Yes, I Have It In Me....
There are certain moments in everyone's lives, which stand tall.
In my small life, I have a few such moments.
Moments I treasure!
Moments I cherish!
Moments that make me beam with pride!
Moments that I look back on and draw inspiration from!
Moments that unfailingly bring a smile on my face.
The following is a recollection of such a proud moment!
My Dad is an Ex-Airforce of two countries !!!
He has served in the Indian and UAE Airforce!
Not that i was driven by this, but like every other male kid, there was a time in my childhood when I dreamed of becoming an airman!! ( I dont know if its just bcoz I have a lot of determination OR bcoz I really havent progressed mentally since 10 years..... I still dream of being able to pilot sometime ... and I plan to pursue it too!! )
The thought of being in the forces always excited me!
The incident I am going to narrate happened in the final semester of my B.Tech...
I was then, a guy withn no hopes, sub zero confidence (Such low grades!!).
The final semester of any course is the most disheartening part for any below par performer!
The time when the people around you start getting placements and you are not even allowed to write any of the placement papers (Back papers and Percentage).
It seriously makes desperate, even the most steadfast of optimists!
One such evening, there was an announcement that a Pre Placement Talk has been organized for the University Entry Scheme to the Indain Army!
Attending the 'n'th PPT, I was waiting for the part they would announce the Eligibility Criteria.
"60% "
What ??? Did I hear that right??
OMG, Finally a test that I am eligible to write!
"NO TEST... Direct Interview"
Thank heavens!! I can now boast i made it to the interview the first Placement exam ;).
The wait for interview was killing me!
Finally called in ... I was face to face , one on one, with a top brass "Colonel. Francis"!
Wished him and took my seat and handed my certificates to him!
"What is your view on premarital sex?", the man asked while going through my file...
A hundred million rockets fired up in my head !! :
'Oh shit! I must have left the copy of Playboy in that.' (Btw, playboy is an educational mag. :)
'Does the file still have one of my old sleazy loveletters?'
"Err... BAAD... I dont think its right."- I replied with fingers crossed.
(I was wondering how well I could lie!!)
"What is your idea about your life partner?"
That was it :
Either the man was a gay and giving me a pass
Or i had something wrong in that file i gave him (Did i give him a collection of Porn instead of the certificates??)
I decided to pull up all my wits and started talking ....
I remember describing features (long hair, parrot nose, cherry red cheeks, blah blah) ;)
He then closed the file and announced " You are in !! " ... Couldnt help but think it was a hoax interview!!
Anyways I got the call for the Service Selection Board Interview for Bhopal.
Look at the proud no 9.
PS: Photography inside the SCC, Bhopal is prohibited. But since our batch had exhibited unprecedented team work and had achieved the highest selection rate (12 off 39) ... we were photographed !!!
This ladies and gentlemen therefore is history!!
Thank god !
And I love you all friends .... Many of those names now are on the rolls of OTA (Officers Training Academy, Chennai) and IMA (Indian Millitary Academy, Dehradun) and the Naval Academy.
All of them serve the forces as Captains (Army) and Naval officers (Ramu, I forgot ur rank :)) )
We still keep in touch via our group 2issbiens (21 SSB-iens) on yahoo. ( btw, 21 is the name of the board in Bhopal SCC).
Heres to All you Brothers !
Chal!!
Thats the royal salute of the ACC
(army comedy corps, instituted under Col. Ramnathan aka Ramu)
Jai Hind
In my small life, I have a few such moments.
Moments I treasure!
Moments I cherish!
Moments that make me beam with pride!
Moments that I look back on and draw inspiration from!
Moments that unfailingly bring a smile on my face.
The following is a recollection of such a proud moment!
My Dad is an Ex-Airforce of two countries !!!
He has served in the Indian and UAE Airforce!
Not that i was driven by this, but like every other male kid, there was a time in my childhood when I dreamed of becoming an airman!! ( I dont know if its just bcoz I have a lot of determination OR bcoz I really havent progressed mentally since 10 years..... I still dream of being able to pilot sometime ... and I plan to pursue it too!! )
The thought of being in the forces always excited me!
