Dream on.... dreams do come true!

In the summer of 1997, I joined the Naval Academy with a dream to become an astronaut to try out an adventurous and unique career. Those days, the books or magazines I read made me believe that one had a higher chance of going to space from the Armed Forces. Most of the astronauts till then were from the Armed Forces. Although, I couldn’t embark on the path to go to space, however, I fulfilled my dream of an adventurous and unique career. Life in the Whites has been full of dedicated hard work, adventure, thrill, new learnings, new friends, new locations and lots of excitement.

As I step out of the Whites, I look back and reminisce about my journey so far. With head held high, chest filled with pride and heart full of gratitude and accomplishment, I can confidently state that I served to my level best and got the best in return. No institution does it better than the Navy! The Navy gave me challenges, adventure and job satisfaction beyond words. The opportunities to lead teams to combat, take decisions and stand by them in very demanding situations made me a better leader and a better human being. I had the honour to be the Captain of three warships, be deployed across the globe onboard ships, visit more than 60 countries, live in three different continents and experience different and challenging aspects of life.

I remain thankful to God for giving me the strength and conviction to do whatever I did so far and for according me the privilege to serve.?

My gratitude to my parents for always having faith in me and supporting my choice.?

My gratitude to my wife and our sons for their unflinching support and love during many years spent at sea away from them.?

My gratitude to all my shipmates, seniors, peers, juniors and course mates for being there, for nurturing me, for being part of the plan and standing by me in most challenging situations at sea and helping me achieve the missions.?

Above all, I am in awe and in deep gratitude for the most amazing teacher, the best mentor one could ever ask for - the unforgiving sea!?It has taught me a lot and those insights will remain with me throughout my life.

These years have been a journey of exploration across the globe, learning new traits, new languages, new cultures, new equipment, new technologies which helped me to learn a lot and enabled me to grow as a person. This has made me a lifelong learner and I am ready to explore again!

Some things which I take with me after these two and a half decades in the Navy are the values - Duty, Honour and Courage and ethos - Resilience, Humility and Leadership & Decision-making. I know for sure that these can very well be applied across the spectrum in any of the situations - be it in boardrooms, sports fields, military campaigns, start-ups, personal or professional lives.?

My journey so far has been tremendously wonderful and interesting. It started from the heights of the Himalayas where I was born to the depths of the vast seas across the globe where I was deployed all this while. I am sure, the mariner in me will aid me to sail through the future explorations. With these values and ethos, I look forward to the next voyages of my life where I intend to build things, develop teams, inspire and work with people to find solutions to real-world problems. And I continue to work on my dream to go to space :)!

I remain indebted to the Navy for making me what I am today! I wish the Navy and all my shipmates all the very best!