The beginning of a new life!

Combined Defence Services Examination(2), 2015

I appeared for Combined Defence Services(2) Examination held by Union Public Service Commission(UPSC) on November 1, 2015. After giving my exam, I matched my answers with online keys available and I was hopeful that I will pass this exam. I was happy, since I had prepared on my own by looking for various sources online(including SSB Crack). My Di also helped me in gathering of the resources. After waiting for a long time and checking the UPSC website on a daily basis, finally in mid February just before CDSE(1), 2016, the results were declared and I qualified for all 3 choices - Indian Military Academy, Indian Naval Academy and Officers Training Academy. My preference was IMA for Permanent Commission, so later I got a call for being interviewed by the Service Selection Board(SSB), Allahabad of the Ministry of Defence on 25th March, 2016, for admission to Indian Military Academy, Dehradun 141th Course commencing in July, 2016. 

SSB Preparation

I was really happy but at the same time I was confused too because it was my first attempt. I had never faced SSB interview ever and moreover, the myths around it were just too many. Many suggested me to go for a coaching but after analysis and taking review from my friends, I decided not to waste my time and energy in coaching. Rather than that, I worked on enhancing my personality, which I was doing from the day I joined engineering and continued my life as usual. I devoted some of my time in watching some videos of AFOSOP on YouTube that helped me in further clearing the myth that coaching is a necessary evil. I further introspected deeply in myself to look what I am made of. From my childhood, I have a habit of diary writing, so looking back in those pages helped me know myself, my strengths and weaknesses and I improved myself on a daily basis. Rather than focusing on the format of SSB Interview, I worked hard on developing myself. I was sure that I want to serve this nation, so I took a tough decision of not sitting in College placements and wasting my time and energy. I was closer to prove my name Avichal, which means steadfast & unlikely to change, fail or collapse. Everyone was just forcing me to get a 'job' but thankfully my family and some of my close friends supported me and I was uninfluenced from any comment on my capability. I was sure that I was not made for a private sector "#placement". There were many who murmured a lot about my life and choices, but I think their doubt about me also helped me in removing their doubts later on. I always remembered one of my favorite poems, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost when in confusion and that helped me not to waste my time on thinking about non important issues. Well, moving on I daily just followed a strict schedule comprising of various activities like physical exercises like running and gym workouts, studying a lot about everything going around the globe and doing whatever I could to improve myself as a person. Looking back, I can just say I did whatever I could focusing on just a single target irrespective of what people were doing around me. And that really helped me in making me more confident in the end. Meanwhile, I was also enjoying my last year of Engineering with my close friends. 

My First Train Journey 

Wait, what? First train journey? Yes! It was my first train journey to a distant place. I never travelled in a train because I never got a chance to do so. It is a very common thing for Indians to travel in a train & for many train is like a second home, but since it was my first, I was really excited. Thanks to Pallavi Di that she arranged a ticket for me in Prayag Raj Express from Delhi to Allahabad and even helped me boarding it. I even didn't knew that in 3A, windows don't open. I know its funny, but 'Yahi Sach Hai'. :D I was told by a lady to change my seat from Side Lower to Upper Berth, that was also something new since I thought seats were fixed. But don't laugh at me, "Yaar, pehli baar tha mera"! ;) Well, I slept while reading "Turning Points" of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam ji. Next when I woke up, I was already in Allahabad and deboarded immediately. 

SSB Interview

Screening Test

I went to Movement Control Office(MCO) at Allahabad Station later at around 1 PM on 25th March'16 and all the candidates were taken to SSB Center. Then, I along with 81 others, was allotted 18 SSB, the HAJIPIR Building! The day we boarded was good and I made a few friends. The next day(26th March'16) we packed our bags, dressed well and went for our 1st Day Screening Test. It all went really good. The process was really fantastic. For the first time in my life, I was appearing for SSB and it was a really rich experience. The PPDT was good, GD was even better. All my group members eventually agreed on my story. And finally after the results were announced, my chest number was changed from '8' to '4'! And I was really happy! The main reason was that I always wanted to face the REAL SSB Interview after Day 1!

