Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, 1971 war hero, given funeral with Naval honours at Trimulgherry
The exChief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy passed away on Friday at the Military Hospital in Secunderabad; Naval officials honour him with the ceremonial threevolley salute; he was commissioned in the Indian Navy in September 1953
The funeral and final rites of Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM (Retd.), were performed with full Navy honours at the Swarg Vatika in Trimulgherry, here on Saturday.
The former Chief of the Naval Staff (19901993) of the Indian Navy passed away on Friday at the Military Hospital in Secunderabad.
He is survived by his wife, Lalita Ramdas, his three daughters and their spouses, and three grandchildren. As Naval officials honoured Admiral Ramdas with the ceremonial threevolley salute, his family and friends bid him a final goodbye as his body slid into the incinerator.
He used to have a tshirt that said, “God is too big for just one religion,” so we decided to have our friends over to recite verses from different religions, said his second daughter, Sagari Ramdas. “We wanted to have this sendoff for him, and it has epitomised his life and what he lived for,” she said.
“He was always fearless about speaking up against all kinds of injustice. Especially about what’s dear to his heart, and he continued to do that till his last breath. For him, it was all about the fabric of India. Justice, liberty, fraternity and democracy were so dear to his heart. We as a family, not just the biological one but the family he made by touching so many hearts, are deeply moved by him,” said Sagari Ramdas, who is a veterinary scientist and an educator. Admiral Ramdas lived by the Constitution of India, she said.
The elder daughter, Kavita Ramdas, is a philanthropist, and the youngest, Mallika Ramdas, is the Director of Admissions for the South East Asia of the United World College.
Born on September 5, 1933, in Matunga, Bombay, Admiral Ramdas finished his early education in Delhi at the Presentation Convent and Ramjas College.
Career in Navy
He then joined the Joint Services Wing of the Armed Forces Academy in Clement Town Dehradun in 1949 and was commissioned in the Indian Navy in September 1953. He trained as a communications specialist.
Establishing the Naval Academy in Cochin, commanding INS Beas, which played a pivotal role during the 1971 IndiaPakistan war, serving as the Indian Naval Attache in Bonn, West Germany (197376), serving as Fleet Commander of the Eastern Naval Command, and commanding both the Southern and Eastern Naval Commands were some of his key roles and responsibilities
After taking over as the 13th Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) on 30th November 1990, women were inducted into the armed forces, with the Navy showing the lead. This was in keeping with his lifelong commitment to gender justice. He retired from the Indian Navy in 1993.
Admiral Ramdas and his wife settled down in the village of Bhaimala, Alibag, Maharashtra, on a piece of land granted to him by the government of Maharashtra in recognition of his acts of gallantry in the 1971 war operations after his retirement. There, Ramdas and his wife Lalita planted and raised diverse trees, practised organic farming, and involved themselves in various public service activities.