NCC BUILDS CHARACTER

 

By John Aguiar

In this modern world every good or bad step influences country’s progress. Hence the need for national unity integration is of urgent and utmost importance. Today discipline in  every field is necessary. The NCC is a national organisation, a national movement which plays an important role in the country’s unity and strength. Its role is unmatched. It is the only means through which we can shape our nation’s future. Today’s children are tomorrows foundation. It is extremely important to develop within them a spirit of nationality.

We have to mould and shape our new generation to face the challenges. We can accomplish this through NCC as its training includes every facet valuable for national progress. Its discipline teaches humility wherever the circumstances or wherever the person might be. Its training teaches you to be active and fit in every aspect of life. Its main moral role is “Never accept defeat till the last breath and raise very step for the good of the nation”, Nation building is possible only through the process of all round development of the versatile wealth of its youth to an effort to organise and initiate young minds.  

NOSTALGIC MEMORIES

I remember my days as a NCC cadet and the camps that I have attended. Among them are  two Army Attachment camps with regular army units. We were attached with the Maratha Light Infantry  at Belgaum where are I got the opportunity to train with my course mates  Shri Arvind Gawas and Adv. Atmaram Nadkarni. Four Annual training camps, Two cycle expeditions, one from Goa to Pune and back and other  from Goa to Mantralaya (Karnataka) and back.  i am lucky to get the guidance of officers like my ANO Dr. Jayant Budkuley. Apart from all these activities the   “Advanced Leadership Course with Rock climbing” at Pachmari, Madhya Pradesh has a special  place in my heart.

When I was selected for the Pachmari camp, I was given only a tour plan and had to travel alone since there was only one seat for Goa and that I was the only cadet from Goa.  It was on May 13, 1982 that I boarded the Miraj bound Gomantak Express. Those days, there were no direct trains and there was meter gauge  railway line from Goa to Miraj and we had to change the train at Miraj junction for our onward destination. I met other cadets bound for Piparia  on the onward journey. We reached the Piparia Railway station on May 15. From Piparia Railway station we were taken in a army truck to Pachmari hill station at our camp site.  As we got down from the truck we saw rows and rows of tents, all laid horizontally pegged in perfect order. Very apprehensive, but with much curiosity and many expectations, about what the camp would be like, settling down that night, I looked forward to the beginning of the camp life. There were various competitions such as shooting, boxing, treasure, observation dekhbal and others. The cadets were drawn from all over India and selected from their respective battalions showed that they were the “Cream of our youth” and represented perhaps the best of their generation. Every morning at 6.00 am, we had to be ready for PT parade which kept us fit and active. Thereafter we were taken for drill and later lectures on the techniques of rock climbing. The techniques taught were eally effective in making the task easy. In the beginning we were takn to small rocks of about 25-30 ft. At first this appeared difficult. But after we were shown the scientific and techniques, we realised how easy it could be.

THE CLIMB MADE EASY

On May 29, we were taken to a giant rock that was about 100 ft. high. We doubted for a moment, whether we would  be able to climb it. But we climbed it so easily that when we reached the top we could not believe that we had made it. It was thrilling experience as there was a risk at every  step and one wrong step would have made a great difference. One particular rock was as steep as a wall, there were no step like cuts, only two three inches deep cuts and  some cracks which we used as pinch hold and foot hold to climb. The duration of the camp was 21 days. 14 days for Advance leadership and 7 days for rock climbing. But the experience gained was of  life time.  The actual setting of the camp was on open ground. Here I realized the national character of the NCC. We used to have route marches 15 to 20 kms and we had to cook food on the way. We visited tribsl tamia ganv and also scaled mountain peaks Dhupgarh and Chauragarh. Our Rock climbing training officer Major Chaturvedi of Para regiment took special efforts to train us.

Our Camp Commandant Lieutenant Colonel B.S. Chahal from the Sikh Light Infantry was a senior army officer. He performed all the exercises with us right from the running at the PT parade in the morning. He performed all the obstacles with ease and motivated us. Our Camp second in Command was Major A. K. Kolhatkar from the Artillery regiment. In the evenings the camp was colourful for it provided us an exhibition of the inherent cultural talents for the individual. The fellow cadets learnt from the “Hundir mama ailo song” while I learnt Bengali, Kerala folk songs and the very popular Kannada song “Chinnapa Chin kauda…”.

NATIOANAL INTEGRATION

On June 5, the camp wounded up and everyone was preparing to return with a tint of cheer in their faces this time, for now we were heading for departure after a combined stay under a uniformed environment.

So are the memories of my  Army attachment cap and the annual training camps which I attended as a NCC Cadet. As Cadet Senior Under Officer,  I was camp senior at the Assonora Annual Training Camp. The NCC makes full use of the potential  for community living among the youth and brings them together as fellow citizens of our great country. This encourages a great deal of understanding among the youth who learn to respect and appreciate our vast cultural diversity be it in food we eat, the clothes we wear and in the language we speak.

What better example of national integration can be there. A cadet from Punjab leaning to speaking in Tamil from a cadet from that region, A cadet from Delhi and Mumbai appreciating the tribal customs of Andamans. A few years back it was a pleasant surprise to meet a very dear NCC cadet at this camp on Facebook Col. Nandkishor Kulkarni. We had spent some very good moments at the camp. The NCC fosters a national friendship while many other young people do not go beyond making friends within their own school, college or neighbourhood.

The zeal of living with other cadets, eating and working together and many other moments are unforgettable. The ncc organisation made me self-dependent, more confident and responsible.