A PROFILE IN NOT JUST COURAGE-MY MEMORIES OF SURESH KUNDANMAL

                                 As a young Sub Lt in 1968, I was appointed to INS Beas, then a frontline warship of the Western Fleet at Bombay. The Navigating Officer traditionally ensures that trainees are put through their paces and kept on their feet 24/7. Lt Suresh Kundanmal the Navigator impressed me by his dedication, sense of humour, immaculate turnout, physical fitness, and above all the empathy he so abundantly possessed. Soon we were like buddies and the learning process under his guidance was a model I carried with me till I retired in 2006.

 Let me recall some anecdotes. Duty hours were as they ought to be. Formal and serious. Off duty, Suresh became one of us. In the days when owning a scooter, much less a car, was out of our reach, he would toss his Motor Bike keys to me when he was on duty and I was off, and suggest that I paint the town red. He was intrinsically generous and during the many months that followed, never once asked me where I ventured on his precious bike. That was the time he was courting his soon to be a wife and the bike had to be in top condition before he rode off, almost like Pete Maverick in Top Gun!

On a bright Sunday morning he decided to have a motorbike race on the Marine Drive with a shipmate who owned a more powerful bike. And so, equipped with large Start and Finish flags, off we went to the Marine Drive and started a crazy circuit. Little did we know that the roads were closed for a VIP visit at almost the same time as our race. Did that deter Suresh? No way. I was ordered to wave the Start Flag and off they went. The traffic Cops of those days did not have a vehicle that could intercept a bike. Onlookers on the seafront were treated to a rare sight of speeding bikes, howling Cops, whistles, and chaos during the circuit which brought the riders back again till the completion of the last circuit. We all rode on as if we had not heard the Cops. Having overtaken the VIP entourage, we rode back to the safety of the highly restricted area of the Lion Gate, where no one was allowed entry without passes. For the first time, I saw his bike engine cease due to unintended high speeds.

That Suresh was a musician too and could handle a fair number of instruments were known to some of us. But I have never seen such a talent used to rescue a Captain. Our Capt. was rather allergic to the Admiral springing a surprise visit to the ship.  So, it happened with Suresh at the gangway as the Officer of the Day (OOD) and me the other Suresh as his deputy. The Capt. was informed at the last minute that the Admiral’s car had swung our way. The charging Capt who wanted all the right ceremonials of sounding the Alert (to announce the presence of an Admiral) tripped on his run and ran smack into the bugler. The bugler had dropped the bugle on the deck just when the nervous Capt. yelled, “Sound the alert”. Then came the recovery by my hero. Cool as a cucumber, Suresh stepped ahead, picked up the bugle, and sounded the best Alert I have ever heard. A Lt sounding an alert-never seen ever.

Fast forward, days before INS Khukri was sunk on 08 Dec 1971, I was on my way back in a Missile boat after sinking ships off Karachi. I was saddened when a few days later I heard of his sacrifice.

Suresh Kundanmal was and is my hero and I would not have narrated this story if fate, happenstance or serendipity had not intervened, as a mail from his brother, today 02 Feb 2021.

Au Revoir Suresh-we can have a good laugh when we meet again.