27 Dec 2018 : It was quite an honour to be at this premier institution. We had over 300 cadets and sailors in attendance – mostly in the age group of 19-25 years. There were a few cadets from overseas – Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. There were a few families as well, and, of course, the officers from the institute. All in all, it was a packed house at the Menaka auditorium!
As we go forward on our journey of creating awareness on road safety, we learn along the way and grow. This time we took time to understand the traffic situation in Pune and places around Pune and realized that in Pune, the accidents have seen a 9.5% increase from the past year
Since visuals have a higher impact, we added a few videos :
o Distracted driving is akin to driving blind
o How a slower speed would have stopped the car before the accident
o How a seat belt is effective in preventive fatal injuries
Sure enough, these have a powerful impact on the presentation.
The motto of INS Shivaji is “Karmasu Kaushalam” : Skill in Action. I drew the parallel to their profession and stressed on the need to be totally alert and on-guard on the road. Proactive driving = alert anticipation.
Towards the end, Shubhi walked up to the stage to talk about why we do what we do. She was very collected and I could see that what she said made an impact.
So when the time came to take the pledge, all the cadets stood up, stretched out their hand, and took the pledge together! This gave us goosebumps. There is something quite powerful in a simple pledge – a call to action – and it gets amplified when so many sincere cadets say it in one voice.
I believe we made a positive impact. Commodore Srinivas who felicitated us said that he would recommend this to other training bases. And sure enough, a few days later, we have received a request from INS Kattabomman, Tirunelveli.
This is the first time that Shubhi and Anuj have attended the session I do for seniors. On the way from the auditorium to our room, our son Anuj said “Good job. I am proud of both of you”. That means a lot to us.
I must thank Mrs Fanny Chakrabarti for her initiative. She got in touch with us in November requesting for a road safety session. Her husband is the officer-in-charge of the Centre of Marine Engineering Technology (CMET).
The team of Cdr Pawandeep Singh, Lt Nitin Sharma, and Sub-Lt Aditya Katoch who helped coordinate the entire event did a wonderful job. Our sincere thanks to them.
Thanks to the hospitality of INS Shivaji, we also got to see a few places in Lonavala and the 2000-year-old Karla caves.