Day 2 to Day 4

I was really excited because I knew literally nothing. Everything was going to be a challenge and that was the real 'KICK'! On Day 2, the 38 recommended candidates reached the venue. After a brief introduction of what tests would be conducted, the tests started. 

TAT 
It went well. All of my stories had the central character in a positive state of mind and was a strategist, solving problems with team work. Basically, I wrote every story keeping myself in place of the central character thinking what best I could have done in that situation. In the blank story, I wrote about myself how I managed my previous shortcomings to become a stronger self.

WAT 
Now, this was challenging! The time was really very less. I was not able to use my conscious mind at all. The first thought that came to my mind went on the paper. And I think only this was demanded.

SRT 
Again, I just kept myself in the situation given and wrote what I actually would have done instead of making out anything. The reality is you can't make anything either, the time they give is really LESS!

Self Description - In this I was a bit slow and wasn't able to attempt "The qualities you'd like to improve". But, in this test I was natural, wrote what I knew through my experiences which I read in my personal diary! 

INTERVIEW
My interview was scheduled the same day. I was excited, because this was going to be my first ever interview in life! The SSB environment added flavors to it. I was in the candidate waiting hall and I was reading Frontline kept over there. Suddenly my chest number flashed and I went straightaway into the room. The aura was just totally different. I wished my Interviewing Officer. The first question was, "What does your name mean?". The whole interview was a very informal interview revolving around my family, friends, hobbies and general awareness. I kept my answers on an ideological level and I had strong reasons behind every answer, again because I knew everything about myself because of my personal diary. There were some tricks played like my IO sir deliberately yawned 3-4 times and I knew it was deliberate because IO sir's eyes were opened. And that's the benefit of keeping EYE CONTACT while talking to someone. My voice was loud, clear, my answers were good because I had strong reasons behind them and I maintained eye contact throughout. After coming out, I was really happy because I gave my best.

Day 3 

Colonel Sampath sir, our GTO briefed us and was very helpful throughout.
GTO sir's Tip : FOLLOW THE RULES. And I did that whether I was able to give my perceived best or not. My tip for everyone, you MUST follow the rules. 

Group Discussion 
My group had GD on 2 topics - 'Why INDIA is not able to realise its potential in sports other than cricket' and 'Why road accidents in INDIA are increasing'. The GD went well. I initiated the GD in both. It was a very healthy discussion and everyone participated well.

Group Planning Exercise
This was something really new. The GPE was tough, not because it was tough but because everyone had different plans of action. I followed my friend Rajat Taneja's (He was in different group and briefed me about GPE the previous night) advice. The GD that followed was really good because every one was totally on a different track. In this task too, all my group members agreed upon my solution and that was the best thing possible!

Progressive Group Task
In this task I was totally clueless. The 'Balli, Fatta' concept was unknown to me. But I did my best. I helped my teammates and gave my ideas immediately as they came across my mind.

Snake Race
This was the most fascinating task I did in SSB! My group chose 'Har Har Mahadev' as war cry. And I was leading in this helping my teammates as much as possible. I was probably the only one who shouted the war cry throughout and as a result my throat got upset! But I didn't felt anything at that time. It was such a wonderful experience moving with people towards a common goal, helping each other and shouting the war cry. We actually won the race, but someone broke the rule so GTO sir told 4 of us to go back and do the last obstacle again. I was the first one to volunteer and shouting 'Har Har Mahadev' did that too.

Day 4

Lecturette 
Now this was really challenging for me because my 'loud and clear' voice was gone and throat was upset. I did my best clearing it but nothing worked. But this increased the 'KICK' flavor. When my turn came, I chose the most difficult topic of all four given - "The formation of new states as a tool of development of our nation." and I started my Lecturette with, "Sorry Gentlemen for my upset throat, because of the war cry yesterday". And despite my upset throat, I was confident and I gave some good points in my lecturette. It was because I read THE HINDU daily and it is easy for a regular reader of THE HINDU to give some good points. 

Half Group Task 
I learned from my mistakes in PGT. This time I lead and was confident in giving my ideas. It went well with the teamwork.

