ALONG THE AXIS:

Indian flavour aboard US Navy vessel (Andrew Pereira,10/19/08, TNN)

ONBOARD USS CHANCELLORSVILLE: American officers and sailors aboard the USS Chancellorsville, now docked at Mormugao harbour for the joint Indo-US naval exercise Malabar '08 starting Sunday, woke up Saturday morning to the sounds of bhangra playing over the public address system.

In fact, the person who guided the ship into Mormugao harbour was an officer of Indian-origin.

"I was the conning officer at the bridge, guiding the guy at the helm when we entered the harbour," says 22-year-old George Kunthara, who traces his roots to Palakkad, Kerala.

"My parents went to the US almost 30 years ago. I was born and raised in Austin, Texas," he says.