Eulogy for our School Buddy and a Jewel of our batch, Admiral Srikant, AVSM, DG, Project Sea Bird (Karwar Naval Base)
Just three months ago,
16th September, 2020, during the foundation day of the Sainik School
Bijapur (SSBJ), Vice Admiral Srikant was invited by the Principal and
management of SSBJ to be the Chief Guest and to deliver the 57th Foundation
Day lecture at our school, which he did so admirably. Srikant in his
outstandingly motivational address to the young Ajeets, highlighted the significance
of education in one’s life and he emphasised the role that Sainik School Plays
in shaping the lives of the students and that he is one of those lucky ones to
have been an alumnus of this great school. His speech was full of motivation to
the young cadets who listened to him with rapt attention and looked up to him
as their role model. It was such a great honour and privilege for all of us - the
Ajeets of 1970 to 1977 batch, that our very own buddy classmate – Srikant, was invited
to be the Chief Guest for our school foundation day. Here is link to my
blogpost which I wrote on this occasion.
https://khened.blogspot.com/2020/09/sainik-school-bijapur-celebrates-its.html
All of us – Tigers77,
the SSBJ classmates of Admiral Srikant, and other Ajeets – SSBJ alumni, would
never ever in our wildest of dreams imagined that the phrase “time and tide wait for no man” would play out its
cruelty to snatch away our beloved school friend and buddy for seven years –
Vice Admiral Srikant, AVSM, who bid good bye to this world at 12.45 AM today, 15th
December 2020. The Raksha Mantri in his tweet paid his homage to Admiral Srikath
and said “The MoD and the Indian Navy will always remember his stellar
contributions and remarkable service to the nation” Srikant was serving as the Director
General (DG) of the most prestigious Navy project - Project Sea Bird (Karwar
Naval Base), and was scheduled for his superannuation on 31st of
this month but then destiny had different plans for him in the heavenly abode,
which is now home to him. He leaves behind his beloved wife Mrs. Sudha Srikant
and his doting daughter, Shraddha and the entire Ajeet family (Alumni of the
Sainik School Bijapur of which he was one) and friends and our countrymen in
whose service Admiral Srikant served the Indian Navy with extraordinary
distinction for nearly four long decades.
At the time of his demise Srikant was holding the most prestigious and pivotal
position of the DG of the largest naval infrastructure project for India, Project Sea Bird - the 21st Century Smart Naval Base, which is being developed at Karwar, Karnataka, which
is spread over 11,300 Acres. This
project when completed will provide the Indian Navy with its largest naval base
on the west coast. Incidentally this will also be the largest naval base in the
east of the Suez Canal. This project will
be able to support several major warships and submarines and yard crafts
besides housing specialized dockyard repair and maintenance facilities (with
piers, wharfs, revetments, quay walls, etc.), covered dry berths for ships and submarines,
new technologically advanced security and communication systems, a Naval Air
Station, which would include multiple runways, hangars, housing, ordnance
handling areas, services, personnel support infrastructure, etc. are some of
the other facilities that are a part of this prestigious project of the Indian
Navy and our dear friend, Admiral Srkant was heading this prestigious project.
This is one of the many responsibilities, which Admiral Srikant shouldered
admirably in his long and illustrious career of nearly four decades in the
Indian Navy, in which he was commissioned in January 1982.
Vice
Admiral Srikant is an alumnus and our batch mate of the Sainik School Bijapur –
SSBJ, our Alma mater, an extraordinary residential school where we studied from
1970-77. Srikant was born on 1st January 1960 in Bangalore and did
his early education in Bangalore before his admission into the Sainik School,
Bijapur in 1970. He studied at the SSBJ from class 5 to class 11 and was
selected for the prestigious National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune from where
he completed his Bachelor of Science and was Commissioned in the Indian Navy in
Jan 1982. He then joined the Submarine Arm of the Indian Navy in 1983. Admiral
Srikant has held various operational appointments on three classes of
conventional submarines of the Navy and commanded the first indigenously built
submarine INS Shalki. His large
Surface Combatant Commands have been of Destroyer Ranvijay and larger Destroyer
Delhi. He held various Staff and Administrative appointments at the Naval
Headquarters, New Delhi, during his long career with the Indian Navy.
