VICTORY IS OUR PROFESSION

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     “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” --- HENRY FORD

         “Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four Cs. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of all is confidence. When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.”-    WALT  DISNEY

              The above quotes personify Cdr Vijay Vadhera. ‘Vijay’ means Victory, indeed was reflective in the NFMC Presidential elections on 15 Sep 2019 at IMSC. 

            Consequent to RAdm RM Bhatia, President NFMC relocating to Gurugram, nominations for the post had been called for about 3 months ago and the ‘D’ Day - 08 Sep had been initially promulgated, but with some changes creeping in for the conduct of elections the date was shifted to 15 Sep. Both nominated candidates Cmde Medioma (Mike) Bhada and Cdr Vijay Vadhera had been stalwarts of their times during their tenure in the Navy and post-retirement in their second innings.

CMDE MEDIOMA (MIKE) BHADA

     Cmde Bhada had been a fully Operational SeaHawk Pilot and operated from INS Vikrant during the 1971 War. A Qualified Flying Instructor who had done a tenure with the IAF. Later he commanded an Air Squadron and two Naval Air Stns. He was the Director of Naval Air Staff before taking over as the Provost Marshal and Commanding Officer of INS Kunjali. He commanded two major warships and had been appointed as FOO, COS and NOIC Mumbai and Hon Trustee MbPT.

   

      In his second innings post-retirement Cmde Bhada took over as Executive Director of a Private Air operator. Later a CEO of a few companies. Post-retirement he remained closely associated with the Navy and was instrumental in building a small but elegant Vikrant Memorial opp Lion’s Gate. He was vociferous in clearing the adverse publicity caused to the Navy by a Cabinet minister, by calling in a press conference. Presently he is the President of WIGA.

CDR VIJAY VADHERA

          Cdr Vijay Vadhera, Secy Navy Foundation Mumbai Chapter (NFMC) has had a distinguished career in the Indian Navy as a Submariner and was the first skipper of INSV Samudra to sail across the world for which he was awarded Nau-Sena Medal (Gallantry) by the President of India. Post-retirement he not only was the Master Pilot of Mumbai Port Trust but has been handling the affairs of Naval Veterans in an exemplary manner since 2008. He is extremely meticulous in planning and execution of tasks that he undertakes for the benediction of the Foundation, whether it's conducting the various activities for the Veterans Day (14 Jan 2019) that the Foundation committee members undertook under his guidance or the two foreign trips in successive yrs in 2018 and 2019 to SE Asia (Tri-nation Tour) and the Tour to Europe recently, both tours comprising 40 plus Veterans. 

         He has also been organising the Navy Day events for Veterans and Soman Memorial Lectures and AGMs for the past 11 yrs in an exemplary manner. He has groomed a motivated young Veterans team that represents  South Bombay, New Mumbai, Powai, Thane, and Western Suburbs. Besides all Veer Naris of this Chapter have mentors nominated who are in touch with Veer naris for any assistance any time. It's due to his Leadership that NFMC Is the premier Chapter of Navy Foundation that has been setting high standards.  

CONDUCT  OF  ELECTIONS

    About a month in advance RAdm RM Bhatia appointed Cdr Raj Mohindra as the Election Officer with Capt Ashok Batra as Asst Election Officer. Early this month he appointed Lt Cdr Farokh Tarapore as the Offg Hon Secy to ensure an even playing field for both candidates. Cdr Raj Mohindra, Capt Ashok Batra & LtCdr Farokh Tarapore planned out the conduct of Elections by a secret Ballot and instructions were issued to the Committee members for the smooth conduct of fair and just elections. Email was sent to all NFMC members regarding the NFMC Presidential Poll, highlighting the registration of voters from 1100-1155 hrs on 15 Sep at IMSC and election process from 1200 hrs thereafter in the Sea Lounge. A separate provision was made to ensure the spouses remain comfortable in the 'Drona hard' during the period.

