A Date with Vikrant - the INS kind

This is my 500th post of this year and I had reserved it for a special someone. I visited with this special someone last Saturday for 3+ hours and enjoyed every moment of it. I am sad that I will be able to visit again only after a year. :-( Meet my special someone - INS Vikrant.

This is Indian Navy''s Majestic class light aircraft carrier which might be turned into a museum - a first ever WW2-era British-built aircraft carrier to be preserved this way if Wiki is to be believed. Like every year, it was docked at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai for a 10-day period (13-22 November) so common people can visit it. This year, I finally managed to go and was glad I did.

If you are wondering what's there to see in a carrier that's old enough to have participated in the 1971 war with Pakistan, let me tell you that there's enough to keep you occupied for the entire allowed period of 10am-5pm. There is information about the ship's role in the Liberation of Goa in 1962 as well as the 1971 war. There is loads of information on the history of India's maritime progress. There are guns and ammunition on display. You can get a glimpse into the life of the Navymen as you walk into areas like the mess and the sick bay. There is a short 15-minute film on how the aircrafts take off and land on the carrier. You can walk across the ship's vast top deck. And finally, you can visit the souvenir shop where you can buy key-chains, T-shirts and watches with Vikrant logo on it.

Needless to say, there was quite a crowd - young people, kids, even senior citizens had turned up in full force. I was in for a surprise when I strolled into the souvenir shop expecting to find it deserted. It was jam-packed with people and I had to wait for 10 minutes before I could walk away with keychains and mementos. A few suggestions, if I may:

1. A few counters can be opened on the top deck. The present souvenir shop is too small for comfortable shopping. I wanted to buy a mug (I had read on a web site that the shop stocks them) but there was so much crowd that I was unable to check out whether there were any available.

2. There can be separate counters for selling different kinds of merchandise. That will help both - the people buying and the people at the counters.

3. There should be arrangement to screen the 15-minute film at more locations. Though the film is only of 15 minutes and the screenings are every 15 minutes, the crowds are too huge for this to be adequate.

4. There are little projections at many places on the floor (part of the ship's design) that people were stumbling across. These need to be fenced off to avoid any injuries.

I read on the net that none of the bidders turned up at the April, 2010 bidding process to convert this into a permanent maritime museum. I wish the representatives from these industrial players had spent a day or two near the Tiger Gate during this period. They would have seen how the crowds turned up in droves to visit. They would have noticed how kids and grown-ups alike loved walking on the very decks that were once frequented by our brave Navymen. And they would have heard how many people kept asking why this is not open throughout the year!

Here's to INS Vikrant and her brave crewmen. I hope I live to see you being converted into a first-ever museum!