On that fateful day, either Feb 18 or 19, I took the train from Dadar, and as usual walked some distance past Flora Fountain and Mongini’s. I entered through the Gun Gate and climbed up the steps to the office. After some time, we heard a volley of shots. At this point, our chief, who always kept a stiff upper lip, especially in front of the ‘natives’, suddenly got up, ran down the steps and got into the station wagon (reserved for carrying British officers to and fro). Without waiting for his colleagues and officers, he drove straight to the Naval Officers’ mess, where some Admiralty men were quartered. Then it became quiet. I got out and crept down the steps to see what was going on and noticed some bullets lodged on the wall on which our wooden staircase was fixed. The lull in firing, I later discovered, was due to the presence of a senior Indian naval officer, Capt Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman (who later became chief of naval staff). He’d walked in, facing flying bullets, and persuaded them to lay down their arms. An inquiry committee was constituted to look into the grievances of the Indian ratings.