The incident I am going to narrate happened in the final semester of my B.Tech...
I was then, a guy withn no hopes, sub zero confidence (Such low grades!!).
The final semester of any course is the most disheartening part for any below par performer!
The time when the people around you start getting placements and you are not even allowed to write any of the placement papers (Back papers and Percentage).
It seriously makes desperate, even the most steadfast of optimists!
One such evening, there was an announcement that a Pre Placement Talk has been organized for the University Entry Scheme to the Indain Army!
Attending the 'n'th PPT, I was waiting for the part they would announce the Eligibility Criteria.
"60% "
What ??? Did I hear that right??
OMG, Finally a test that I am eligible to write!
"NO TEST... Direct Interview"
Thank heavens!! I can now boast i made it to the interview the first Placement exam ;).
THE INTERVIEW
Shot back home, and got out of my pair of jeans (which i would be wearing for the last one month ;) ) and got into best formal outfit.The wait for interview was killing me!
Finally called in ... I was face to face , one on one, with a top brass "Colonel. Francis"!
Wished him and took my seat and handed my certificates to him!
"What is your view on premarital sex?", the man asked while going through my file...
A hundred million rockets fired up in my head !! :
'Oh shit! I must have left the copy of Playboy in that.' (Btw, playboy is an educational mag. :)
'Does the file still have one of my old sleazy loveletters?'
"Err... BAAD... I dont think its right."- I replied with fingers crossed.
(I was wondering how well I could lie!!)
"What is your idea about your life partner?"
That was it :
Either the man was a gay and giving me a pass
Or i had something wrong in that file i gave him (Did i give him a collection of Porn instead of the certificates??)
I decided to pull up all my wits and started talking ....
I remember describing features (long hair, parrot nose, cherry red cheeks, blah blah) ;)
He then closed the file and announced " You are in !! " ... Couldnt help but think it was a hoax interview!!
Anyways I got the call for the Service Selection Board Interview for Bhopal.
BHOPAL Selection Center Central
It certainly is one of those moments in my life!It was only the second time I was travelling to North India. I had packed enough of warm clothes! ( it was in January 2004). Met a lot of guys to the same place on the train!
Some names:
Mathew (I guess this guy is with infy now)
Akhmal (I was fascinated by the name )
Mohamed Riaz (Giraffe Malabari)
Raja Ravi Varma (Womanizer)
Sebin Philip (Loner TDH)
The travel was sure fun!! I was least aware what was gonna happen there! Read about it only on the train from Riaz's book on SSB .... What it was all about !!
PSST: I even remembered the tricks and tips for the various tests that were to follow!
;)
Reports of the Cold Wave
Earlier on the train, We got the news that Bhopal is experiencing the unprecedented cold (Lowest in the last 25 years)!! This was heightened by the rain in winter!!
And I have such a big problem with the cold.
God save me!!
Bhopal Railway Station
@ 3 am morning. Freezing cold.
It was so cold that the water in the public bathrooms were almost freezing!
And I was even reluctant to brush my teeth!
But, right in front of my eyes, the munnar engineering college guys walk in to the shower and take bath!! These guys live on frigid water !!
Then the wait for the army truck to take us to the exam center, we had to wait till 3 in the afternoon next day (Talk about indian punctuality)
And the sight of us being taken in those open huge vans reminded me of sheep being taken to the slaughterhouse.
But the trip was fantastic ... we were close to 200 young people from all over India.
You could say it was a kind of those moments where you would have liked to have the national anthem play .... and then hug everyone around and say "We are brothers , fellow Indian".
SCC was fun!!!
I could write atleast a MLOC (software influence, i guess)- Million lines of crap on the wonderful experiences we had there!!
