Accompanying Kalam on his Submarine

Actually, the title is a misnomer. Coz although I did cover the event in Vishakapatnam, I was always at least 100 metres away from the President and could only look at the submarine he was embarking on from a distance of 50 metres, let alone make an undersea sortie in it.

We(the media) flew to and fro on an AN-32 cargo transport plane with a refuelling stopover in Nagpur. It was fun at first but the experience soon became akin to travelling in a flying bus. Pretty soon, everybody dropped off to sleep except for Monica from 'Channel 7' who kept videotaping poeple in weird postures as they slept. She later showed me footage of my 10 seconds of fame - as my head drooped down in synchronised motion.

The trip was for three days and I loved every minute of it - even the part where Yoga from 'Pioneer' and myself got trapped in a veritable stampede while walking back to the hotel after the naval display at R K beach. That was one hell of a walk.

Here are some links to the reports I filed -

Naval operations a hit with the crowds

Curtain-Raiser on Kalam's Submarine Trip

Kalam does his undersea thing

Kalam impressed with Fleet Review

Crowds cheer for lone woman skydiving instructor

Kalam presents his Colours to Eastern Fleet

Kalam reviews naval fleet

Kalam turns poet

Onboard Ex-submarine INS Kursura