Friday, December 29, 2017

Unfinished Story No. 3 – The “Activist”

THE “ACTIVIST”
A Fictional Spoof
By
VIKRAM KARVE

Circa : mid-1980’s (On a Navy Ship)

PART 1

A CASE OF “WIFE-BEATING”

“Sir – let me tell you that – first of all – I did not beat my wife – I don’t beat my wife – but – suppose – even if I beat my wife – who are you to ask me about it...? Tell me, Sir – am I beating your wife…? If I thrash my own wife – it is my personal matter – and it’s none of anyone else’s business – especially NWWA…” the Chief Petty Officer (CPO) said angrily to the Executive Officer (XO).

Observing that the situation was getting out of control – I said to the CPO:

“Carry on, Chief…”

[A CPO (Chief Petty Officer) is colloquially addressed as “Chief” in the Navy – and – the command “Carry on, Chief” (or “Dismissed”) meant that I was ordering the Sailor to go away)

The CPO looked at me – and he said smartly to me:

“Aye, Aye, Sir…”

Then – the CPO put on his cap – he saluted the XO – and he walked out of the XO’s cabin.

The XO looked at me angrily – he seemed furious at my intervention.

He marched me up to the Captain.

After hearing the XO’s diatribe against me – the Captain looked at me with questioning eyes.

I remained silent.

So – the Captain asked me:

“Do you have anything to say…? Why did you rudely interrupt the XO when he was speaking to your Chief…?”

“Sir – I prevented an aggravated offence – my Chief is a “hot-headed” guy – and – the XO was unnecessarily taunting him…” I said, “Sir – please tell me – why should we be concerned about a sailor’s personal life…?”

The Captain looked at me and said:

“Well – to be frank – as long as they are doing their job well on board my ship – I don’t give a tinker’s damn about the personal lives of my officers and sailors – but – you must remember – now – we are in the “East” – we are no longer based in Bombay – now – we are in Vizag – here – things are different…” 

(Those days – in the 1980’s – Mumbai was known as Bombay – and – Vizag is the colloquial name for Visakhapatnam)

Our Captain was right – those days – in the 1980’s – there was a huge cultural difference between the “Working” Naval Command (WNC) – and – the “Entertainment” Naval Command (ENC) – and – of course – the “Sleeping” Naval Command (SNC) had an altogether different culture.

“Sir – what should we do about this NWWA letter…?” the XO asked the Captain.

(NWWA was an acronym for Navy Wives Welfare Association – the new “welfare oriented” avatar of erstwhile Naval Officers Wives Association (NOWA) – which was purely a Social Organization)

“What to do with the NWWA letter…? Simple – throw the bloody letter out of the porthole and forget about it. Don’t you know “Porthole Strategy”…?” the Captain said to the XO.

“Sir – he has already done “porthole strategy” to the first letter – this letter is a reminder…” the XO said, pointing at me.  

“Okay. File the letter – and forget about it…” the Captain said, giving me the NWWA letter.

After he gave me the letter – the Captain looked at us – and he said:

“Come on – guys – let’s not waste time on such trivial issues – we are sailing tomorrow for an important “operational exercise”. I hope you are ready…?” the Captain said – looking particularly at me.

“Yes, Sir…” I said.

We – the XO and Me – we saluted the Captain – then – we exited from cabin – and – as we walked towards the XO’s cabin – I apologized to the XO:

“Sir – I am sorry…

The XO said to me:

“It’s okay – you did the right thing by asking the sailor to go away. I suggest you advise your sailor to “keep-off” his wife tonight. Tomorrow we sail out. And – by the time we return – hopefully this issue will be forgotten…”

Of course – I didn’t talk to my Chief Petty Officer (CPO) – it was none of my business to interfere in his personal life.

Next morning – we sailed out for the operational exercise – my CPO’s professional performance was excellent – and our ship did very well in all the evolutions.

Then – after the exercise – we sailed away on a cruise.

Story to be continued in Part 2… 

VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve 
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Disclaimer:
This story is a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the story are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:
No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

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