Some names:
Mathew (I guess this guy is with infy now)
Akhmal (I was fascinated by the name )
Mohamed Riaz (Giraffe Malabari)
Raja Ravi Varma (Womanizer)
Sebin Philip (Loner TDH)
The travel was sure fun!! I was least aware what was gonna happen there! Read about it only on the train from Riaz's book on SSB .... What it was all about !!
PSST: I even remembered the tricks and tips for the various tests that were to follow!
;)
Reports of the Cold Wave
Earlier on the train, We got the news that Bhopal is experiencing the unprecedented cold (Lowest in the last 25 years)!! This was heightened by the rain in winter!!
And I have such a big problem with the cold.
God save me!!
Bhopal Railway Station
@ 3 am morning. Freezing cold.
It was so cold that the water in the public bathrooms were almost freezing!
And I was even reluctant to brush my teeth!
But, right in front of my eyes, the munnar engineering college guys walk in to the shower and take bath!! These guys live on frigid water !!
Then the wait for the army truck to take us to the exam center, we had to wait till 3 in the afternoon next day (Talk about indian punctuality)
And the sight of us being taken in those open huge vans reminded me of sheep being taken to the slaughterhouse.
But the trip was fantastic ... we were close to 200 young people from all over India.
You could say it was a kind of those moments where you would have liked to have the national anthem play .... and then hug everyone around and say "We are brothers , fellow Indian".
SCC was fun!!!
I could write atleast a MLOC (software influence, i guess)- Million lines of crap on the wonderful experiences we had there!!
The Final Moments
We were tested rigorously, for the next two weeks, to answer just a single question:
To cut a long story short.... It was days of comraderie, those 15 days.
We were truly bonded! We would hug and comfort the people who were eliminated !!
Wish them all the best on their way back to the railway station!
They would wave to us with tears in their eyes!! We could see the fervor in their eyes to be standing in our places !!
Yet, the next day would be again the competition kicking in!!
We were competing for the few seat against each other... yet little did we know how much we were getting bonded in the course!
In the two weeks the following eliminations took place:
And I was one among them!
Those days were not about just the glory!
It was about comraderie.... Believe me when I say that I have very close friends from that incident than from the normal 23 years of my life
I still remember that we sang our anthem ' Sandeshe aate hain..... ' while we were being shipped back to the railway station in the truck! And the guys behind our truck on bikes , were singing along with us and swaying their bikes to our tunes !! We were beaming with pride .... we had been chosen to serve our nation!!
And as if it was still yesterday, I can recollect the joy in our hearts to have made it through the
test that even our president Mr. Abdul Kalam could not clear (That was part of our welcome speech). And the walk down the corridors in the college ... "Yes I am selected".
I was among the first ones to get placed that year !! It was a miracle !
"...the most unimportant, the one that the masons discarded was made the corner stone."
- Bible
There are such moments in everyone's lives, that one thanks god about!We were tested rigorously, for the next two weeks, to answer just a single question:
"The Indian Army, calling Engineers ."
"Do you Have it in You?"
"Do you Have it in You?"
To cut a long story short.... It was days of comraderie, those 15 days.
We were truly bonded! We would hug and comfort the people who were eliminated !!
Wish them all the best on their way back to the railway station!
They would wave to us with tears in their eyes!! We could see the fervor in their eyes to be standing in our places !!
Yet, the next day would be again the competition kicking in!!
We were competing for the few seat against each other... yet little did we know how much we were getting bonded in the course!
In the two weeks the following eliminations took place:
- 200 ppl after some preliminary elimination were brought down to 39.
- 39 of us were put under various tests (psychology, interviews, group tests) and then short listed to just 12.
- After the medical examinations, only a meagre 5 were found fit!
And I was one among them!
Those days were not about just the glory!
It was about comraderie.... Believe me when I say that I have very close friends from that incident than from the normal 23 years of my life
I still remember that we sang our anthem ' Sandeshe aate hain..... ' while we were being shipped back to the railway station in the truck! And the guys behind our truck on bikes , were singing along with us and swaying their bikes to our tunes !! We were beaming with pride .... we had been chosen to serve our nation!!
