Indians For Guns

This is for Mumbaikars who don't have guns / have never been in Armed Forces / Police / NCC.

The Navy has set up a pavilion at Times Utsav in BKC, where they have a few guns - 7.62 MM bipod-mounted LMG (looks like a IOF copy of the famous Bren), 5.56 MM INSAS assault rifle, 9 MM semi-auto pistol (looks like Glock used by cops, markings painted over), and 9 MM SMG (curved mag on the side, looks like the old Sterlings, probably IOF copy, with perforated suppressors on barrels). You can actually handle them, go through the "motions", mags are empty. Was wishing some expert could be there to explain the nitty-gritties!

Plus they have models of torpedoes, missiles, 30 MM ship's AA guns, scale models of ships, equipment used (surprised to see Navy divers use Muela as standard issue knives), plus recruiting officers trying to get kids interested in the Navy.

For me, easily the highlight of the entire festival! (And no I am not being paid by Times Utsav / Navy to say all this! )

Cheers!

EssDee

I will be in BKC tommorow.. Kindly let me know where is this pavillion set. I have no idea where is Times Utsav.. I wud like to go and handle them and see those standard issue knives. Right now the place and landmarks i know in bkc is ICICI Bank, Asian Heart Institute, NSE Building... Kindly Guide me how to reach there and is the venue any where near to these buildings..

Regards
Prasanjit Baul

lucky guys!

For those who would like to visit and aren't sure of the location (sorry, I should have included it in the earlier post)...... if entering BKC from Bandra side, go beyond ICICI, Asian Heart Instt, NSE. You will find a large field on the left with a huge enclosed tent. There is a signal immediately after this, take left, there are 3 exhibitions running there, Times Utsav is the last one. Follow the lane and you will find it to the right. Best of luck on the parking!!!!

Cheers!

EssDee

Best of luck on the parking!!!!
hahaha.... in mumbai,its easier to buy car than finding parking place for it

essdee1972 wrote:For those who would like to visit and aren't sure of the location (sorry, I should have included it in the earlier post)...... if entering BKC from Bandra side, go beyond ICICI, Asian Heart Instt, NSE. You will find a large field on the left with a huge enclosed tent. There is a signal immediately after this, take left, there are 3 exhibitions running there, Times Utsav is the last one. Follow the lane and you will find it to the right. Best of luck on the parking!!!!

Cheers!

EssDee

Shall ride there tomorrow on my battle horse - Chetak. Any idea on "from-to" dates/timings ? BTW, for those interested, there will also be "shastra puja" at Savarkar Smarak, Dadar, Mumbai, on OCT 6th (Dasara). That's opp. Bengal Club where the 9-ratra/ Kali Devi "sits".

Mumbai looks to be more happening than Pune....

Guys, do grab some pictures for us, unlucky ones... !

essdee1972 - well spotted and great reporting!

Thanks, folks!

For the timings, you can check out Times of India - they run an ad every day. Try to make it on a weekday, if possible, for parking. Forgot to mention you need to purchase a 50-buck ticket to enter the Times Utsav. And you can also purchase INS Vikrant merchandise (ships caps - officers and seamen's, pens, keychains, T shirts, and some good, albeit very academic, books on Indian maritime history, traditions, Navy, etc.), apart from everything else on offer at the fair. Take your kids along, mine decided on the Navy as a career! That too a Frogman - wants to mine enemy ships, ride around in midget subs and RIBs and wear a logo of a frog carrying a SMG!

Cheers! And wish all of you a very Happy Dussehra, Dasara, Durga Pooja, Navaratri, etc.

EssDee

essdee1972 wrote:Thanks, folks!
Take your kids along, mine decided on the Navy as a career! That too a Frogman - wants to mine enemy ships, ride around in midget subs and RIBs and wear a logo of a frog carrying a SMG! EssDee

Frog carrying an SMG - a la - INS Ninja Turtle - Good one, very imaginative - kudos to your kid!

ckkalyan wrote:Frog carrying an SMG - a la - INS Ninja Turtle - Good one, very imaginative - kudos to your kid!

No, Sir, that is the logo / mascot of Indian Navy Frogmen, displayed prominently in the stall!

Gawd, finding a parking spot and travelling to BKC's a pain . Any Marcos around the Navy Stall ? Had the honour of meeting some Ex Para Special Forces guys, now working in Corporate Security, never seen or met Navy's Elite Frogmen/Commandoes before.