Admiral Srikant also holds the distinction of graduating from the prestigious United States Staff College, New Port, Rhode Island in 1995 with Distinction, standing First in the Order of Merit. He is also a graduate of the Naval War College, Mumbai (2004) and the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi (2009) where his thesis ‘China’s Nuclear Capability’ was adjudged worthy for a prestigious Book Prize by the Ministry of Defence. One of the prestigious posting for the serving officers in Defence is a posting in Pakistan and Admiral Srikant has that distinction. He served as the Naval Adviser at the Indian High Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan during the most sensitive period from 1998 to 2002. This was the period when Operation VIJAY and Operation PARAKRAM were conducted by India and the relationship between India and Pakistan were at their lowest and the post which Srikant held in Islamabad was very sensitive and quite risky as well. He served this period admirably and his contributions during this challenging Diplomatic Tenure in Pakistan were duly duly acknowledged by the Navy, Ministries of Defence and External Affairs.
Srikant was also involved in the Nation’s Strategic Submarine Programme from 2004 to 2015. As the Project Director, he managed the large Manpower inductions and positioning in various Technical Work Centres spread across the country. He was elevated to the position of an Admiral in 2011 and he held the Appointment of the Submarine Class Authority at Visakhapatnam dealing with Doctrines, Safety, Training, Indigenization and HR aspects of both Conventional and Nuclear Submarine Forces of the Indian Navy. He was promoted to a Vice Admiral in April 2015. Srikant has served as the Inspector General, Nuclear Safety of Naval Nuclear Platforms and Assets. Aspects related to Nuclear Submarines’ Acquisition, Training, HR aspects, Contract conclusion with the Foreign Consultants and large scale Infrastructure development were both initiated and steered by him and the Nuclear Submarines, Arihant and Chakra were commissioned into the Navy under his direct responsibility.
He also served as the Commandant of India’s Highest Institution of Strategic Learning, the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi from 2018-19. A “Draft” National Security Strategy Document was prepared under his guidance for consideration by the Govt. of India. During the two years as the Commandant, he led High Level Delegations to South Africa, France, Republic of Korea, Australia, Nepal, Japan, Bangladesh, UAE, Israel and Singapore to reinforce the Institution’s footprints and mandate of Nation-building efforts. It was during this period that I invited him to open a new Science Odyssey Show “Aircraft Carriers – Guardian of the Sea” at our centre, which he was very kind to accept. This new show was opened by Admiral Srikant on 30th June 2018 at the Nehru Science Centre and three of my classmates – Milind, Arvind and Pradeep Talikoti and four other Ajeets from Mumbai joined me in greeting and welcoming Srikant to Mumbai. For his meritorious service of nearly four decades, Admiral Srikant has been conferred with Commendation Medal by the Chief of the Naval Staff, and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) by the President of India. Srikant held sensitive posts in Defence, which mandated that he keeps away from public and therefore although he was a member of our TIGERS 77 SSBJ group, he was always a silent spectator who always never forgot to each of us on our birthdays and such other occasions separately.
Srikant was always very adventurous and a compulsive optimist and never spared any effort to achieve any goal set out to him. He exemplified this trait from school days. He was in my neighboring house - Hoysala House and this made it that much more possible for cadets in Vijayanagar house (my house) and Hoysala house cadets to meet very often. While at school he was known for his dare devilish acts one of which included his penchant for catching snakes alive. Our school was spread over 450 acres and there were too many snakes in the campus and whenever he saw one irrespective of whether it was poisonous or not, he made it a point to catch it alive and give it to biology lab. He also caught scorpions and one of the incident will remain etched in my memory. He had caught a scorpion with some babies and he was playing with the baby scorpion in his hand. One of the seniors asked him to eat it. Lo and Behold Srikant swallowed the baby scorpion live. That was our Srikant the dare devil boy from his very young days. He was one of those who came from a very poor family background. There is another incident which comes to my mind which speaks of his daringness and his compulsive optimism. This was narrated to me by Sudhir Phadnis our classmate.
After passing his NDA exam and clearing his SSB (Service Selection Board) interview, Srikant was called for the medical examination at the Pune Military Hospital. Sudhir, who was studying in 12th class in the Garware College in Pune recalled that one fine day Srikant landed in his hostel and that too barefoot. He had run out of all his money and wanted Rs 200/ for travelling to Delhi to challenge the medical report of Pune which had declared him unfit. Srikant, a diehard optimist was convinced that he will never be medically unfit and therefore had preferred to challenge the medical report of Pune. He travelled all alone to Delhi, where he was once again medically reexamined and declared fit and rest is history. He joined the NDA and rose to a very high level office of the Vice Admiral a three-star General.
