Trip to the National Defence Academy

In May end, I went to Pune for my cousin's passing out from NDA. I always wanted to go to NDA, its another thing that I would have preferred going over there as a cadet. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience. Like all defence entities, NDA has been kept pretty well. Its a beautiful place and roaming around in the academy was an enjoyable experience. Moreover, the fact that my father also passed out from the academy made me even more excited about having a look around and taking pictures.

I reached Pune on 29th May...pretty late in the night, thanks to Indian Airlines. From Hyderabad there are not many options in terms of flights but I chose Indian Airlines as I wanted to reach over there on time. That was not to be and I reached Pune three hours late!!! As advised by my cousin, from the airport I went to the railway station as there were buses waiting to transport the parents/friends/relatives to the academy. Late in the night, I was concerned whether I will be able to get a bus. Much to my relief, there was a bus at the station.

It took almost an hour and half to reach the academy where in I got down at the Hunter Squadron where in the arrangement for my stay was made. I had to share my room with one of cousin's pal. My worst fear came true when the guy did not open the door even when occupants of the several near by rooms came out cursing, due to my banging on the door!!! Ultimately, I had to go to my Bua's room to sleep.

On 30th May, there was a convocation for the passing out cadets to mark the completion of their graduation. The ceremony had to go on for couple of hours and the scene was that nobody was supposed to get out of the hall before the completion. That was too much for me and I, along with my other relatives decided to give the ceremony a miss. I caught up with some much needed sleep.

Before the convocation, we went to the mess in anticipation of a royal breakfast....but it was pretty sad!!!

In the afternoon, we decided to go for "NDA Darshan". It was pretty enjoyable and we took a lot of pictures, one of the reasons for my travelling to the academy. We were shown the stables, the small planes used for flight trainings, the stadium, the lake used for navy training, Sudan Bhavan, the library, golmarket.......etc etc

After the sightseeing trip, we were supposed to have lunch at the mess but going by the experience in the morning, we decided to have lunch in the canteen. Boy, did we make a mistake. We had half cooked chicken curry with not-at-all cooked rice!!!! But the gulaab jamun were good. Before the lunch, we were laughing at the sight of cadets having around 10-15 gulaab jamun each but after having the lunch we could easily make out the reason. Probably, gulaab jamun was the best thing to have at the academy. Food was pretty disappointing though my father tells that it was not the case during his stay at the academy.

In the evening, there was a "Tatoo show" in which the cadets were showcasing the trainings that they receive at the academy. Now, "Tatoo" was not very clear so I asked my cousin the agenda of the show. He told me that they will be doing yoga and showing "dhaava". Dhaava can mean a lot of things and it did not excite me much. So, all of us decided not to go. Half an hour after the scheduled start of the Tatoo Show, we were rocked by the loud sound of a blast. Then, much to my agony, my cousin told me that its part of the "dhaava" in which cadets were showing simulated attack on a battlefield!!!!! That left me pretty disappointed about missing the show.

30th evening was the dinner night. We reached the mess, neatly dressed up. We were seated close to the main tables where the Chief Guest, Fali Homi Major (Chief of Air Staff) had to sit. The dinner night was a short ceremony and I must say that I did not really enjoy it. May be I was expecting too much, and I am not talking about just the food!!!!

31st May was the day for the passing out parade. The parade had to start around 6 in the morning. We reached the parade ground at least an hour before the scheduled start as we wanted to get the best seats. There was a lot of confusion over there regarding the reserved seats and the first termers were having a difficult time managing the over-enthusiastic parents!!!

The parade started as per the schedule. The cadets were smartly dressed up in whites. First the various squadrons lined up followed by a prize distribution ceremony. Then the Air Chief inspected the squadrons. It was followed by the parade. We had a tough time locating my cousin since he is a short fellow and everyone had the same hairstyle!!!!! Yet, we managed to take some good snaps. The parade was followed by "Dheemi Chaal" which marks the passing out from the academy. The fly past by the Jaguars and Sukhoi was a sight to watch.

Post the passing out parade, the cadets celebrated the occassion with fellow cadets and families. It was a pretty festive atmosphere and their joy was electrifying. Post that the cadets bid adieu to the academy, their home for three years and left with friends and family.

Overall, I am glad that I went to the academy or else I would have missed this memorable experience. Now I am looking forward to a trip to the Indian Military Academy in 2008