An interesting and eventful autobiography of the nonagenarian Vice-Admiral SH Sarma titled My years at sea was released here on Sunday. The book embodies the reflections and reminiscences of a war veteran and military genius, who was instrumental in inflicting a crushing defeat on the Pakistani Naval Forces during the 1971 War.
Admiral Sarma was the first Flag Officer commanding the Eastern Fleet. Under his command, during the 1971 War, the Eastern Fleet took on and humbled the East Pakistan Defence forces by surprise. During the operations, the East Pakistan ports were blockaded by ships of the Eastern Fleet very effectively. Bollywood has recently released two wonderful movies Rustom and Ghazi Attack about true life incidents in the Indian Navy. While both movies are works of fiction and very well-made, it is true that Admiral Sarma was involved with both the true life incidents. Admiral Sarma had taken over as second in command of the Flagship INS MYSORE after Cdr Nanavati, and as the Fleet Commander of the Fleet when the PNS GHAZI was sunk.
This book contains an epic account of the growth of Indian Navy from its infancy to its present status as an invincible and impregnable mistress of the sea. One can feel the history of the liberation of Bangladesh and the monumental contribution of Admiral Sarma to the national Defence palpable from every page of the book. The autobiography of Admiral Sarma, who is viewed by foreign press as the Nelson of India, shall undoubtedly be a treasure token not only for every naval person but also for every Indian citizen.
The introduction to the book was given by Navin C Sarma and by the author Admiral Sarma. Murali Manohar Sharma gave an introduction on the life history of the author while Dr Bimalendu Mohanty depicted Admiral Sarma as an all-time great hero of the Indian Navy and hoped that Sarma’s name would be remembered by the youths of Odisha as a role model.
Former DGP of Odisha AB Tripathy mentioned about the Navy mutiny in Bombay before Independence and maintained that the freedom of India happened in 1947 as a pre-pone affair owing to naval resentment at the time obviously hinting at the part played by Sarma then. General BK Mohapatra, himself a war veteran during the Goa operations, vividly described Admiral Sarma as a great patriot and a rare naval officer who has immensely contributed to the resurgence and revival of the Indian Navy as an officer second to none even in the world scenario.
The audience sat glued to their seats on hearing the accounts of a naval military genius like Sarma, whose timely blockades of the then East Pakistan’s Chittagong and other ports made possible the decisive victory of India during the 1971 War. Publisher Anil Dhir informed about his painstaking efforts for bringing out a new edition of the book as it is found to be in demand in the country from almost all quarters.
At the outset, Nalini Sarma, the loving and the caring daughter-in-law of the author, welcomed the guests and the audience while the author’s grandsons Shakti Prasad Mishra, Jyoti Mishra, Anshul Kumar Sarma with their brilliant repertoires added salt and spice to the occasion. The meeting ended with a vote of thanks by Radha Sarma. Prominent among others present were a number of war veterans of the Army, the Air force and the Navy including lieutenant General Narayan Prasad Mohanty.