Sudhir, recounted that Srikant returned the money in an envelope containing 10 numbers of 10 Rupee note and 5 of 20 Rupee note. Srikant kept in regular touch with most of our classmates including yours truly. I used our acquaintance and ensured that he accepts my invitation to open a science odyssey film Aircraft Carrier. He delivered such a wonderful inaugural lecture. Subsequently during one of my visits to Delhi, I visited Srikant in the prestigious National Defence College of which he was the head – The Commandant. Notwithstanding his pre-occupation he personally showed me the entire campus, known for its name and fame. He even asked me how he could improve the aesthetic ambiance of one of the rooms in the NDC. I guided him to the Archaeological Survey of India and suggested that since the NDC building and the proposed room is historical in nature, he may use the vintage and rare photographs of the archaeological sites of Delhi to embellish the room. He always wanted to do the best wherever he served and in whatever capacity he served.
There are innumerable other instances, which were shared in our batch group chats which has revealed that Srikant has always made it a point to wish everyone of us on special occasions. He also tried to find time to attend social gatherings and functions. He has attended the marriages of some of our classmate’s children for which he used to fly down and return on the same day. In one instance quoted today Srikant flew down from Delhi to Bangalore to meet our class mate V S. Patil, who is presently in US, during the funeral of V S Patil’s father. Srikant had great vision for the School, he was discussing as to what he could take up post his retirement, which was just 15 days away. He was also invited as the Chief Guest in one of the most reputed schools in Ooty – The Good Shepherd International School by one of our former teachers Shri P. C. Thomas. Just before the Covid-19 lockdown Srikant had flown to Mumbai for an official meeting in the month of February, 2020 and he was to go back on the same day. It so happened that while he was crossing the Bandra Worli Sea link, he realised that he was about 15 to 20 minutes ahead of his schedule and therefore he called me and asked me if we could meet for about 15 minutes. Accordingly, we met at the Nehru Centre and had wonderful nostalgic memories. He remembered that Satish Maneshinde, one year senior in Sainik School, has an office in Worli and asked me about it. Satish’s office was just on the other side of the road. He expressed how he had more time so that we could go and meet him. He also told me that he will come once again and that all of us meet Satish in his office. But then almighty had other plans for him.
Srikant took the lead role in our batch meeting to construct a memorial Ajit Dwar in memory of our batch mate Colonel Ajit Bhandarkar, who was martyred in Kashmir not before showing exemplary valour to exterminate three terrorists and in the process he was awarded the coveted Shaurya Chakra. In memory of our martyr friend Ajit all of us had united to raise the requisite funds to construct the AjIt Dwar at the SSBJ. Srikant co-ordinated entire event and he was supported by all of us particularly Arjun Misale, GS Patil, Jagdish Nandi and A N Gudi. The Ajit Dwar was opened by Srikant himself in the presence of the Principal of the Sainik School and several of our school mates were present for the opening including Smt Shakuntala the wife of our Martyr friend Col Ajit and so also two of his sons who are now both in armed forces. Most unfortunately, I could not be one of those lucky ones to go to Bijapur for this occasion.
There is so much to write about Srikant that words fail to come to my mind due to the shock that we all received this morning. On this occasion, while paying our reverential salutation to Vice Admiral Srikant, I wish to state that the whole nation and our classmates and the entire Ajeet fraternity join us in paying for the noble departed soul of our dear Srikant to rest in eternal peace in the heavenly abode, which will now be home to Srikant for eternity. Our prayers are also with Sudha Srikant, the wife of Srikant who stood by him every moment, and his doting daughter Shraddha. We pray that God give that indomitable strength and courage, which he bestowed on Srikant to Mrs Srikant and his daughter to tide over this colossus irreplaceable loss.
Mrs. Sudha Srikant is a home maker and is a Graduate in English, Sociology and Public Administration, who always took keen interest in various Naval Wives Welfare Association activities. Their Daughter Shraddha holds a Master’s degree in Development Economics from the London University and presently she is working for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) at New Delhi.
Admiral Srikant also holds the distinction of graduating from the prestigious United States Staff College, New Port, Rhode Island in 1995 with Distinction, standing First in the Order of Merit. He is also a graduate of the Naval War College, Mumbai (2004) and the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi (2009) where his thesis ‘China’s Nuclear Capability’ was adjudged worthy for a prestigious Book Prize by the Ministry of Defence. One of the prestigious posting for the serving officers in Defence is a posting in Pakistan and Admiral Srikant has that distinction. He served as the Naval Adviser at the Indian High Commission, Islamabad, Pakistan during the most sensitive period from 1998 to 2002. This was the period when Operation VIJAY and Operation PARAKRAM were conducted by India and the relationship between India and Pakistan were at their lowest and the post which Srikant held in Islamabad was very sensitive and quite risky as well. He served this period admirably and his contributions during this challenging Diplomatic Tenure in Pakistan were duly duly acknowledged by the Navy, Ministries of Defence and External Affairs.
