A QUARTERLY NEWS PUBLICATION FROM SRI VISHNU EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY
10
Somewhere time had stopped
THE COLONEL’S
The Journey to the NDA (National Defence Academy), Khadakwasla COLUMN
The Colonel recounts his recent trip to his Alma Mater - the NATIONAL DEFENCE ACADEMY, PUNE – where he was trained as a cadet for three years in the early sixties. The occasion happened to be the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of his batch in June 2012. It was the thirteenth of June in the year of the Lord 2012 and the eventide was placidly evanescing with the azure sky gradually being transmuted into a crimson hue. A gentle breeze caressed our foreheads and the flowers in the pathway gleefully genuflected as we (my course mates living in Secunderabad) set out on our trip down memory lane. It was to be a grand occasion at the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla – the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the 28th course alumni. Fifty years had elapsed since our entry into the portals of the NDA. It was time to reminisce and celebrate. The rendezvous of Team Hyderabad took place at the over-crowded Nampally railway station. The Pune bound train left on the dot and there was an air of delectable expectancy as all of us settled down in our respective berths. The Hyderabad-Mumbai Express arrived at the Pune Junction on schedule to break the Indian Railways jinx of rarely keeping time on any of the long distance routes! A bus from the NDA picked us up at the Pune Railway Station along with some of our other coursemates from Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. There was hugging, handshakes, screams and bonhomie everywhere. The bus slowly ploughed through the dense traffic that characterizes all cities, without exception, before negotiating the road to NDA to cruise at an acceptable speed. We were headed to our Alma mater, after about forty-seven years in most cases, along a familiar route with its usual bumps and terra firma. DAY – 1 at NDA Our course-mates travelling from across the Globe – Gurgaon, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore , Pune, Middle East, Malaysia, Nigeria and so on converged at the India Squadron on the morning of 14th June. Some of our course mates had gone that extra mile to plan and implement multifarious activities with panache and aplomb – reception, information folder, Photograph CD, the Golden Jubilee T-Shirt for Gents and Reunion mugs for the ladies, NDA Darshan, Golf/tennis/swimming/riding, museum visit, boating etc. There were many children (and grand children), too, to lend youthful exuberance and vigour to the proceedings. Lunch was served at the Cadets Mess resplendent with its antique chandeliers and stuccoed walls. The interiors were a marvel of architectural elegance. More than two thousand cadets are served meals at any one time thanks to the automated kitchen. There was a sense of déjà vu as we chatted incessantly exercising our vocal chords to near deafening decibel levels at times, pausing in between to click photographs with mobiles, high resolution cameras, a
far cry from the box cameras ('Sureshot' I think was a popular and cheap brand then) that the privileged ones used half a century ago. We did not fail to take cognizance of the 'Hat and rain cape' stands where many belts and berets invariably got 'exchanged' (euphemistically speaking!). As we emerged from the front entrance of the Cadets' Mess, one could not miss noticing a very tall pole anchoring the National Flag that fluttered aloft majestically. This was a recent addition. We walked down towards the Delta Squadron (the erstwhile Bravo Squadron) to visit the Tiger Hill Memorial that was dedicated to our alma mater by our 28th NDA Course in 2006 on the occasion of our fortieth anniversary of commissioning as officers in the Indian Armed Forces. This Monument - "Capture Of Tiger Hill" - depicts the capture of this strategic feature by the Indian Army during Op Vijay of the Kargil War. As we walked back to India Squadron via a circuitous route viz along the erstwhile Golf and Hunter Squadrons (now Foxtrot and Golf Squadrons), a sense of nostalgia engulfed us – the same fall-in area, where our Squadron Drill was also practised, the same markings on the tarmac, the same aroma that wafted through the air around us and the same course-mates walking with us ! Somewhere time had stopped. NDA Darshan was organized in buses during the post lunch session on the first day: Gole Market – Equitation Lines – Peacock Bay – Swimming Pool – Interim Officers Mess – India Squadron. That was an occasion to showcase the NDA ambience to our ladies and describe what their husbands had purportedly gone through. After a quick shower (no longer uninhibited!) and change, we drove to the Habibullah Hall to take active part in a special entertainment program organized by one of our course-mates. Musicians Vishal and Shekhar had the audience, the younger generation in particular, vibrating with vivacity and gyrating with gaiety as their troupe belted out high decibel but popular Hindi movie hits under dazzling strobe lamps (the psychedelic lighting didn't entirely find favour with some of ourgeneration populace!). After the musical extravaganza, dance and dinner followed at the Interim Officers mess. “If