, 8220;I don8217;t think this exercise was covered by TV!8221;