And as if it was still yesterday, I can recollect the joy in our hearts to have made it through the
test that even our president Mr. Abdul Kalam could not clear (That was part of our welcome speech). And the walk down the corridors in the college ... "Yes I am selected".
I was among the first ones to get placed that year !! It was a miracle !
"...the most unimportant, the one that the masons discarded was made the corner stone."
- Bible
Look at the proud no 9.
PS: Photography inside the SCC, Bhopal is prohibited. But since our batch had exhibited unprecedented team work and had achieved the highest selection rate (12 off 39) ... we were photographed !!!
This ladies and gentlemen therefore is history!!
Thank god !
And I love you all friends .... Many of those names now are on the rolls of OTA (Officers Training Academy, Chennai) and IMA (Indian Millitary Academy, Dehradun) and the Naval Academy.
All of them serve the forces as Captains (Army) and Naval officers (Ramu, I forgot ur rank :)) )
We still keep in touch via our group 2issbiens (21 SSB-iens) on yahoo. ( btw, 21 is the name of the board in Bhopal SCC).
Heres to All you Brothers !
Chal!!
Thats the royal salute of the ACC
(army comedy corps, instituted under Col. Ramnathan aka Ramu)
Jai Hind
posted by Heart of Gold !! at 3:15 AM
15 Comments:
WoW ..... I can see you beaming with pride when u wrote this.. how many times I have heard this, but still I love to hear it...
I am sure you are gonna make it one day. Keep ur spirits up buddy ;)
:-) well if I was in yr shoes at the interview I would have gotten the sam efeeling abt the guy!! yet coz I have spent sometime in Military hospitals I know that the most important aspect in Military specially in my country is to draft the straight men into military.
I have never been fond of flying & I admit it is mostly due to fear. I hate situations I am nottotally in control.
Great John..:)
Quite a treat to read..
Made my heart rise in patriotic fervour for a moment..I can imagine how much proud u wud be..:)
A pretty inspirational post..
Congratzzz..
Regards,
Srijith Unni
phew!!!!! someone did a big job by writing tat long.....
But still written from heart....definitely ehmmm had a good time to know and read ...and yah that interview was great...who was the one who took it...little i wonder wat was going ...
:)
But good work arun, this was really a good...could ready ur expr and thoughts.
@vaave
Yep, frankly speaking, I would still like to be in the Forces for atleast a short stint.
Let Us See ;)
@Dr O2
You know what? you just reminded me of the medicals !!
It was really hilarious! And there was this doctor who comes up to us and shoots " Why Indian Army?".
We would all give him the best of our well learned and byhearted extempories!!
But this gentleman was seriously fed up of the army!!
Anyways, I will put that up sometime as well!
And 4 the flying part .... I am a Cowboy on the inside !!
@reshmi
There were moments during the whole interview process which was really awe inspiring !!
I will try to include it in the next post !!
@sreejith
Thanks buddy!
@deepti
What part did you like in the interview ???
;-)
@ALL
Thanks for the visit !
John
Yes Arun.. You have it in you.. U always have.. :)
Btw.. the interview was for the Indian Army or for a groom for Colonel. Francis' daughter??? Hmmm.. ~grin~
:)
..Me
hey !
i rem the phone calls and all .. but u never did tell me why u quit ...
missing u a lot
am down under :((((
I guess you are a gr8 orator and and wud find your way out of most tricky situations in life........
1)But exactly how did you talk your way into the army....
2)and after all this trouble, why did you talk your way out of that
a first timer to your blog
u r like the politicians who make people wait. wen are u posting next, it has been quite some time.
man !
will u update ?????
Good One Man. There was a time in my life where I had NDA interview card and also a career of Engg in front of me. I was forced to choose the second one. But I still believe even if I chose the first, I would not have made it. May be I dont have it in me :-)
Good Luck Man
touching post..
wow, thats some incident - not your everyday blogger stuff. glad i came here.
Post a Comment
<< Home