Individual Obstacles
I initially thought it was VERY easy. But it turned out to be different for me. I chose to start from obstacle number 3, which was 'Balancing Beam'. I was too slow on that because of which I fell down and got hurt. But I left that immediately and completed all the remaining tasks easily and well in time. Then, I came back to obstacle number 3 and this time I completed it and suddenly the whistle was blown and my turn was over. But I felt good because I at least completed the 10 obstacles assigned after initial failure to complete obstacle number 3.

Command Task 
This was also exciting. I was called up by 6 of my 10 group members as a subordinate. In my turn, I felt the CT was a bit difficult than the rest CTs I saw. But I managed it well and was able to complete the given task. I tested the strength of the formations myself and used the subordinates only for passing on the material and tying the rope.

Final Group Task
This was the last task. So, I was again excited to perform well. I gave ideas along with my teammates and we were able to perform well in FGT. Again the RULE is to FOLLOW THE RULES!

Day 5 - DOOMSDAY or THE CONFERENCE DAY
I was happy because this whole experience of SSB was marvelous. For the first time in my life, I met so many people who were aware, who were defence aspirants, who wanted to do something for our nation, who had knowledge, who had everything I ever wanted in a friend. I was fortunate enough to make some good friends and have discussions about issues related to our nation. This was all going to end. We all went to the venue well dressed as usual. When I was called in the conference room, I was excited (again) because I never saw so many ARMY Officers in uniform in a single room. My conference went for just 20 seconds. Basic questions were asked, "How was your stay here?" & "Any Suggestions"! And it was over. I went back to the Chanakya Hall where we all were seated. After conference of everyone was over, many guys were telling me, "Freshers ka nahi hota Allahabad me. Allahabad Rejection Center hai." and stuff like that. But I was cool because I did what I can and moreover I got to know what SSB is. When the results were about to announce, I just had one thing in my mind, "Do I have it in me?"! And my name was announced, "CHEST NUMBER 4, AVICHAL SHARMA"! And everyone started clapping. Now that felt really good. And I said to myself, "I gave my best and I have IT in me."! On 30th March, 2016 I got recommended by 18 SSB, Allahabad to join IMA-141.

MEDICALS
Now, this is something most people don't know about. If you think, SSB Allahabad is a rejection center then I can't say much. But Military Hospital, Allahabad is definitely a rejection hospital. "Patience" + "FIT" tag is what you require there. There was a twist in my medicals though. I was around 71 kg because of my gym workouts. I was bulking up and being muscular was a priority.(I go to gym from 2012, my Instagram ID - 'iavichalsharma' will tell you more). Now, I came to know that according to my height and weight I should have 64 kg weight at most. It is my mistake though, that I should have known this before. To my luck, the MEDICINE OPD doctor was to come in MH after 5-6 days. And my new task began. 7 kgs in 6 days? And I did that too. I woke up at 3 AM during my medicals and ran for 10km in a day for the remaining days, did a lot of cardio(High Intensity Interval Training) and in addition to that and restricted my diet as much as possible. And on the day of medicine OPD, I just didn't wanted to get a TR. And my weight was 64.2 kg. I definitely had muscle loss which I didn't wanted and I was really exhausted. I won't recommend anyone doing this crash course. I regularly train in gym and do HIIT, that's why I was able to sustain. I didn't got a Weight TR because of the motivation that I have to go without a TR and my recommended GCs from 18 SSB, Allahabad - Rajat Taneja, Palash Gupta, Amlan Phukan, Zubair Talha constantly pushed me. They were with me in this whole process and they are really true leaders and friends. After I was fully physically FIT, then I felt accomplished. The next twist was, our medical conference was in the morning. But due to unexpected delays it was shifted to 5 PM. My train from Allahabad to Meerut was scheduled at 5:30 PM and I thought I won't be able to board my train. The medical conference was further delayed to 6:30 PM where I was FIT. Luckily, Sangam Express also got delayed by 1 hour 30 minutes. Now, my recommended friends helped me to get out fast. And in half an hour, I reached from MH, Allahabad to my dormitory in Hajipir Building to Raliway Station, Allahabad. I boarded my train just 1 minute before its departure. And that completed my SSB journey. I loved it! 

