August 30 is a very special day for me for two reasons;first, it happens to be my son's birthday and second, on this date way back in 1964, I passed out from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, as a commissioned officer of the army.
I can never forget those days of August 64, the last month of our training when we practiced in sweltering heat for the final passing out parade of August 30. It is ceremonial where cadets March in formation in full uniform with their rifles and had to be precise and faultless. We practiced on the sacred 'drill square' ground just behind the famous Chetwode Hall of the academy. We drilled every day in full uniform of a cadet, carrying a rifle, doing all the motions of marching under the strict commands of the instructional staff. This staff consisted of selected professional soldiers drawn mostly Jats, Sikhs and Rajputs from the infantry and posted at the academy to train us cadets as future officers.
To say that these guys gave us a hard time would be an understatement. They literally gave us hell!
The training at the academy was so rigorous, we cadets literally counted every day. All because of these instructors whom we referred to as 'ustaads'!They were all lean, mean and very fit, we hated them as well as marvelled at them! When they shouted their commands, they also freely cursed us on our 'civilian' ways. They will punish a defaulting cadet at the drop of the hat, asking him to do a full run of the grounds with the rifle up in both hands. Real task masters, they did well to train us in all aspects of military training which included weapons training, physical fitness and efficiency, field craft and last but not the least, drill.
Drill in particular inculcates discipline and obedience. It teaches as to how to walk like a soldier. We very soon forgot all the slouching and lazy ways of our civilian life we had left behind the day we entered the premises of the Academy. We had to be perfect in drill, how to march, how to salute, how to march past the podium, the saluting base where the VIP will take the salute.
Needless to say, this had to be perfected for the day we would be passing out. And how we were made to practice for that final day by our 'ustaads', only we knew! No dropping of rifles even if we were exhausted which was common. They warned us that it simply must not happen!
On the night of August 29, we could barely sleep. Tense as well as excited, we prayed that the passing out parade next morning should go off smoothly. No mistake would be pardoned and short of hanging, any thing can befall defaulters so we all thought! Only heavens could intervene if any cadet commits the sin of even a mis-step! And that is what exactly happened!
After an almost sleepless night, when we woke up early on the morning of August 30, to our utter disbelief, we saw that it was raining cats and dogs!All the preparations, paint work, decorations and such things which had gone into making the 'drill square' a shining area specially for the parade and for the VIP, were washed out. Holding of the passing out parade outside at 9 am as planned was simply not possible!
Our commissioning ceremony had to held on the due date, August 30th. And this was done by the Commandant of the Academy, indoors inside the Chetwode hall with due solemnity and no fanfare. In retrospect, it was a big disappointment for all of us. Our big day had been a fiasco!
But my heart went out most to our 'ustaads' who had worked so hard to transform us civilians into soldiers but did not get to see the fruits of their labour!
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