MEMORIES OF ARMY LIFE

Hello everyone. I have enjoyed my life in the Army thoroughly and it made me what I am today. I am indebted to this great Organization for teaching me to be fearless, physically fit and a good human being above all. To begin, let me tell you about our training at NDA again. Every term we have a cross country competition that involves all of us running (in PT dress thankfully) for a distance of 12 kilometers in the hills of Khadakwasla Pune. Since it is an inter Battalion competition, we all need to give our best for the sake of our Battalion and its Flag. Obviously there is a lot of practice to make us perfect and in the enthusiasm we do twenty kilometers uphill and downhill everyday a couple of weeks before the event. Before one such practice, just two days before the event, our Battalion Commander came and gave us a pep talk. I will never forget what he told us that day. He said “Just remember the two step formula for winning the race. Step one: don’t allow the person behind to overtake you and step two: Overtake the person in front of you”. When the enormity of this “simple” formula hit me, I was lost for words. Moral of the story, Focus, Keep it simple and be determined to succeed.

Life in our Regiment was also an enjoyable and inspiring experience. Let me now give you an insight into about our life in the Units. Everything in the Units are planned and laid out to perfection. Just go to a Military Cantonment and see the layout of buildings and the condition of the roads and you will get what I am saying. That’s because the Army believes in doing everything perfect the first time and every time. There are competitions held regularly for even upkeep of gardens to keep up the enthusiasm and raise the standards in whatever we do. The Army takes special care in looking after the welfare of its troops. The Commanding Officer of a Unit visits the home of the junior most Soldier and has lunch with them to keep the morale of troops high. That is why I believe I am blessed to have served in this wonderful Institution which is a way of life for twenty five years and every day spent here has taught me something new. Come and experience it, you will never regret it, I assure you