Srikant was also involved in the Nation’s Strategic Submarine Programme from 2004 to 2015. As the Project Director, he managed the large Manpower inductions and positioning in various Technical Work Centres spread across the country. He was elevated to the position of an Admiral in 2011 and he held the Appointment of the Submarine Class Authority at Visakhapatnam dealing with Doctrines, Safety, Training, Indigenization and HR aspects of both Conventional and Nuclear Submarine Forces of the Indian Navy. He was promoted to a Vice Admiral in April 2015. Srikant has served as the Inspector General, Nuclear Safety of Naval Nuclear Platforms and Assets. Aspects related to Nuclear Submarines’ Acquisition, Training, HR aspects, Contract conclusion with the Foreign Consultants and large scale Infrastructure development were both initiated and steered by him and the Nuclear Submarines, Arihant and Chakra were commissioned into the Navy under his direct responsibility.
He also served as the Commandant of India’s Highest Institution of Strategic Learning, the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi from 2018-19. A “Draft” National Security Strategy Document was prepared under his guidance for consideration by the Govt. of India. During the two years as the Commandant, he led High Level Delegations to South Africa, France, Republic of Korea, Australia, Nepal, Japan, Bangladesh, UAE, Israel and Singapore to reinforce the Institution’s footprints and mandate of Nation-building efforts. It was during this period that I invited him to open a new Science Odyssey Show “Aircraft Carriers – Guardian of the Sea” at our centre, which he was very kind to accept. This new show was opened by Admiral Srikant on 30th June 2018 at the Nehru Science Centre and three of my classmates – Milind, Arvind and Pradeep Talikoti and four other Ajeets from Mumbai joined me in greeting and welcoming Srikant to Mumbai. For his meritorious service of nearly four decades, Admiral Srikant has been conferred with Commendation Medal by the Chief of the Naval Staff, and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) by the President of India. Srikant held sensitive posts in Defence, which mandated that he keeps away from public and therefore although he was a member of our TIGERS 77 SSBJ group, he was always a silent spectator who always never forgot to each of us on our birthdays and such other occasions separately.
Srikant was always very adventurous and a compulsive optimist and never spared any effort to achieve any goal set out to him. He exemplified this trait from school days. He was in my neighboring house - Hoysala House and this made it that much more possible for cadets in Vijayanagar house (my house) and Hoysala house cadets to meet very often. While at school he was known for his dare devilish acts one of which included his penchant for catching snakes alive. Our school was spread over 450 acres and there were too many snakes in the campus and whenever he saw one irrespective of whether it was poisonous or not, he made it a point to catch it alive and give it to biology lab. He also caught scorpions and one of the incident will remain etched in my memory. He had caught a scorpion with some babies and he was playing with the baby scorpion in his hand. One of the seniors asked him to eat it. Lo and Behold Srikant swallowed the baby scorpion live. That was our Srikant the dare devil boy from his very young days. He was one of those who came from a very poor family background. There is another incident which comes to my mind which speaks of his daringness and his compulsive optimism. This was narrated to me by Sudhir Phadnis our classmate.
After passing his NDA exam and clearing his SSB (Service Selection Board) interview, Srikant was called for the medical examination at the Pune Military Hospital. Sudhir, who was studying in 12th class in the Garware College in Pune recalled that one fine day Srikant landed in his hostel and that too barefoot. He had run out of all his money and wanted Rs 200/ for travelling to Delhi to challenge the medical report of Pune which had declared him unfit. Srikant, a diehard optimist was convinced that he will never be medically unfit and therefore had preferred to challenge the medical report of Pune. He travelled all alone to Delhi, where he was once again medically reexamined and declared fit and rest is history. He joined the NDA and rose to a very high level office of the Vice Admiral a three-star General.
Sudhir, recounted that Srikant returned the money in an envelope containing 10 numbers of 10 Rupee note and 5 of 20 Rupee note. Srikant kept in regular touch with most of our classmates including yours truly. I used our acquaintance and ensured that he accepts my invitation to open a science odyssey film Aircraft Carrier. He delivered such a wonderful inaugural lecture. Subsequently during one of my visits to Delhi, I visited Srikant in the prestigious National Defence College of which he was the head – The Commandant. Notwithstanding his pre-occupation he personally showed me the entire campus, known for its name and fame. He even asked me how he could improve the aesthetic ambiance of one of the rooms in the NDC. I guided him to the Archaeological Survey of India and suggested that since the NDC building and the proposed room is historical in nature, he may use the vintage and rare photographs of the archaeological sites of Delhi to embellish the room. He always wanted to do the best wherever he served and in whatever capacity he served.
