As these fine gentlemen of 139th course walk through the Quarter Deck in Parade Ground of National Defence Academy, it’s a good moment to share something I wrote about #NDA long time back.

1. Being hungry is state of mind. If you missed your meal and

end up mentioning it, you’ll be made to do more exercise to forget about it.

2. Everything is mental. Only academics , academics are physical. If you don’t remember what is the answer to a question in exam, just shout your squadron name, it’ll come galloping to your

mind. Like shouting “Limaaaaa” in my case ensured I passed all my exams. Such battles cries in otherwise Peaceful and quaint exam halls are not considered weird.

3. Sports like hockey, football, basketball etc have a component called ‘ball’ in them just to distract you

from main aim of the game. Bring the other players down !!! Focus on that, always!

4. 10 meter jump is not a test of your swimming skill. It’s not even of diving. And definitely not of courage. It’s just to check how much you want to pass out with your batch.

5. Drill instructors are messengers of Gods. You’re allowed to forget Diwali, Id, Holi etc but if he’s said “ L/94, Cdt MM Jolly, be there at 10” and you’re not, you’ll see a preview of hell and will start believing in God pretty soon.

6. Likelihood of a senior to call you for some extra ‘care’ in mud and slush is directly proportional to cleanliness of your uniform.

7. “I’m not feeling well” is a sentence that generates in a certain frequency that is inaudible

to any n every senior. Don’t bother even uttering it.

8. The same senior who smilingly took your cycle for morning parade and made you run for miles to reach your class will also be smiling when he returns it. Nothing personal. It’s just business !

9. In 6th term, cadets of three different Services are generally found in three states. Air Force guys are like Gas, light and happy and floating around candidly in their flying suits . Naval guys are like water, just moving smoothly from one class to another with

maps and night sky charts in their satchels. And Army, solid, dirty, muddy, always hungry and someone always ready to plough them down !!

10. Last but not the least. Mutual insult and abuses are a way to show love to each other. If someone meets you after years and shakes hands

and says “hello”, just know that he doesn’t like you anymore ! