JOURNEY OF BECOMING THE FIRST ALL INDIA BEST CADET - TSC

That was the time, when I was coming back from my 3rd SSB interview (screened out). A call
came from my friend, saying our college is going to have it's first NCC batch and the information
regarding the recruitment has come. At that instant, I felt, Everything happens for a reason in
life. I came back to my college, went to the caretaker, told him my past activities related to the
armed forces and conveyed how this NCC could help me to overcome my shortcomings. I've
attended the selection, had the best timing in running and was very sure of my selection.

We had our inauguration function the next month, I was asked to give the vote of thanks, before
the program could start, I wasn't aware of who's the chief guest was... I read the agenda, it just
had Chief guest : Commanding officer, Col.Samsher Singh, I thought he's just another officer in
the forces, but for my surprise, an officer came out of the vehicle( tucked out, rolled up sleeves,
combat uniform, special forces arm titles, Balidaan badge, finally that love " Maroon beret ") he
walked out like a king, for a moment, I was physically present but my soul wasn't there...but
after coming back to reality. I gathered myself into a single piece and made up my mind that, it'll
be my first speech infront of a Para SF officer, so I kept my vote of thanks script away and when
they called out my name, I went, started by saying this( when the angel has fallen down...and
the devil had his day... you'll find the gates of heaven... Guarded by a single MAROON BERET
and that beret is there in that table* the officer's beret was placed on that table*) everyone
stood attention to the speech, (best : I noticed silently, that the officer was looking at me )
continued my speech, it never sounded like a vote of thanks, it was merely a talk on the special
forces... That day, my principal came to me and said "Good Speech"( I bet you, it's very rare
seeing my principal congratulating a person in specific) still I remember the look, which my
Commanding officer gave me at the end of the program ( smiling, proud look ).

The very first NCC activity happened at my college was the launch camp of RDC-2019, interested
cadets from my college were asked to look over the activities being carried out in the camp, I
came up first and asked my care taker to put me with the Best Cadet's training, as a first task, I
was asked to arrange students from my college to participate with the BC's for a group
discussion. I picked the best debaters and sat with them for the GD. Once the GD was started,
the BC's rushed in...made a typical SSB fish market( note: since, I've been to the SSB 3 times,
was able to figure out the situation and put my points) but, my college students situation was
worse, they couldn't even open their mouth, they were astonished. It was then, that gentle
character, Col.Peter Celestine stopped the discussion and gave chances to the students. ( note :
having no seniors we didn't actually know the designations in NCC, because later only came to
know that Col.Peter Celestine was the group commander) That day, after seeing the bonding
between the officer and the BC's, I made my mind that, I must be there in their place next year.
Because, the way in which these cadets gets trained by such officers will help them to acquire
those 15 OLQ's with/without their knowledge. After seeing them for days, I was sure about
these cadets getting their medals. As I've thought, SW( 3 Gold),JW (1 Gold, 1 Silver), JD (1
Bronze), the Best Cadets from TN dte had a medal hunt.

I've started to prepare inorder to represent the dte as a BC. It was then, a letter came to our
college, stating the one day shooting selection, I was aware that firing has got sufficient amount
of points in BC competition, so I volunteered myself for the selection,keeping in mind that, I'll
get some firing tips and practices which will help me in the BC competition. Luckily, with my
natural skill and from the training I've got in the consecutive camps made my way in the
Coimbatore Group shooting team to take part in the Inter Group Shooting Competition, it was
the record of Coimbatore group being the champion of the IGC for the last 3-4 years, we gave
our best, held the trophy with (7 out of 8 Golds, 8 out of 8 silver, 1 bronze). Coimbatore Group
lead the table with huge margin. In the consecutive month we had our South zone shooting
capsule, in which the southern Dte's will have a friendly match among them. It was then the
information came to us that, for the very first time, TSC will also have BC's. The moment for
which I was working came, I went to the officer incharge of the shooting team Col.Henry
Robert , he explained me the situation there at TSC preparations, because the next camp will
be a combined one with the TSC, but for them that's the Group launch and it seemed like
they've shortlisted their BC's also, but I requested him for a one single chance, he told me that
he'll speak to the officer in charge there, but the next camp started their routine has begun, still
I wasn't taken into account, it was the second day of launch camp, when Col.Henry told me to
go with the BC's for training, actually it was the test for me to check my performance, I knew
that, so the following day we had firing in the morning, I've scored the full points, followed by
that, our GD, Lecturerete, performed well in that too. We were interviewed on the same day,
our written exam results also came, in that assessment, I topped the list with a huge difference
from the second person. That's when my journey of becoming the first AIBC of TSC has
started.

