Carpe diem

The last week too went by in a flash it would seem. There was much happening all around and that must be whats causing me to feel like the world is going by at a crazy speed. Ashwin completed his Centre for Marine Engineering Training Phase II program at Lonavla and on the 1st of Jan 2010 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in the Indian Navy.

Almost immediately they had their Stripe wetting ceremony - a Naval tradition that goes back to the time of Lord Nelson when officers of the British Navy sometimes got promoted at sea and got their new stripes on board - these stripes tend to look rather fresh and shiny when laid against their older stripes so other senior officers wet the new promotee's stripes with beer or alcohol to dullen them to match the old stripes! Ofcourse, the ceremony then moves into high gear with a lot of alcohol flowing and people getting rather drunk.

Then next I hear that Ashwin has been asked to be the Staff Officer for the visit of an Admiral to INS Shivaji so he had to head off to Mumbai airport and pick up the top Navy brass and ferry him (sitting properly on his left) to his base.
Thereafter he had to be around the Admiral till he left base. That left Ashwin with almost no time to pack and make his move to Mumbai to meet with his sister and brother-in-law-to-be before he left for Vizag where he would join the Submarine training school.

Come Sunday afternoon and we get a call from Ashwin saying he has reached INS Satavahana in Vizag - he is almost intimidated by the size of everything around - his room is located atop a hill while everything else is at the base of the hill which means he is going to have to go up and down that hill a fair number of times every day. This morning they start their training - it all starts with Escape Training School where the trainees enter a 100' tower filled with water, from the base of the tower and train to reach the top of the tower in as little time as possible! Its all very physical and one can see he is going to have to be 200% fit in order to be able to complete the next one year successfully! Can only wish him good luck and tell him Carpe diem!