So, It was my first CDS Attempt, first SSB Attempt, first Medical and yes, first train travel experience. And I did it all without Coaching. If I can do it, you too can! Obviously, you don't need coaching for travelling in a train atleast (HaHa). LOL! :D  

Moral Policing, eh?

It is highly regrettable what has happened to religion today. Religion which is meant to be a personal affair first, has now become just a tool of domination spreading hatred between those of different faiths. More than that it has become more of a political tool, rather than a way of life. The world today, is facing its dire consequences in so many ways. People who have nothing else to do in life, do moral policing and teach others what is right and wrong, when they themselves are clueless about their own lives. Rather than being human, these so called religious people have become insane and joined together to form a brigade of fools. These people declare themselves as the sole representative of religion and grant themselves the authority to act on their own. I don't know who gave them this right except a bunch of fools. It's your own life, why don't you practice your religion just yourself. Why do you have to force others to have the same morals? I am not an analyst to judge why the whole world is in turmoil but what I know is that it is just the exemplified form of moral policing in the name of religion or ideology. But my country India is an inclusive democracy and I am proud of being an Indian. India is not the property of any preacher or baba or any self proclaimed leader. The cult of such people is a threat to my nation's ideology of inclusiveness. I was surprised when the state apparatus took action against Kiku Sharda just for mimicking, which he does well and makes us all laugh. But the question is why can't we become more inclusive rather than rejecting any alternative view. When will we stop moral policing others and live our own life? If you really care about reaching to god or heaven or whatever, then focus on that, don't drag others on your path. If you really care about living a beautiful life, focus on that, don't spoil others experience of life. Don't moral police in the name of religion, homogeneity of society or whatever and STOP anyone who does that. Become inclusive. Live your life blissfully and please for your own God's sake, LET OTHERS LIVE. Stop spreading rumors and stop others if they do. Don't make India a battleground of religions or faiths or a 'clash of clans'. May 'your' God bless you and all of us.

Education for everyone, is that worth it?

Education in INDIA

I am aware of the fact that education is vital for anyone's survival. But today's school and college based education is not the solution in my view. I was talking to my friend and in his view education is necessary for everyone. He met a 6th class boy who was selling snacks on the street. He advised him to study well and make a good future from that education. He got emotional over his condition. But just getting normal education in schools for more than 12 years of your life is not the solution in my view. The education system needs to change and become more inclusive and skill based rather than giving students same education irrespective of their interests and skills. In my view, education as it is today is literally of no use except for increasing percentages in indexes like literacy rate and so on. Even after passing out of college, people are jobless and even if they get jobs they are more of exploited rather than really working. They are paid a meager sum of money which is not enough and obviously not proportional to what is required for survival today. 

What is the problem with today's education system?

The main problem is that we think 'one fit for all' works. But actually, it doesn't. Everyone cannot be taught the same thing irrespective of their skills and  interests. What we think is that, if we give someone proper school education, he will become more competent for facing the real world. Undoubtedly, he will but wouldn't it be better if he was made to be competent enough to get a job or moreover open up his own thing so that he will do what he likes or what he is made to do. Why do we need so many incompetent engineers, doctors and so on? Education today is theory based and if we expect that it will make everyone competent to get a job, then we are obviously wrong. Education in India is firstly not practical based, secondly there are no quality checks since the quantity of students is very high and thirdly, we in India generally resist to change anything, we want everything to go as it was going before. How many people do say that just because of their school education especially in backward schools has got them a job or even a good university to study in? In all possibility, we must take appropriate actions before the whole things go out of our hand and the so called employment rate decreases or more than that work satisfaction decreases drastically. What would you say on watching a 'Dhabe Waala' or 'Tea Stall wala' earning much more than a qualified engineer who has a formal education.

What could be done to control this situation?

