Translator's Note

When my good friend Alexander Terenov met me last year and asked whether I would translate the book that he had written about his Indian experience, I readily agreed. He had been the Commanding Officer of the Charlie class nuclear submarine which was transferred on lease by the Soviet Union to India in 1988, and I had the privilege of taking over the submarine from him and commissioning her in the Indian Navy.

This book is the story of that submarine – the K-43 in the Soviet Navy, the Chakra in the IN, which spent a small part of her chequered career flying the Indian flag, and brought the Indian Navy into the exciting era of nuclear propulsion. The story has been told from a very personal point of view, and because of this it becomes an engaging human narrative which never loosens its grip on the reader's attention.

Alexander Ivanovich had been assigned an enormously difficult task. He had been made responsible for the sea training of the Indian crews during our training period in Vladivostok, and he excelled in this role. The three of us –Sam Daniel (the senior Indian Officer), Subhash Anand and I, the designated Indian COs, were between ten and twelve years older than he, had already commanded submarines, wore four rings on our sleeves and had experience in operational, staff, and training appointments. He, on the other hand, was a Captain 3rd Rank (the equivalent of a Lieutenant Commander in our Navy) and had narrower but much more intense experience in the Navy; the years he had logged at sea matched ours. But he dealt with this difference with rare aplomb, never feeling the need to emphasise the fact that he was in command, and while being friendly and pleasant, always carried with him the dignity and quiet authority of command.

To my mind the most difficult aspect of the task given to Captain Terenov was the training of the three COs. Most of us have at some time in our command tenures had to hand over our ships to harbour or river pilots, and have felt the unease and anxiety of yielding direct control. Alexander Ivanovich had to undergo this stress for a whole year in harbour and at sea during the period of training in the Soviet Union, and he handled this situation with a generosity and confidence that can only come from thorough knowledge and total professional competence. He had the enviable ability to desist from intervention till the exact moment it became unavoidable, and then do it in such a manner that hardly anyone but he and the Indian CO of the moment realised that he done so. I am sure I speak for my erstwhile colleagues when I say that we learnt an enormous amount from this fine Russian submarine captain.

The difficulty of Captain Terenov's assignment during the training phase was as nothing compared to the role he had to play after the submarine was transferred to the Indian Navy. Whereas in the first instance he had official backing and clearly defined statutory authority, in the later stage his status was far more ambiguous. There is a historic sanctity to the flag being flown by a ship at sea, and there cannot be any question of jurisdiction or authority on board. Obviously the unprecedented lease of a nuclear- propelled vessel automatically meant that certain safeguards had to be in place in this aspect to enable the USSR to comply with its international obligations, which meant that a few (about seven or eight) of their personnel had to be on board all the time, in harbour and at sea. But the fact that the submarine was under the Indian flag meant that the awesome responsibility for the vessel, its personnel and its nuclear plant was clearly that of the CO. All decisions and actions were taken by the CO, his officers and his crew exactly as in any ship of the Indian Navy and there was never any doubts about dilution of authority. Fortunately there was never a dispute between the Soviet and the Indian officers on this score at any time during the three years of the lease. This is amazing considering the delicacy of the situation, and speaks highly of the maturity and tact of both sides.

Captain Terenov's difficulty, one feels, was at a different level. From being the Commanding Officer of the submarine he had to relinquish that title and assume the new designation of "Leader of the Soviet Specialist Group". With his wisdom and maturity he shifted effortlessly into his new role, but his narrative still conveys the feeling that he and his group sorely missed the earlier status – there can be no other reason for the conspicuously scarce references in the narrative to the Indian crews.

But it was an enormously difficult adjustment for Alexander Terenov and his specialists to make, and I wonder how many Indian officers in his situation would have handled this situation so well.

Not being an experienced translator, I have had to set certain rules for myself. The first rule was that I had to tell myself that this was the author's book, not mine. The value of the book lies in the fact that it conveys the impressions and views of the author and of his compatriots, who were unexpectedly sent to a strange, exotic and ancient land, with little or no time to prepare themselves. The reader may sometimes not be in agreement with the views expressed; but this is understandable when talking about a country as vast and varied as India. But the book is written with a refreshing candour and it is interesting to get the "outsider view" on many things that we as Indians take for granted. On the other hand, having been present during some of the events described by the author, I am aware that there are aspects that have not found mention in it – but as he himself says, not everything can be recorded in writing. So I have made no attempt to edit, correct or add to the narrative in any manner except to meet the idiomatic and grammatical needs of translation.

The other important rule for me was that the narrative also had to emulate the author's style, so that his personality which so strongly permeates the book comes through. This was easier said than done, as Alexander Ivanovich has used a unique story- telling technique, interspersing the main narrative with flashbacks to his own past, vignettes of history, and social and professional comments. His book is a fascinating kaleidoscope of swiftly shifting scenarios in both time and space, with colourful imagery and sudden changes in his narrative style, which is in turns professional and prosaic, romantic and ribald. And throughout he enthusiastically expresses his frank and entertaining views on the navy and submarines in the irreverent and self-deprecating manner that is so characteristic of the man. All this posed an enormous challenge to the translator, especially to a novice such as me. What helped me to finish this onerous but pleasant task were my familiarity with the Russians as a people and my friendship with the author. This book has revealed unsuspected depths of romanticism and idealism in him, and in a strange way I feel that I know Alexander Terenov better than before, now that I have translated what he lightly brushes off as his opus.

The lease of the Chakra was a landmark in international naval cooperation and stands out as a major milestone in our naval development. The successful operation of the submarine by the Indian Navy demonstrated the professional and technical skills of our sailors and officers. It also proved the soundness of the training methods of the Soviet submariners and validated the complex and comprehensive training syllabus that they had designed. At a personal level, I may say that much of the credit for the success of the programme must go to Alexander Ivanovich, whose personal qualities had a great influence on all those who were associated with him. Those who participated in this saga at any level can rightly feel themselves specially privileged to have been part of our naval history.

Vice Admiral RN Ganesh (Retired)
Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief Southern Naval Command (1999-2000)

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