Took both the kids riding atop the Chetak. The ride itself was thrilling - thanks to TMC/ MMRDA/ BMC. The Chetak literally galloped all the way Thane-BKC-Thane. On the outside sat a big model of "44" on one side and a behemoth shore battery on the other. Stepping inside, we were greeted by the trio of naval officers one in smart salute and the other two with a whistle ready to show us the drill.The info kiosk on the left itself was well a bummer - darn it made me feel old - really O-L-D !!! Whatever careers they had to offer stopped at 22-25! But then the next was the "Frogman". The "boys" were very nice ad asked my son to try on the suit, flippers, life vest etc. etc. I regretted then that my cell didn't have the camera. Daughter dear stayed away politely telling them that she had seen it all in a movie called "Blue" and knew how to use it all ! (Kids these days). A corner had some info on medals won by Navy and also one one Shri. Dhonde who circumnavigated the world. Plus a fibreglass sailboat and a rubber raft with starboard engine was wonderful to behold. The pavilion was lined with wooden models of various missile boats. You could handle a 9mm, INSAS, an LMG, couple of Carbines (a la Dharmendra) etc. All were chained and paddocked for safety with firing mechanism removed. Then of course there were Surface-Surface, Surface-Air missiles prominently displayed along with a huge torpedo that my sonny mistook for a submarine and asked me if he could sit inside. The daughter who is older and more mature and had been listening to whatever the naval officer was telling her scolded the younger bro saying that it was in fact a bomb that was used against the submarines and hence looked like one to fool the submarine!!! Wonder how they interpret the data this way ! All thanks to cartoons, I think At that very moment, in the next stall a lady was asking if the huge barrel that looked like it was made of very strong iron was used to store fuel on ships and if it could withstand all the "bullet" fire that the enemy was attacking with ad the young lad in white without a hint of emotion (or sarcasm) explained to her that it was a "mine" - a type of bomb that floated in the sea. Then of course she had many Qs about how it worked etc. - we moved to the"INHS Asvini" stall. That's the naval state-of-art hospital. The couple of boys there did a complimentary check-up on BP, Ht-Wt etc. and came out with "Sir your BMI is very high. You need to shed off at least 30 kilos. We advise exercise *TWICE* a day till you reach your goal. (Now I didn't feel so bad that I was not in the navy)" I thanked him but my son was insistent that they do everything to him that they did on his "Baba" - so the lads humored him too with "Arre you are fit to join the navy. Why not join in tomorrow ?" My sonny nudged me to scoot. They also had basic display of couple of Geiger counters to detect radio-activity plus other detectors to detect chemical biological agents and appropriate anti-dotes plus the special suits to be used for counter-measures. There was a mini-cinema that ran a short movie on the 1971 naval war. We saw the movie on "The Killers". Both the kids enjoyed live action. After ascertaining that the ship that was tore was of Pakistani "team" the kiddo would go "Yesss". Had to see the movie again... For some reason th emovie skipped the INS Khukri incident. Then of course was the "shop". Tees with Vikrant on it came in quite cheap (only INR125 each), plus the pens, key-chains etc. for mementos were OK and cheap too. We ended up with 4 Tees, a couple of key chains, a couple of pens etc. The books however were very expensive. You had a turret 'salvaged' out of a Pak sub sunk off Vishakhapattam in 1971, a radar, a gun turret with two big guns etc. etc. On the way out the info kiosk guy offered a couple of small scribbling pads (with" to do") and a couple of car-scooter stickers and a few sheets to write down school timetable that had sea harrier pictures. All in all, naval stall was a wonderful experience. What made it even more marvelous was that my daughter asked me "Why didn't you join the Navy?" That Q made the entire trip "wasool".

For the IFGian taking his wife along - in the same MMRDA ground you have pavilions of furniture, appliances, FMCG, luxury cars etc. which we skipped - no interest & no time. Skip the food stall if you can - substandard fare at more than twice/ thrice the price.

This is open till 9th of October and closes at 9PM daily till then. EssDee1972's tip worked about going on weekday and had no problem with the scooter parking. Entry fee for adults is INR 50. Good luck and enjoy.

essdee1972 wrote:No, Sir, that is the logo / mascot of Indian Navy Frogmen, displayed prominently in the stall!

Thanks buddy - I was just kidding! It was probably MY overactive imagination, as I have always been fascinated by the Ninja Turtles and the cool image they portrayed bandannas tied on their heads, 'Turtles with Katanas', so I am sure you will understand the minor graduation to the idea of 'Frog with SMG'. I love the logo/mascot of the INF! No offence intended...to anyone.