A cringe-worthy performance by the new CNS (he’s the same person who, in full dress uniform, including medals, cap, and sword, bent down to touch his parents’ feet in public, with photographers clicking away in abandon the demeaning of the rank and the uniform he wore on his very first day). I wanted to press the ‘Pause’ button but could not look away. This was a shipwreck in slow motion.
But then, come to think of it: When you have a man at the top who thinks that such juvenile wordplay is an alternative to intelligent and articulate speech, or schoolboyish punning replaces the need for coherent and inspired leadership, or that creating acronyms or breaking down words to letters that are then put together to mean something profound-sounding but empty is impressive or clever, can you really blame the uniformed chiefs if they think that is the style of leadership that is desired from and expected of them?
I hope when he watches this video (which could very well have been that of an old uncle reading a WhatsApp forward, but unfortunately isn’t) later, he’d want to go home and drown himself in a thimbleful of water that no ship would float on. What a fool he has made himself out to be in public! What a fall from the likes of Admirals Tahiliani and Ramdas and Bhagwat. The Indian Navy deserves better.
