Visit to the National Defense Academy

3:00 PM
Kadakwasla (NDA visit)

Chapter 1: Getting on campus
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It's been an interesting day. I just had lunch at the officers mess at the National Defence Academy (NDA) and am sitting outside, waiting for the Major who showed me around the academy.

Let's start from the morning ...

Shirin was working today so I decided to come visit the NDA. The NDA is an institution for training officers in the Air Force (IAF), Navy and Army. The cadets come here after finishing class XII, spend about 3 years here, then graduate by the time they're 20-21, with an undergraduate degree, ready to join the armed services. They then go on to become commissioned officers in the armed services by 22years of age. Needless to say some of the officers look really young.

I took an auto from Shirin's place to the Pune train station. The auto guy didn't have change so I told him to keep the extra which he appreciated and it increased the credit in my karma account since the rest of the day was perfect. I caught the local bus to NDA and was there by noon. Since I didn't have an official ID to get inside, I disembarked at the entry gate. I explained to the jawan at the reception that my father had passed out of NDA in 1964, served in the Air Force for 20 years and I was wondering if there was any provision for visitors to see the NDA. Jawan literally means young; the non-commissioned officers are referred to as jawans. I did not expect to get inside NDA but I wanted to visit so I figured I'd just take a chance and go; if there was no such thing as a visitors pass, then I'd just come back. It would still be very nice to visit Kadakwasla and get a glimpse of NDA where dad had done quite well as a cadet and had many memories.

The gentleman at the gate called the assistant adjutant and asked me to speak directly to him. I explained to the Major how I'd come here and he chided me for coming on a working day without an appointment. I honestly told him I had no idea how it works and just sort of came. The Major then asked how I intended to visit, if I had my own vehicle. I said I was hoping to just walk around till I got tired then head back since I came by bus. I know this sounds silly, but I must stress, I thought there might be some parks or museums I could visit by myself with a visitors permit, of course I knew the access would be restricted, but I figured I'd just give it a try and see if dad being ex-NDA and ex-IAF would enable me to see the area. The Major explained to me that generally I needed to have an appointment with someone inside the Academy who would take responsibility for me as they showed me around but also said he'd see if he can do something.

I told him I totally understood if I can't get inside. I had decided to just come and see the place even though I was doubtful about entering the campus. Now that I know how it works, I'll certainly make an appointment next time. I was just as excited to get a peek through the cordoned off areas, and thanked him for his time and the information.

He said, not to worry, since I was here he would take some time out and show me around. He asked me to catch a ride to his office, which anyone on campus would be able to point out. After spending the afternoon with him, I'm not surprised the Major took the time to take me around - he is incredibly nice. I was lucky he was in his office when I arrived, as I managed to get a nice, personalised tour of the facilities.

Chapter 2: Visiting the facilities
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I went to the Major's office and chatted with him about dad's NDA history. I was excited to be here and it was really nice of him to take the time to speak with me. I wasn't my usual relaxed self as he was also attending to his work. Men in uniform would come in and out, sometimes jawans would march in and salute before discussing their business. Protocol must be followed, as one would expect for the NDA. Plus I wanted to make sure I was being respectful of everything. Since I grew up in Air Force stations and many of our friends are serving, I do have a certain reverence for this institution and a personal connection with it. I also saw that the assistant adjutant is a busy man on a working day, I felt a little guilty for disturbing him but was gracious for his time.

Then the Major took me around. The cadets take the same training for the initial two years, in the final year they train with their specific branch: Air Force, Army or Navy. We started at the Air Force flight training facility for IAF cadets. The gentleman incharge showed me the trainers (super Dimona's) in the hanger. He knew his machine well and must've enjoyed instructing for he was enthusiastically sharing the technical specs. It was nice to hear familiar terms and concepts like the wing's aspect ratio, it's gliding performance, stopping distance and so forth. Although it has been 12+ years since I flew anything or studied flight dynamics, I do remember the basics of control surfaces so it was nice to chat with him.

Next we went to the equitation centre where cadets must pass some basic level of horse riding training. The officer incharge is an avid rider, he was also very friendly and asked if I'd like a ride. I said, sure why not - never mind the fact I had not been on a horse for 18 or so years and that too we'd only taken lessons briefly. The officer who was second in command showed us around - they have 160 or so beautiful horses, who are all very well looked after. Since riding is required, all cadets are exposed to it and there is a strong community of riders here. They also have a variety of show jumping courses and a cross country course with some very tall jumps on the order of a meter and half (yikes!). After the tour I got to ride. It was great fun, I had a permanent grin on my face for the rest of the day as I thanked the officers for the tour.

After this the Major showed me around the grounds, took me to the cadet's mess, I saw the 4 battalions each of which comprise of 4 squadrons one of which is Fox, to which dad belonged. We then saw Kadakwasla lake, created by damming the Mutha river. This is where the Navy Training Team conducts its exercises. Next I was dropped off at the mess to grab lunch while he went off to do work since he's actually on duty. Yet another thought I had: the Major has been genuinely nice in taking me around, all the people I met were very nice and happy to show me around, I think this was, in part, probably because I'm the Major's guest. People respond to his good nature. It's a positive feedback loop, if you're nice to people they in turn are nice to you :-) ..!

At present, I'm just sitting outside enjoying the weather and writing, Jagdish should be back soon to drop me off at the bus stop and it's back to Pune -- nice day!