The two cadets(including me) who got shortlisted for the IGC has prepared sufficiently to face
the competition, we were trained by our senior cadet. When we landed at Madurai for the IGC,
the responsibility of getting our Group to the first position was put on our shoulders. I was able
to put up a good performance in the competition, as a result of that, I've topped the
competition and got selected for representing the Dte.( Top 4 cadets out of 12 were shortlisted
for further training camps)

It was then, we met our training officer Lt.Col Dinesh Nair, who has come to NCC very recently
and his first task was to train us for AITSC, he gave his best shot in preparing us. There were
further shortlisting done in the consecutive camps. The learning process of us was different
from just reading the concepts and understanding into doing things practically on ground and
learning. We even practiced the map reading, battle drills, learning about weapons in practical.
All these were the effort of our training officer.

During our training, he used to bring us different food items and take us out to the colleges and
conduct GD with a new crowd, the happiest part is, he'll take us to shops like KFC, on our way
back to campsite. We really had a nice time during the camps.

The final moment came, all those classes, discussions, drill tests, firing practices, late night
written examinations reached its conclusion. It was the time when we were about to leave for
AITSC to Delhi. Our training officer came to the station, gave the josh talk. That particular
moment, I can still remember, when the train started to move, he jogged along with the train
and gave his last wishes for our journey. (His words : You should come back with the medals
and nothing less than that ! )

Being this the first time for BC's at TSC, no one was sure about what's going to happen, how
difficult the competition level will be and all. Surprisingly my NCC unit's previous commanding
officer Col.Samsher Singh came to our Dte block and asked for cadets from 2(TN) Bty, filled with
happiness, I rushed to him with the other cadet( All rounder), he congratulated us for coming
up to this level and also for our upcoming events. I was happy on seeing one of my inspiration.
The first event was written exam, I remembered my training officer's words( everyone will be
coming there prepared, but what's that going make yourself different from them is that 1% of
your hardwork which you're gonna put ) so, I revised the portions sufficiently on the previous
day of the exam ( after line area works, sat at 23:30 to 02:30 ). Next day, that 1% paid off in my
answer sheet, I've completed the 150 minutes exam in first 30 minutes itself. The next event
was drill, it was the previous day when we came to know that, we've the squad drill also, since
we've practiced to command our co-cadets during our training, it helped us. It was very visible
that the TN Dte BC's had put up the best drill on that day.( Before the competition, one PI staff
came and addressed the BC's, he was saying that the cadets from the south used to give good
drill and all, initially we thought he was telling that to increase the competitive spirit among
cadets, but in the end, we proved that true ).

Our interview has taken place soon after our drill test, we didn't had much time to change our
dress, we somehow managed to remove those ceremonial costume and assembled there on
time. Three officers panel(Air Commodore, Brigadier, Colonel) had conducted the interview, it
went well. To our surprise, there were no GD and lecturerete was there, but the amount of
preparations we've done for that has helped us to answer the Interview questions. The final
event which was left out was the firing, (which is my strong point). The next day we went to the
range, had our firing, being in the Dte shooting team has helped me and I've scored the
maximum points among all the cadets. It was now over, I was satisfied with my performances,
the following day, they've declared the group event's results in the contingent commander's
conference, meanwhile we're there in the auditorium, watching the cultural performances. Our
training officer was eagerly waiting for our results and the moment he got words about that he
posted it in our WhatsApp group( seems like Arun is 1st, Shiva is 3rd and Aswin(SW) is 1st ), but
we were waiting for them to announce it officially. After the cultural program, they've asked the
top three BC's for the rehearsal of tomorrow's prize distribution ceremony, it was then, the
officer called out our names as per the position ( sad part : they've announced, we'll be coming
again with RDC cadets to compete with them for YEP so, no individual medals will be given to us
now. ) Apart from all of that incidents, I called up my mom, Lt.Col Dinesh Nair (Officer incharge
of us) and to Col.Samsher Singh ( ex-CO of my NCC unit), Lt.col Girish Parthan ( my unit's CO)
informed them. The best part was that BC's (2-SD,1-SW) from TN, P & AN Dte has secured the
top positions.

Becoming the first All India Best Cadet of TSC has come true, the decision of becoming the AIBC
for me wasn't taken overnight, it was fixed a year ago and lot of work has been put for that till
I've achieved this feet. As my training officer says, " the goal isn't important, it is that what
you've become in achieving that goal is more important".

To all those aspiring juniors, from my own experience, fixing a goal can be done by all, but
consistently working on the plan is what gonna make the difference of a winner from the rest...

SGT Arun M, All India Thal Sainik Camp 2019