The cadet's life

A few days ago, Prof. Sanghi wrote a very interesting post on his blog about his SSB interview (for entry into NDA) as a youngster.  I sent the link to my father, a retired army officer.  He was in splits after reading it, especially the twist at the end [0]. The blog post is now being circulated among his NDA batch mates.

Of course, his own circumstances were completely different from Prof. Sanghi.  His entire school life revolved around preparing for getting into NDA.  At the age of 8, he heard some friends talking about brave soldiers and Sainik Schools.  The idea of becoming a soldier immediately fascinated him and he requested his father to get him an admission form for such a school, which his father obtained most willingly as it involved a government-subsidised education.  He joined Sainik School Tilaiya the following year.  Sainik Schools have been solely created for preparing students to join the services.  The following statement in the vision document of Sainik School Tilaiya says it all:

The primary aim of Sainik School is to prepare boys academically, physically and  mentally for entry into the Defence Services and those who do not make the grade, for responsible positions in various other walks of life.

Therefore, for him and almost all his schoolmates, the entire spectrum of competitive exams started and ended at the admission test for NDA.  It was a do-or-die kind of situation.  The school thoroughly trained them for all stages of the interview.  His memories of the SSB interview are not very vivid, but he remembers the feeling of relief and celebration when he saw his name in the selection list.

He also vaguely remembers the bus which came to pick up young recruits at Pune railway station to take them to NDA and how the recruits sat quietly without making any effort to communicate with each other.  All the memories that he now shares with us are after he joined NDA.  And yes, Prof. Sanghi is right!  Riding a bicycle from Khadakwasla to Bangalore is a breeze in comparison with the grueling schedule of an NDA cadet.

Picture this: the cadets woke up at 5 am and were served tea and two biscuits (which they called "dog" biscuits).  After that, they had three 40-minute classes, out of which two were related to physical training, drill or horse riding and one was a theory class [1]. After that, they had about a quarter of an hour to cycle back a distance of about two kilometres, take a shower, change into their impeccable uniforms, have breakfast at the mess and report to the academic building for six more theory classes.  At the mess, they could eat as much as they liked (the only restriction was on the amount of butter), but following a very rigid table etiquette and within 10-15 minutes.

The six classes included academic subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Social Sciences, along with service subjects like battlecraft, map reading, field engineering etc.

At 1 pm, they reported for lunch and had an official rest period from 2 to 3 pm.  At 3 pm, they were served another round of tea with "dog" biscuits.  They played sports from 3.30 to 5 pm, after which they had to shower, change and gather at what they called the ante-room, where they were read out orders and announcements relevant to the next day.

6 to 8 pm was prep period, during which they had to stay in their rooms and study.
Each cadet had to keep all the doors and windows of his room open as the duty officer dropped by to inspect whether the cadet was really studying or not!  Dinner was served from 8 to 9 pm, after which they prepared to go to sleep.  10 pm was the "lights out" time.

The following are some of the mistakes which would earn you punishments:


1) Reporting late for any session/class.
2) Wearing a uniform with any kind of defect (for example, unpolished shoes!)
3) Caught not studying during prep period
4) Dozing off during class
5) Not slinging your satchel across your back while cycling (ie, not holding your satchel in this manner while cycling)
6) Indulging in any activity after "lights out" (It's a different matter that this was also the time when the new students were gathered in the corridor and ragged.  This was 40 years ago.  This practice must have stopped now.) 
7) Speaking back to a senior or calling him "nuts" to his face :-)
8) Not being particular about your crew cut hairstyle

Forms of punishment (which were levied during the rest periods or on Sunday mornings) could include:

a) A walk up to Sinhgadh Fort and back (a distance of about 20 kms) in your battle dress carrying a heavy load [called Pitthoo]
b) Picking up your cycle and running around a training ground
c) Rolling your way through a training ground [2]

Cadets spend 3 years at NDA (a total of six terms). They have to indicate at the application stage itself whether they want to join army, air force or navy, but it is only in the sixth term that they do course work based on their choices.  In theory, they can apply to change their preference in the third semester, but it is very rare to have this change approved. [3]

After 3 years of training, the cadets receive their graduation on one of the most important days of their lives, the day of the POP (Passing Out Parade) and become gentlemen cadets.  My father tells us with a lot of pride how his whole family attended his POP and gets angry when my brother points out the other meaning of "passing out". (Imagine a contingent of cadets "passing out" in front of Indira Gandhi.)

After that, the cadet, now a gentleman cadet (GC), spends a year at the Indian Air Force/Military/Navy Academy before he gets commissioned as an officer [4].  A lot of their instructors are non-commissioned officers (NCOs) or Junior Commissioned Officers.   They are very strict with the GCs.  But, as soon as the graduation ceremony/POP is over, the GCs, as commissioned officers,  become technically senior to them.  The instructors now salute them and address them as Sir.

When I told my father that I was moving to Pune, he was thrilled.  He associates Pune with the beginning of many positive things in his life.  Earlier this year, when he accompanied me here, he took me for a visit to NDA.  While we were there, I got to see all the places where he had trained/studied/been punished as a cadet.  He even managed to show me the room where he had lived as a cadet 40 years ago.
The senior cadets currently staying in his Squadron (called Golf Squadron) welcomed us warmly.  They were very happy to meet an ex-Golfie, even though he was 40 years senior.  We were visiting on the day after the induction of a fresh batch and the freshers had been gathered in the corridor after getting their crew-cut to receive further instruction.  They looked very nervous and shyly shook hands with my father.

I tried to imagine my father in their position in the winter of 1973.  Could he possibly have foreseen that one day, he would bring his grown up daughter to the very same spot?  I am sure he had a far more pressing issue to think about at that time: namely, if he will survive the stringent training!


[0] Incidentally, my father weighed a little over 41 kgs at the time of his interview (after being fed a diet with lots of bananas) and barely made it through.

[1] A quick look at this page gives a good overview of their academic programme. The last sentence summarizes it the best:the aim is to achieve excellence in academic pursuits without compromising on outdoor activities. 

[2] Interestingly, while there are many strenuous forms of punishment, it is against NDA code to levy any punishment to cadets which involves going hungry.  Cadets are never, ever asked to give up any meal or eat very little as punishment.

[3] My father gave army as his first preference while filling up his application form.  Later, he saw the movie "The Blue Max" and tried to change over to Air Force in his third semester, but did not succeed.
[4] One cannot refer to a cadet as "s/he".  NDA and IMA still remain male bastions (and I suspect, will remain so for a long time).  Other than in Medical Corps, women still do not receive permanent commission in the services.  Those who join on Short Service Commission are trained at the Officers Training Academy at Chennai (and now also at Gaya).