The first and foremost thing that must be done is formulation of a new way of gauging student's interests' and skills'. Rather than using 'One fit for all' strategy for educating people, we must make sure that separate education is given to different groups of students. Obviously, some subjects should be common to all of them which we think are necessary for students to study. And students should be allowed to switch from one stream to another without any hesitation if they don't feel comfortable. Second thing that must be done is ensuring quality of the education institutions on a regular basis so that proper education is being provided. If education standard is not up to the level, appropriate action must be taken including giving state funds for increasing the standards. The curriculum must become more of practical learning with quality trained teachers imparting education. One more solution is just adding 'Internship Programs' for school students as a part of their curriculum so that they can get a more holistic view of the real working world and financially weak students would definitely get much help from it. But this whole thing cannot happen on its own. Active participation of the government, NGOs, educational institutions is required and all related stakeholders must work in synchronization, to achieve good results and that would definitely result in 'actual' improvement in literacy rate, employment rates and other related indexes. We must not just look at numbers, but the quality too to make life worth living in our nation, India.

The story of 2 woodcutters!

Once upon a time, there were two woodcutters. They had an argument - who can cut more trees in a day. They decided to cut the trees next day from morning 10:00 AM to evening 6:00 PM and see who can cut more.
Both woodcutters took up their position in the morning. Initially, they worked at one speed. But, after one hour, one of them heard, that the other one had stopped cutting trees. Realizing that this was his chance, the first woodcutter started to cut trees with double efforts.
Ten minutes passed, and he heard that the second woodcutter started to work again. They were working almost synchronously, when the first woodcutter heard that his opponent has stopped again.
The first woodcutter started to work, feeling the smell of victory.
This lasted all day long. Each hour one of woodcutters stopped for ten minutes and the other one continued to work. When time expired, the first woodcutter who worked without stopping was absolutely sure that he won the prize.
He was very surprised to know that was mistaken.
— How did that happen? — he asked his partner. — Each hour I heard that you have stopped the work for ten minutes. How could you cut more trees than I? It’s impossible!
— It was very simple, in fact, — answered the second woodcutter. — Each hour I stopped the work for ten minutes. And when you were cutting the trees, I sharpened an axe.

India’s security & unity.

Rashtriya Ekta Diwas

India’s security and unity are strongly related. We all know that India is the largest functioning democracy in this world and, a home to nearly all the religions of the world. India has achieved this status not in a day but years of unity have helped us to reach this state. When our country got independence in 1947, it was the heroic task of the great Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ji, the real “Iron Man” who worked relentlessly hard to unite India. His strength of character, the sharpness of his mind, his organizing skills, and all his energy were offered up for achieving the freedom of India under Gandhi's leadership, and after independence for India's consolidation. He knew that strength lies in unity and if we want to live securely in this hostile world, we need to be united. And he did his work of India’s unification without failure. Let us go back to the ancient India, where Alexander and his forces were on conquest of the world. At that time, Chanakya also knew that a disintegrated India will never be able to fight Alexander and will become its slave. Then, he made the great Chandragupta Maurya out of a small child and the rest is history. All these heroic stories can be inferred to the fact that we will always be safe and secure if we are united.

Today also India faces various threats, both internal as well as external. But for securing our country, we must first find who the enemy actually is? Without knowing the enemy we can't defeat him. If we are finding a chair in a room, and we don’t know what to find, then even if the chair is in front of our eyes, we won’t be able to find it! Once we define our enemy, then we need to make out a strategy to defeat the enemy. India faces the threat of terrorism, and communalism in this context. Today the enemy is outside the borders but also functions from within the civil society. If we want to eliminate the enemy from our civil society, we need to make it very strong. We need to promote peace among people of all the religions, so that no outside element can take it as an advantage for usage against India. This cannot be done effectively without strong support of religious leaders and intellectuals of all religions. These are the people to whom everyone listens to. If they take up this cause, everyone will follow them and this task can be successfully accomplished. The Indian Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, and Buddhists are very well aware of the fact that seeds of hatred against each other are sown by only those, who don’t want to see India prosper. If we are successful in achieving peace among the people of India, we can assure of our safety and security. In fact most of the Indians, irrespective of their religion consider them Indians first and then, Muslims, Hindus or whichever religion they belong to. There are cases of tensions among different communities but they will be a thing of past if intellectuals, politicians, and religious leaders play their crucial role in building the civil society. For each one of us, the national interest should be of top priority.