music be the food of love, play on” was the refrain as we led our partners (in life) to the dance floor to prove that we were still in step with times. After drinks ('Sprite' for sprightly people like me!), dance and dinner (not necessarily in that sequence), it was time for a post-prandial session with our course-mates and their ladies were on the lush green lawns of the Officers Mess. It was also an occasion to catch up after eons and recount certain unforgettable moments of the past. The lawns overlooked the swimming pool which was witness to our mandatory 10 metre jump from the diving board in one of our terms (was it the fourth?) at the NDA. I was no great swimmer and I recall the ascent to the diving board for the 10-metre jump with trepidation and with butterflies in my stomach! The jump seemed to have a “high degree of difficulty” that is actually quantified for diving! 'It is only a jump and no acrobatic manoeuvres are involved” I kept telling myself as I executed the jump - Splash followed by plummeting vertically down the pool , resurfacing, swimming ashore and feeling like a hero. That was in 1964. We
narrated this to the unsuspecting ladies and also about how we were the targets of the “Treat them rough and make them tough” philosophy, endemic to the NDA ethos, and how we had donned the 'riding rig and chindit order' with a bi-cycle lifted aloft for balance! More anecdotes and tales bordering on razor sharp adventure kept the ladies and children engrossed for a while but later translated to the involuntary expulsion of air from the lungs (Yawn! Pardon the circumlocution). The excavation of reminiscences ceased, good-byes and Thank-Yous were exchanged and the buses hurtled towards 'I' squadron. It was the end of an exciting day – rebonding with friends and comrades-in-arms. DAY – 2 at NDA Day One helped us reconnect with friends including their families to pick up the threads from where we had left off in the mid-sixties. Day Two bolstered consolidation and leveraging of this rapport. Day Two also saw us split into different groups early in the morning, which made sense as there were different activities planned – Some were looking twenty years younger in their riding breeches as they headed to the Equitation lines for an hour of riding while others, aficionados of Golf in the Tiger Woods genre, were promenading in front of I Squadron carrying their Golf Sets and waited for their four ball partners. Some of the ladies were reclining on the sofas in the groundfloor-lobby browsing through the news dailies and sipping tea. The Bravo Squadron guys including me decided to go on a Wild Life tour. That was the intent. We got into a SUV to go on that memorable drive – Pashan Gate – Water Point – Gole Market and back. We climbed to the top of the Water Point to get a panoramic and breathtaking view of the NDA. As we drove back, we paused to take pictures of peacocks, deer and a Fox (to qualify for the Wild Life appellation!). After a sumptuous breakfast at the Cadets' Mess, we proceeded to the Hut of Remembrance, built by NDA cadets in 1956-57, to pay homage to those alumni who had laid down their lives in the service of our Country. It was an occasion marked by solemnity and sobriety as the 28th course officers and their ladies marched in slow procession to the sanctum. Wreathes were placed earlier in the Hut. The next destination was the Habibullah Hall again, this time for the address of Commandant NDA, after a brilliantly articulated preamble by one of our course-mates. The Commandant made no secret of his admiration for our course-spirit and camaraderie. He mentioned that the 128th NDA would be joining soon! A NDA film “Standard Bearers” was then screened to showcase the ecosystem obtaining at one of the best military Institutions in the World in terms of the infrastructure, sports facilities, the training regimen and, last but not least, the bonding and teamwork that are nurtured. A photo slide-show titled “Blast from the past” took us fifty years back in time to our SSB days and connected the dots, spanning half a century, and highlighting sporadic activities and events. The venue shifted to the Peacock Bay next where boating trips were arranged for some of us while others guzzled you know what on the banks of the
Peacock Bay. These activities, whatever the nature, whetted our appetite. Squadron Photographs and Corps/Regiment photographs with the ladies were clicked followed by a lavishly laid out lunch. The Regimental dinner at the Cadets Mess was the high point of the day's activities. The evening program was anchored by one of our course-mates with his customary joie de vivre. Most of us danced with abandon to the strains of the NDA Band, while others were seen to be engaged in animated conversation seated outside the Mess on the lawns. “Music when soft voices die vibrates in the memory”. Adieu We salute the organizers (my course-mates mainly) for their planning, co-ordination, implementation and their eye for detail to make the Golden Jubilee Celebrations a grand success. The two plus days spent at the NDA will find a special niche in our hearts and will be emblazoned in the annals of the twenty eighth course history. 2016 will be another watershed for us. The nostalgic trip over, I was back to Ground Zero at Narsapur – equally exciting and buoyant!!!