Theirs is a story that never gets stale. It is going to be two years since Indian Navy’s six gutsy women officers circumnavigated the globe in 254 days on board INSV Tarini. They returned on May 21, 2018, but the story of their courage still goes around the world.
In the last 20-odd months, the members individually and collectively, have shared their experience more than 300 times at multiple forums and to standing ovations. And here in the city too, at a meeting recently organised by the All Ladies League-Madurai, it was no different when Lieutenant Commander P Swathi shared nuggets from her journey with five fellow sailors. She held the audience spell-bound with her narration and Power Point presentation on how the women — all in their early to mid-20s — braved rough seas, freezing cold and scorching temperatures, roaring winds and life-threatening storms to circumnavigate the globe successfully.
That they are the first-ever all women team to do so, is a cause for celebration wherever they go now. “We all got a second life and fear is a word that no longer exists in our dictionary,” says Swathi, taking a few questions in between her next talk and the endless selfie sessions with all those who came to hear her. Soon, she informs us, their story is going to be on the silver screen with a Bollywood production house planning a movie on their adventures. Actor Priyanka Chopra has apparently agreed while the search is on for rest of the cast.
But Lt Cdr Vartika Joshi, who was the captain of the team, and Lt Cdr Pratibha Jamwal, Lt Cdr Aishwarya Boddapati, Lt S Vijaya Devi, Lt Payal Gupta along with Swathi are already celebrities for breaking gender barriers and smashing glass ceilings. Sadly, their men officers did not believe that their team would complete the voyage. “We did so many other things that they challenged us to do, like baking cakes and making fluffy chapatis on board,” laughs Swathi. “On Diwali when the Prime Minister called us, we even made eco-friendly diyas with atta, used surgical cotton and ghee to light them, and set them afloat in the ocean,” she says.
Their three years of training after they were selected in 2014 from 40 applicants out of 500 women naval officers in the country, played a crucial role. Many candidates dropped out after their families denied them permission out of fear. “All along our intensive training under Captain Dilip Dhonde (first Indian Naval Officer to complete a solo, unassisted circumnavigation of the globe under sail), we were constantly reminded to not think about our gender when we sailed out on Tarini. Our mothers’ courage and confidence in us enabled us to undertake this journey,” says Swathi who grew up seeing the sea in Visakhapatnam. “I was not fond of water, but my mother encouraged me to learn sailing,” she says. But unlike her, the others in the team are all from the hills; they had never seen or been near the sea until the expedition named Navika Sagar Parikrama came along.
The day they returned, the Defence Minister, the Navy Chief and several senior officials were waiting at the INS Mandovi, Goa to receive them. “But,” says Swathi, we all first rushed into our mothers’ arms and embraced them tightly as every other VIP looked on!” She says everything they did epitomised ‘naari shakti’ and narrates an incident that delayed the commencement of their expedition by five days.
“We were all set to leave on September 5, 2017, but a call from the PMO asked us to wait. That was because Nirmala Sitharaman was appointed as the Defence Minister and the government thought it appropriate that she should flag us off. Finally, with her blessings, we set sail on September 10.”
Swathi believes the sailboat carried and protected them like a mother throughout the voyage. “We considered our boat as the first crew member because we were told if you look after the boat, the boat will look after you,” says Swathi and adds, how the team was involved from the scratch in the construction of Tarini. “From a log of wood, we saw it transform into a powerful 55-feet mid-sized vessel.”
Chosen from different cadres in the service, the women were trained to be electricians, plumbers, engineers, doctors, chefs, navigators and just about everything. Says Swathi, “It is easy to romanticise the sky, sea and the stars when you are on land. But it is different when you are surrounded by water for days at stretch; here, you are your own caretaker and therefore, you have to be a multi-tasker.”
When they were caught in a storm in the Pacific for 32 hours with nine metre high waves crashing on the boat and on another occasion, when the steering came off, they wondered if they would ever return to their families. But when they sighted dolphins, sperm whales, killer whales, sharks and albatross, they felt jubilant about life. They encountered floating rain clouds that gave them a chance to take an open sky shower, and had a baby albatross on board for two days. “We carried books, movies and songs and celebrated our birthdays and the New Year to keep ourselves motivated,” says Swathi.
The most important takeaways from the expedition are, she says, team strength, humility, and that nothing is impossible when you accept everything in life. Had it not been for the inspiration of Vice Admiral Awati (awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and Vir Chakra) who wanted to witness a circumnavigation of the globe by an all-woman team on an Indian-built sailboat, Tarini would not have been born.
“While we were sailing, the 88-year-old man fell ill and was hospitalised a few times, but he held on. When we returned, he said, ‘Now I can die’, and passed away three days later.”
The Serendipitious Six:
Sailed 21,600 nautical miles on board Tarini named after the Tara Tarini Temple in Ganjam district of Odisha, that is worshipped as the breast shrine and manifestation of Adi Shakti.
Crossed seven oceans, the Equator twice and all longitudes.
They survived the three treacherous capes — Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope.
Suffered temperatures ranging from 40° and plus to -5° Celsius
Withstood wind speeds up to 140 kmph and nine metres high waves
The voyage that lasted eight months made only four port calls in Freemantle, Australia; Lyttelton, New Zealand; Port Stanley, Falklands and Cape Town, South Africa besides a forced technical halt at Port Louis, Mauritius
Tarini showcased the Make in India initiative of the government and harnessed only wind energy for its movement.
During their journey, the crew collated meteorological data, reported marine life and monitored marine pollution levels.
A documentary titled Tarini has been jointly made by National Geographic and Indian Navy
The six crew members have been conferred with Naari Shakti Puruskar, the Nau Sena Gallantry Award and the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award