               Cmde Sanjay Tiwari, Capt Rakesh Agrawala, LtCdr Vineet Wason, Cdr SK Patnaik, Cdr Raj Dutta and Mrs Kanta Mukherjee (for Veer Naris) monitored the Polling registration counters to have an exact headcount of Veteran Voters at 1200 hrs. Cdr GC Rai and Cdr Kamal Singh were detailed to distribute the Ballot papers and pens, one row at a time. Cmde S Tiwari and Cdr SK Patnaik manned the Ballot boxes. The vote casting was executed expeditiously, in a fair and just manner successfully. While the votes were being counted it was time for interaction of the Veterans over a glass of beer followed by sumptuous delectable Biryani Lunch and mouth-watering Gulab Jamuns.

              On completion of the counting of Votes all Veterans, Veer naris and Ladies were ushered in for declaration of results. Cdr Raj Mohindra humorously declared the Runners up :  Cmde Mike Bhada 62 votes and in contrast 199 Votes to Cdr Vijay Vadhera, amidst a huge round of applause. The huge difference possibly was due to huge Fan following of Cdr Vijay, which was due to the appreciable service rendered by him to the Veterans foundation for the past 11 yrs. The Popularity quotient was evident from the fact that Veterans had come from Ahmedabad and Pune to cast their Votes. It was heartening to register an Octogenarian Cdr Verma, who had been escorted on a wheelchair to cast his vote. There were a couple of very senior veterans who were 90 yrs old. The Veteran Admirals who  graced the occasion to cast their votes were VAdm RF Contractor (Former DGCG), VAdm IC Rao, VAdm SKK Krishnan, VAdm Girish Luthra (Former FOCINC WEST), VAdm AR Karve (Former FOCINC SOUTH), RAdm GC Thadani, RAdm NN Anand, RAdm Auditto, RAdm DN Thukral and RAdm Pradeep Joshi.

       After the declaration of results, VAdm IC Rao spoke in honour of the outgoing President NFMC and recounted his contribution to the foundation for the past 3 yrs. RAdm RM Bhatia thanked the Foundation for the support he received from the Foundation members in the execution of the NFMC tasks. He thanked Capt Raj Mohindra, Capt Ashok Batra & the Electoral officials in smooth conduct of the secret Polls and congratulated Cdr Vadhera for winning the election and taking over as the President of the Foundation. He wished the Foundation to grow from strength to strength. Cdr Vijay Vadhera thanked the Veterans young and old who had come from near and far to support him. He thanked the Committee members and spelt out two options for the post of Hon Secy that fell vacant. One to hold an election at a subsequent date after asking for nominations; Two, by approval of the General Body, he could nominate one Veteran and regularise his appointment in next year’s AGM. On no objection from the GB, he announced the name of Cdr Rajinder Dutta to come forward, amidst overwhelming support from Veterans. After the inspiring speech by Cdr Vadhera, the new President NFMC, Capt SS Sethi proposed the vote of thanks. The SBM was then declared closed by the Offg Hon Secy LtCdr Farokh Tarapore.

PRESIDENT  NFMC’S  MESSAGE   

Dear Friends,

The overwhelming support and encouragement that I have received during *my 11 years in service  as Secy Navy Foundation* , has today, culminated in my being entrusted with even greater responsibility of *President, NFMC* I humbly acknowledge this with gratitude and a sense of humility. Being conscious of the age and stature  of a large number of our members, *my predecessors and mentors* places an even greater level of responsibility for me to emulate.

While accepting this assignment, it is difficult to imagine what would be different in my day to day contribution to the Foundation. In this, I would be guided by the requirements that our large Foundation generates as also seek advice, when necessary, of my predecessors namely 'Capt Raj Mohindra' (President for 9 years) 'RAdm. MP Taneja'(President for 2 years, 'RAdm Arun Auditto'(President for 6 years) and 'RAdm RM Bhatia'(President for 3 years) 

Hopefully, with the contribution of members and particularly my 'young and energetic team of Office Bearers' we will sustain the high standards of service to the community that we have set for ourselves over the years.

With fond Respect and Regards,

Cdr. Vijay Vadhera (01235-F)     

(Retired but not yet Tired) 

President NFMC

15 Sep 2019
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"Individual commitment to a group effort--that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." --Vince Lombardi

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." --Michael Jordan

SHANO  VARUNA  ....  JAI  HIND    !!!

RESULTS

VADM IC RAO &
OUTGOING PRESIDENT- RADM RM BHATIA'S  ADDRESS

PRESIDENT'S  ADDRESS