Now, to Kenya when Prem Bhatia was our High Commissioner in Jomo Kenyatta's times. Within hours of anchoring in Mombassa, the frigate INS Tir's Captain, Rashbehari Mukherjee and I were flown to Nairobi to call on the Defence Minister, Dr Mungai - an extremely youthful physician! At Bhatia's evening reception our cricketers also trooped in, led by 'Tiger' Nawab of Pataudi. I recall later spending a near sleepless night because, following the previous 8 days of tossing in the Arabian Sea at the peak of the monsoon, the 'Hotel 500' bed was much too comfortable!

And so to Zanzibar- the island of cloves. We flew there from Dar-es-Salaam, where Jagat Mehta was the HC in the times of Julius Nyrere. Every arriving passenger was administered anti-malaria doses at the airport itself. Aboud Jumbe of the Afro-Shirazi party was the Vice President of Tanzania with residence on the Island. I was put up at the 'Hoteli-ya-Bwawani' run by the Oberois opposite the square where Slave Trade flourished in earlier centuries. A sight to be seen and believed was enacted in the Hotel almost everyday. At the main Bar, among the regular foursome was the charming Mrs Mahfoud, the Arab wife of Colonel Mahfoud who was languishing in jail charged with the murder of the previous Vice President Karume, the two sons of Karume and the Attorney General Wolfango Durado prosecuting the case in the court. Quite an assemblage!

Finally this story of the slain Emperor Haille Selasie and crown Prince Alexander Desta who was a cadet at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, a year after I had left. The occasion was the International Naval Review to which the Indian Navy was invited. The Emperor was a stickler for protocol and wanted to personally return our Captain's call on him. The ceremonial drill lays down that as the VIP steps onboard to inspect the Guard of Honour, his personal standard would be hoisted on the ship's main mast while firing the last shot of the 31-gun salute. Well, His Exalted Highness was quite advanced in age and we were advised to give the drill a go-bye and finish the gun salute when the motorcade was a mile away. It was my responsibility as the second-in-command and am happy to report that all ended happily with no damage to the Royal ear drums. Alas, both the Emperor and the Crown Prince were beheaded in the revolution that later came to Ethiopia.