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    Remembering Ashish Popli

    I was talking to a school time friend on phone today. It was after a few years so lot of things to share & catch-up with.
    Job, marriage, who all got married, who's in line, who had kids, & all that.
    Going through the names one by one at one point I asked "Where's Ashish Popli? What's he doing?".
    Whatever I heared after that shook me badly, its been on my mind for the whole day. More so because I came to know of it so late.

    Ashish was an officer in Indian Navy & was on duty on-board INS Sharabh when he went missing, 4 years ago.
    "Missing?? From a Navy ship??" was my first reaction. At that moment I couldn't imagine the possibilities of such an incident.
    Exact reason & circumstances are not known till now, she told me. "His body was never found & has been declared dead officially".
    Probably the kind of accident he met with or the fact that he was my classmate or that I was unaware of all this for all these years, a chill went down my spine every time I thought of him. I couldn't help but write down all of my thoughts here.

    Ashish was a very enthusiastic, smart, intelligent person. We were not very close friends but good friends nevertheless. I still remember him as the most outspoken, open-minded guy in class. One among the toppers.

    May 18, 2005
    During the call my friend mentioned that the incident had been in the news for some days at that time.
    "Where the hell was I? How did I miss all this?" I thought.
    At the first opportunity I searched for news articles on internet and found only 3 links:
    - http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=130799
    - http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050521/asp/nation/story_4767164.asp
    - http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/16/stories/2005071610320400.htm

    He was on night duty on May 17 when the incident happened. Ship mates realised he is missing next morning when he was neither seen for breakfast nor found in his cabin.
    Naval and Coast Guard patrol vessels and aircraft are searching for a navy officer who is suspected to have fallen overboard off the coast of Visakhapatnam, says a May 20 report.

    I was travelling to my home town that time. After completing my Post Graduate course from Pune I had 1 month to spend with my family before joining my first job. My niece was born 2 days before this incident, May 16.


    A great soldier, a loved son & a dear friend was lost that day, serving his country.
    My heart goes out to Ashish & his family.
    May his soul be at peace, wherever he is.

    • 20 September 2009
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  • Roshan Ramachandran's Space

    Enjoying the new age web & sharing all that catches my attention.
    SAP consultant by profession, shutter-bug by hobby, geek by habit & a nice guy by nature.

  • About Roshan Ramachandran

    Enjoying the new age web & sharing all that catches my attention.
    SAP consultant by profession, shutter-bug by hobby, geek by habit & a nice guy by nature.

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