The other threat India faces is that of terrorism. In order to tackle terrorism, we need to actually tackle the terrorist. People often say that crime is our enemy, criminal is not. This doesn’t at all hold here. The ground reality is that in order to stop terrorism, we need to eliminate the terrorist organisation as well as the terrorists. As our country must be doing, not just stopping terrorists from acting but also cutting out their funds, building a counter ideology and using techniques of counter terrorism. But India can only succeed against any of its enemy when India stands united.  “United we stand, divided we fall.” If we are divided, then the enemy will use that against us and will defeat us. If we want to prosper, we must stand united.

Nation observes 31st October as Rashtriya Ekta Diwas to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel ji who unified the country. Every citizen of India must take this Rashtriya Ekta Diwas pledge,

“I solemnly pledge that I dedicate myself to preserve the unity, integrity and security of the nation and also strive hard to spread this message among my fellow countrymen. I take this pledge in the spirit of unification of my country which was made possible by the vision and action of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. I also solemnly resolve to make my own contribution to ensure internal security of my country.”

   

Think before you give!

These days, it has become quite common in my college that unknown people come to our classes and ask for money because they or their relative need help. People are also generous enough to donate money to such “needy” people. Even I’ve also donated a lot of times. All of us like people who love people and help others, right? But now when I ponder upon these incidents, I am forced to ask myself that whatever I am doing, is that right? Firstly, none of us who donate money don’t know whether the person whom we are donating money is genuine or not. Is the money which we are donating, used for the purposes which we’re told about? We need to accept that we have no idea about how that amount of money or resources we donate will be used. If someone needs immediate help, then we MUST help them or anyone who needs that. Its good to be a philanthropist, but blind donating is bad. If there is an organization, which is working for a cause at large and we too believe in that, then we may donate. If we know, the person who needs help is genuine, or the money will be used for the purpose which we’re told about, then, we may donate. But what is the use of donating money without any confirmation?

When we go out on roads, we see a lot of beggars asking us for money. But most of us don’t pay any heed to their voices. Why!? Because we think, they all are a part of some group or nexus. We think that if we give them money, they’ll get a habit of begging. But, when someone comes to us stating that they’re from some organisation, or they need our help, we donate without even asking? We live in India which now must be having more than 1500 million people. Most of us also think that, we can’t help everyone so why not a small section of people. No one is stopping you to donate. But if you are donating blindly, then you are wasting your resources.There are some questions, on which all of us must ponder upon. Has philanthropy permanently wiped away a social ill anywhere? NO! Can private wealth, however well used, substitute for good public policy? NO! Is there a better anti-poverty and pro-development programme than economic growth? NO! Will giving away private wealth do any substantive good over the short term or medium term country like India? NO!Since, all our acts of philanthropy act outside complex public policy matrix, there’s no guarantee that the cause we choose to spend on is the optimal solution.The most important point is that, “We serve the society best by doing what we do best”!

Steve Jobs, who did little by the way of charity is the most famous example who satisfies this theory. He created knowledge, jobs and encouraged entrepreneurship. That helps far more than some people trying to spend on a thousand problems, philanthropists like us have a little idea about. This can be extended, you should not give away billions, but invest. Find out and invest in ventures that actually build schools, universities, hospitals, medical research, and roads. There is a public framework for all of these too, and hence your efforts won’t be out of that matrix. Or even by getting into the system, shaping good public policies will help the people of our country more than anything else.

Inspiring words of the Gautama Buddha

These words inspire me and hope everyone who will read them gets enlightened!

”Go forward without a path,
Fearing nothing, caring for nothing!
Wandering alone, like the rhinoceros!
Even as a lion, not trembling at noises,
Even as the wind, not caught in the net,
Even as the lotus leaf, untainted by water,
Do thou wander alone, like the rhinoceros!”