Thread by @mananbhattnavy

It's #NavyDay today!! 🧵
Happy Navy day to those who served and those who are serving.
Navy is traditionally a mixture of extremes. It is the navy which won territories for the nations. Spain, England, Holland, Portugal, France and India were all successful colonial powers only+

because of their respective navies.
On the other hand, sailors - as against the navy - bring to mind fun and frolic. More than any group of people in the world, it is the sailors who are associated with deeds that usually gets shunted by the general conscience: +

Getting drunk at the slightest pretext in any bar or shack, engaging in brawls for no reason at all while there, rushing to the places where girls await with outstretched hands.

Indian Navy is different.

We dutifully send money home as soon as we get the salaries +

which automatically translates into not spending much on drinks or girls. Or, complete absence of these activities!

When young men join the Indian Navy, almost everyone of them is a complete ignoramus. About the only info they have on the navy is that the navy has ships in it.+

And, they are there not as proponents of any patriotism but as seekers of a way to earn their livelihood. A 16-18 year old boy cannot be full of nationalistic fervour. He is more likely to be filled with more practical thoughts like food, sports and girls.
However, as time goes+

-by, the Sailor becomes aware of things that go beyond food et al. His employment which was solely for his salaries in the beginning slowly gets transformsed into something more purposeful.

His individual fulfillment takes a more generalistic and a sharp focus.+

The country and the part he plays in its general welfare becomes an important part of him. He may be just a drop in the ocean that is the large set up called the defence forces but he is as important as the ocean itself. He is, isn't he?

The navy teaches him things+

he did not know existed. Parallely growing is a mature outlook on life itself. He knows he is in the navy not only to live but to die as well. Death is at the gangway! Like when it was when confronted by China and Pakistan.

Can you deny that it is the navy that prepares you+

for the life in a civilian milieu? Yes, you might have acquired knowledge that the navy had not provided, no denying that but the basic premise stays, isn't it?

On a personal note, I owe it to the navy all that have been and am now. My 15 years in the navy are the foundation for me, my life and my family.

Let's have a drink to that, cheers!
#Musings #IndianNavy #NavyDay2022
#NavyDay