Wednesday, 6th May 1998:While I was getting calls from home for some last minute purchases to be made from
Mustafa, a popular shopping center among
indians in Singapore, before my 2 week vacation begins, couple of handpicked scientists and engineers of
DAE and
DRDO were also
receiving some calls from top level authorities. They were just informed that they need to leave immediately for some "mission" which they have no idea about and for the next entire week they would be incommunicado with their family members, friends, colleagues and even their immediate bosses.
Travelling by different means and unaware of who all are in the team this ensemble of highly skilled individuals gathered at
the city of Jodhpur in Rajasthan on the Morning of May the 7
th.
Thursday, 7th May 1998:Though my shopping and packing was done for my trip but I had to get some basic household items, as just after coming back from India I would be entering a newly rented house. It was fully furnished but still needed couple of household items. As I was trying to collect these things from local market the above team were heading towards the vast desert of Thar.
They have just been informed individually what there task
would be for the next 3 days, with not much
details but they were smart enough to know the ultimate motive and combined output of this operation. They were too glad to be part of this "prestigious" team and could understand the
secrecy they needed to maintain. Just one small leak and the whole operation could be in jeopardy, which they cant afford as their whole fraternity was trying so hard for it since long and with the recently changed
country's political scenario it suddenly seemed feasible.
For next couple of nights they would be coming out of the military trucks to perform their tasks and reach back to
their trucks even before the first sunlight hits the Thar Desert. After all they were not trying to hide it from locals or the farmers of that region but from far above the roving US spy satellites looking for some "different" patterns over this sensitive part of the country. It is not that the satellites were not picking up these activities but it never got analyzed thanks to
Indian Military's 58
th regiment who were doing deception tasks (like digging in trenches and filling them up) since last couple of years anticipating this mission might happen one day. Later on CIA would get a
blast from US Senate for not being able to
anticipate this....and some
senators even would brand this as biggest failure of CIA over decades!
Sunday, 10th May 1998:Finally I was in my hometown,
Raipur, after a stayover at Delhi, to be surrounded by relatives and family members. There was an excited and cheerful environment keeping me in the limelight. While I was getting ready for our next day's trip to Bhopal many things were unfolding in Delhi in a "
military" precision way!
All the three chief of staffs were called that day to
PM's residence. They came to know about something which their defence minister (
George Fernades) knew only hours before probably. Cabinet
committee on security was informed but not the hisghest ranking civil services officer like cabinet secretary and even defence secretary were felt to be informed about it. Many hierarchy and
bureaucratic procedures were violated that day intentionally and information was shared strictly only with the "need to know basis". Even the highest ranking officer of Indian Executive The President was told about it late night on 10
th of May while at home I was making some last minute phone calls to my friends requesting them if they can visit us at
Raipur.
Monday, 11th May 1998:"
Budhham Sharanam Gacchami" . I woke up on that morning listening to this chanting coming out through blaring loud speakers of
Budhha Temple nearby our house.
His highness Gautam Buddha himself certainly would have protested the sheer noise the loud speakers were making that morning. Someone later told me it was "Buddha
Purnima" that day. That morning thanks to my father everybody seemed to be in hurry as he had given ultimatum to leave the house for the railway station by 12PM.
Surprisingly that day
Chattisgarh Express was not running late, which was otherwise known as the most "unpunctual" train in South
Eastern Railway during those days! While we were passing through
Bhilai around 3PM on that
scorching May afternoon, 6 men were anxiously waiting for a phone call at 7 Race Course Road, New Delhi. These 6 were the Prime Minister
Vajpayee, Home Minister L K
Advani, Defence Minister George
Fernandes, Finance Minister
Yashwant Sinha. Planning
Commission Chairman
Jaswant Singh and
PMO secretary
Mr. Brajesh Mishra. Then around 3.45 PM the much aniticipated call finally came through.
Brajesh Mishra received the call and all he could hear it was an excited "Done". He passed over the phone to the PM. The emotional PM congratulated the two scientists and then chiefs of
DRDO and
DAE, Mr
Kalam and Mr
Chidamabaram.
Advani along with others present could not stop their tears.
Around the same time many seismological centers around the earth were placing some urgent calls to their chiefs and they further were conveying that to their heads of the state after noticing very unusual "seismic" activities in the western part of India. But they did not have to wait and analyze further the computer readings as Mr.
Vajpayee soon was in TV screens
across the globe announcing to the world the arrival of the 6
th entrant in Nuclear Club. Unlike 1974 this time there was no mention of "Peaceful Purpose" rather India declared
itself as a nuclear weapon holder. A beaming
Vajpayee declared the Nuclear Tests ...
appropriately code named "
Operation Shakti" a big
success to the whole nation. We came to know about all of this while seeing celebrations at Nagpur Railway Station..the whole country was celebrating Diwali that night!
Tuesday, 12th May 1998:Because of the events of the previous day, somehow our visit to Bhopal and its very purpose got shadowed. Everywhere people were talking about it. I did meet many of my friends who came from Delhi and other parts. A dear friend of mine came from as far as France...little did he know about, that next year same day it will be him who will be getting married!
Later that night
BJP scored its another popularity by increasing the retirement age from 58 to 60 for govt. and public sector employees. Many senior
BHEL(
ians) who were with us that night could not feel more happy!
The next day it was time to return back to
Raipur. This time we had couple of extra passengers than what we had come to Bhopal with. One of them was sitting besides me with tears in her eyes...I could guess it was certainly not the fact of Country becoming Nuclear, or her
Father avoiding Retirement by two more years..rather it was the sadness of leaving her City, parents and sister. Later while train stopped at
Itarsi Junction, we experienced another round of excitement amonf fellow travellers. I got out of the train only to find out that despite
condemnations, threats of
sanctions and a stunned Bill
Clinton the
audacious Indian
Government conducted two more tests that noon before formally completing the process while Pakistan has threatened to go nuke within weeks!
When I came back to our coach, my co-passenger asked me what was that all about?
I said "Well Mithu,....the Nuclear Race in the subcontinent and Our Married life has just begun"
After long 3 hrs since she left her home, I could see a smile on her face.
Happy 9
th Anniversary to Nuclear India as well as Our Marriage!
-----
Reference: The details of this post regarding India's 2
nd Nuclear Tests were referred from
India Today 25
th May 1998 archived edition as well as many other online papers and
journals.