There are innumerable other instances, which were shared in our batch group chats which has revealed that Srikant has always made it a point to wish everyone of us on special occasions. He also tried to find time to attend social gatherings and functions. He has attended the marriages of some of our classmate’s children for which he used to fly down and return on the same day. In one instance quoted today Srikant flew down from Delhi to Bangalore to meet our class mate V S. Patil, who is presently in US, during the funeral of V S Patil’s father. Srikant had great vision for the School, he was discussing as to what he could take up post his retirement, which was just 15 days away. He was also invited as the Chief Guest in one of the most reputed schools in Ooty – The Good Shepherd International School by one of our former teachers Shri P. C. Thomas. Just before the Covid-19 lockdown Srikant had flown to Mumbai for an official meeting in the month of February, 2020 and he was to go back on the same day. It so happened that while he was crossing the Bandra Worli Sea link, he realised that he was about 15 to 20 minutes ahead of his schedule and therefore he called me and asked me if we could meet for about 15 minutes. Accordingly, we met at the Nehru Centre and had wonderful nostalgic memories. He remembered that Satish Maneshinde, one year senior in Sainik School, has an office in Worli and asked me about it. Satish’s office was just on the other side of the road. He expressed how he had more time so that we could go and meet him. He also told me that he will come once again and that all of us meet Satish in his office. But then almighty had other plans for him.
Srikant took the lead role in our batch meeting to construct a memorial Ajit Dwar in memory of our batch mate Colonel Ajit Bhandarkar, who was martyred in Kashmir not before showing exemplary valour to exterminate three terrorists and in the process he was awarded the coveted Shaurya Chakra. In memory of our martyr friend Ajit all of us had united to raise the requisite funds to construct the AjIt Dwar at the SSBJ. Srikant co-ordinated entire event and he was supported by all of us particularly Arjun Misale, GS Patil, Jagdish Nandi and A N Gudi. The Ajit Dwar was opened by Srikant himself in the presence of the Principal of the Sainik School and several of our school mates were present for the opening including Smt Shakuntala the wife of our Martyr friend Col Ajit and so also two of his sons who are now both in armed forces. Most unfortunately, I could not be one of those lucky ones to go to Bijapur for this occasion.
There is so much to write about Srikant that words fail to come to my mind due to the shock that we all received this morning. On this occasion, while paying our reverential salutation to Vice Admiral Srikant, I wish to state that the whole nation and our classmates and the entire Ajeet fraternity join us in paying for the noble departed soul of our dear Srikant to rest in eternal peace in the heavenly abode, which will now be home to Srikant for eternity. Our prayers are also with Sudha Srikant, the wife of Srikant who stood by him every moment, and his doting daughter Shraddha. We pray that God give that indomitable strength and courage, which he bestowed on Srikant to Mrs Srikant and his daughter to tide over this colossus irreplaceable loss.
Mrs. Sudha Srikant is a home maker and is a Graduate in English, Sociology and Public Administration, who always took keen interest in various Naval Wives Welfare Association activities. Their Daughter Shraddha holds a Master’s degree in Development Economics from the London University and presently she is working for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) at New Delhi.
Srikant was given a ceremonial cremation in the true traditions of the Indian Navy including the firing of volleys and wreath laying ceremonies and his mortal remains were confined to the holy fire at 1300 hours this afternoon at the Brar Square Crematorium.
Srikant, my dear friend you will continue to remain in the hearts and minds of all of us.
Rest in peace my friend.
6 comments:
Our heartfelt condolences sir. We miss him.
Irreparable loss to Ajeet family and Nation at large...😥
Thanks for writing it so comprehensively coveting all detail in very short time🙏
Thanks for the exhaustive narration about Srikanth sir...
Sad. I played golf with him. Very down to earth leader. Sad. May his soul attain sadgati. I am brother of Arun Shrivastava served upto Commodore rank in navy. I would like to connect with the author.
A fitting tribute to a great soldier.
May Admiral Shrikant rest in peace. :) :)
OM SHANTI!
Great post! The students who qualify this exam are called for the interview and after this list of finally selected students is published on their official website. Sainik School Coaching With Schooling
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