Teachers' Day Special - A Shot in Hindsight 💥
By Col J S Malik · Green · 2302
कुंजपुरा डायरीज़ ...🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 Teachers' Day Special - A Shot in Hindsight 💥 As a young boy at Sainik School Kunjpura(SSK), I was so lean and thin that anybody could throw me around with flinching ease. And as luck would have it, I joined National Defence Academy(NDA) after school. To my knowledge, I feared real challenging times ahead. Fortunately, there were an entire bunch of Kunjeans (alumini of Kunjpura) around and in my Echo squadron too. Them being around was enough for me to walk with my chin up and face the nasty seniors. For those three years in the Academy, time wasn't always ticking fast. The days-left-to-go-home(DLTGH) board moved damn very slow !! The most awaited term breaks seemed far beyond the time horizon. The daily grind was so intense, it made you cry in silence, mostly at night alone. Broadly speaking, it was "all mental" as always preached by our boisterous seniors.💥 The mental stamina as I look back now, was passed down by my teachers, house masters, seniors, coaches and classmates. As a result, I could take on hulky seniors at NDA with my stubborn faith. Nothing physical about it, but the unseen strength inside me did the trick. I didn't always ask favours from my pals but their presence in every corner of Academy gave me the courage to handle any foul situation. Surprisingly, I excelled in physicals too. Echo was known by the name "PT Squadron" in our time. I don't fathom how we could keep doing push-ups endlessly in the "battalion area", untill the sharp stony grains on ground started to bleed our chest? How we could climb vertical rope multiple times in a row? How the beginning of a long cross country run, had to begin with a sprint? "You will warm up on the Rape Hill anyway", they said. Normal didn't work in NDA. And mine was Echo squadron ...a ruthless & unapologetic "concentration camp". Even when at times I stood out as a doubtful cadet, I couldn't believe myself, seeing my skinny physique. 💥 Even before entering the Academy, I had heard stories of hardship from my Kunjean seniors and classmates. Boys always wanted to shed extra pounds and get fitter before reporting to NDA. Tragically, I wanted to put on additional weight, to take on the seniors more than the hardship of training. And my apprehensions came true. Being good in academics was not going to be enough, I realised quite early. I had to build stamina and strength to survive three years of continuous drudgery.💥 I ate a lot to keep my energy levels high through out the day. I had no other choice at the Cadet's Mess. Inspite of my seniors telling me to leave the dining table, I kept eating defying their orders. They kept shouting. I kept my face down towards the plate. They didn't know my plight. From the outside, I looked weak. But from the inside I was a tough nut to crack. So finally one day, my overstudy put me up to next senior. And the process kept repeating. Inspite of so many pals around, the journey kept getting tougher.💥 To compensate for the daily toil, I had to sleep enough. But that wasn't possible in Echo squadron. Nights were meant for infomal training too. So I began practicing power naps, and academics took a back seat. Academics were always close to my heart, but I had to survive for the next day and then again the next day. I began taking naps in the classroom. Infact every cadet did. Our souls reached heavens in 'Sudan Block'. The cool breeze from the Khadakwasla hills was magically soothing. The teachers/instructors of NDA very well understood our predicament. And if I missed the murky battle of "NDA Tea-Break" any day, it meant I dozed off too long. 💥 Swimming lessons were the most difficult and weird at the Academy. We were paddling more on the hot tarmac outside the pool, than in it. It was my first time that I had to jump from a 10 metres board. I showed no fear. I held nil thoughts of not jumping. I wasn't confident about it though ! Because I had never done it before. Nevertheless, I had a reputation to protect. The name of my alma mater(SSK) flashing before my eyes. Even at the cost of hurting myself, I had to jump. Looking straight, I kept moving till the tip of the board. There was no stopping or looking back. It turned out to be a perfect jump !!💥 Results don't show up overnight. The hardships faced in my school days, carried me down the ten metres of free fall from the board every term. I had seen a glimpse of such routine and a little less in my residential school. Being shouted at or physical punishments caused no pain. My mother didn't have an inkling, what I was going through at school or later at NDA. She never went any school. She thought I was already the लेफ्टीडेंट (Lieutenant) that she dreamt. I told her about the best moments of every term during leave. I narrated the same stories to my grandmother too.💥 When it was time to say good bye after every leave, together they would pack some extra load(गोंद लड्डू) in my bag. In my heart, I knew it was never m