YOURS BUT TO DO AND DIE-- LEAVING ALMA MATER

ARMY ORDERS-YOURS NOT TO QUESTION WHY

Sometime the Academy Adjutant, invariably an Army officer from the Cavalry, would pass an order through the Subedar Major and his cohorts would execute them regardless of thought. One such order was that all cadets would carry their satchels. One could walk stark naked but if he did not have his satchel, woe betide him. Raincapes were not to be shared ; one heard the funny statement "Cadet, no two in one sharing rain!" Then came the turn of bicycles. As it was, the rule was that nobody, nobody other than 6th termers ever walked in the NDA. He ran. When the unserviceability rate of bicycles became high, the higher ups decided that all cadets would have their cycles with them, serviceable or not. So the militiamen executed the order as given to them. If the bicycles were not serviceable, then they were to be dismantled and all parts carried in the satchel, except for the frame and wheels, which were to become a garland of sorts, draped around one's neck. If a 6th termer's bike was flat, he would take a good one from the nearest 1st termer. The rest ran, as always. Good for one's stamina, as easily explained.

As many as four films were shown every week, one on Wednesday, one on Saturday and two on Sunday. One spent Monday discussing the last three films they had seen, Tuesday would go in anticipation of the forth-coming movie, Thursday went in the review of Wednesday's movie and Friday was spent awaiting the three films to come. Sunday morning films were generally cartoons for the kids, but who cared. At least one could get three hours of peaceful sleep, dead to the world. Not so with evening movies. The Adjutant would perhaps tick off the Academy Cadet Adjutant because the number of cadets on extra drills was too large for comfort. This was his way of showing who was boss. Nobody save the 6^th termers could leave the auditorium. As soon as all officers and their families left, the ACA would stride onto stage and conduct a parade of his own. All cadets would be forced to stand motionless for half an hour and then return to the Cadet's Mess for Dinner front rolling all the way. It was just a question of luck.

But then, how could he ever forget the horror that followed the Hindi movie 'Yeh Raat Phir Kabhi Nahi Aayegi, which, when translated into English, read 'This night will never reoccur'. Over 1200 cadets had front-rolled eight Kilometres along the periphery and missed Dinner. The ACA had been punished and replaced by the Adjutant, but that didn't alter the fact that they had ruined their clothes and had to purchase replacements. Exceptions apart, one could hopefully sleep through the film and then get away for a quick dinner. Dinner on Mondays and Thursdays were formal occasions and one wore the appropriate formal dress and observed the decorum of a dining-in night, for a five course meal, eating timings synchronized with the senior-most cadet on the table. At times all officers would attend and the dinner became easier to digest. One often saw a cadet pushing a solitary bean on to the back of his fork with his knife and picking up a morsel of bread that was exactly one-sixteenth of a slice. Front-rollers would brush past one's knees to deliver messages from one end to the other. All in good fun, though, though not for the cadet crawling under the table. 

Squadron spirit was essential. They would all go to cheer the Squadron Teams whenever a match was in progress. As a good all-round athlete, he had played Football, Hockey, Squash and Tennis for the Squadron, right from his first term. They would be cheered as a team, even with first termers playing. The Squadron fund would pay for their post match soft refreshments like Cokes and peanuts. Camaraderie was built up this way, to stand them in good stead later. The NDA stamp was all embracing, the very word establishing rapport. Yes, those were the formative years that had developed in him a sense of belonging to his unit, whichever it be. This was the most enduring of relationships, which would continue life-long. In fact, there was an occasion when the three Service Chiefs were course-mates from their salad days.

THE PASSING OUT PARADE

Squadron spirit was essential. They would all go to cheer the Squadron Teams whenever a match was in progress. As a good all-round athlete, he had played Football, Hockey, Squash and Tennis for the Squadron, right from his first term. They would be cheered as a team, even with first termers playing. The Squadron fund would pay for their post match soft refreshments like Cokes and peanuts. Camaraderie was built up this way, to stand them in good stead later. The NDA stamp was all embracing, the very word establishing rapport. Yes, those were the formative years that had developed in him a sense of belonging to his unit, whichever it be. This was the most enduring of relationships, which would continue life-long. In fact, there was an occasion when the three Service Chiefs were course-mates from their salad days.

His three year stay had passed off so rapidly that many occurrences had been forgotten. Ragging and punishment was history, condemned to the remotest corner of one's brain. The change of stream was the wisest decision of his life, even though his Naval course-mates were Commissioned one full year before him while the Army cadets had gained six months over him, their Commissioning being that much earlier. One never thought about such mundane things; it was infra dig. He had been appointed the SCC of his Squadron, a matter of great pride, as he had excelled in sports and done fairly well in Academics.

But he got his greatest thrills in Gliding. They were flying the venerable British Sedbergh T-21B Glider, and were allowed a total of sixty launches before appearing for a Solo Check with the Flight Commander, where one either failed passed. The check consisted of two Sorties, the second being a test of reflexes in case of any failures, like the tow-line attached to the winch snapping during the climb out, etc. He had passed and was presented his wings by the Flight Commander. He had shown great promise and flew five dual sorties with his instructor pilot, who then cleared him for three solo sorties, all on the same T-21B, with a 60 Kilo pack as ballast in the vacant seat. He was the only cadet permitted to fly the Eon Baby, an aerobatic single-seat ultra-light glider. He recalled hitting a thermal and climbing upto 6,000 feet above ground, 5,000 feet higher than he had ever been before. NDA when seen from the air was a magnificent spectacle. Seeing the historic fort of Sinhagad below him was yet another truly awe-inspiring picture. From that day onwards, he had decided that he would become a fighter pilot. 

He remembered his Passing-out Parade with nostalgia. As the SCC, he commanded his Squadron through the parade till it was time to separate from his boys and line up in sixes to march up towards the 'Quarter Deck' as the large dais was called. There was a mast with sails, much like the ships of the past. The National Flag fluttered with glory at the peak and the NDA Flag was one level below it, followed by the Colours of each Squadron. He remembered the final salute as they reached abeam the Mast, marching past in Slow Order. The other Cadets also marched away in Slow Order and the view from Big Ben showed the symmetry of the two lots of Cadets marching away from each other. This view was truly magnificent, to say the least.

The rest of the day went in a haze, with felicitations all round. He had taken his parents to meet the Commandant of the Academy, a two-star General in those days. They also met the Home Minister who had presided over the Parade and taken the Salute. How they reached home remained a blur in the distant past, travelling with proud parents who recounted the experience of the three days that they had spent in the NDA with their son. First the round of the Campus in a coach, with a smartly dressed cadet as guide and historian, boating on Khadakwasla Lake, the three-hour Cultural Show, the Dinner Night, the Polo match and the various displays put up by the other Cadets for their benefit.  What a dream that was, all of forty-five years ago.