They make men out of us in IMA: Young officers

| | DEHRADUN
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They make men out of us in IMA: Young officers

Sunday, 08 December 2019 | PNS | DEHRADUN

Divided by states, regions, ethnicity, culture, language, caste, creed, and colour, but united by Indian Army. Coming from 27 States and Union-Territories of the country, the young officers on Saturday took an oath to serve the nation at the sprawling Somnath stadium of Indian Military Academy (IMA). While many Gentlemen Cadets (GC) were following family tradition, many were from civil background who have now have started a new tradition in their family and neighbourhood.

Hailing from a family with army background, Akansh Joshi, a resident of Dehradun, is the third generation Army officer. His younger brother is in Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai presently. He had done his B. Tech rom Dehradun. He said, “We always had Army values taught to us during our upbringing. We grew up watching grandfather, father, and uncle then cousins wearing uniform, adding medals. Their enthusiasm and devotion to serve the nation never faltered, but only grew with time. This is what put the motivation into us. After my graduation, I had offers from three companies, but I put them on hold because Army is where I wanted to be.”

The only son of his parents, Paras Singh also hails from Dehradun. He was a student at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC). His father is a retired army Subedar. Singh has always had interest in musical instruments. He said that it is the music which helps him to concentrate.

About the training in IMA he said, “I was good at academics and it was father’s dream to see me become an Army officer. The first step towards making the dream come true was to clear RIMC exam, after that there was nothing to look back. In IMA they groom you to be officers. So, the training part here is exhausting in other aspects.”

An alumnus of National Institute of Technology (NIT) and now an officer of Indian Army, Atul Kumar also hails from Dehradun. About his inspiration behind choosing Indian Army he said, “Whenever I  to pass from IMA, the glimpse of the Chetwode Building used to fascinate me. I will never forget the day I got selected and I walked into the IMA premises, it was July 4, 2018.”

A first generation officer in his family, Ashish Sharma hails from a village called Bin in Pithoragarh district. He said, “Being from a region where physical fitness comes naturally, the physical part of the training was comparatively less rigorous for me. Being in Army has always been a dream and now my younger brother also is aiming for the same.”

Even after operating his arm during the initial days of IMA training, native of Haryana Vipin Deswal’s determination to be an officer of Indian Army never faltered. About his training experience Deswal said, “Being from a civil background, my physical fitness was so not in any way to the mark. The training was especially tough for the likes of me, but the harder it got the more I became determined to do better.”

First generation officer in his family, Rana Raj Pratap hails from Bihar. About his training experience in NDA and IMA, he said that NDA’s training is tough, IMA on the other hand works more on the grooming of making an officer.

Mayank Bhardwaj from Bulandshehar in Uttar Pradesh said that being from a civil background said that seniors helped them at academy.

Father of Thakur Barwal came all the way from Darjeeling on a wheelchair to see his son become an Army officer. About his inspiration Barwal said that he had always lived an adventurous life.

This is the moment for which he was waiting for from the last four years.

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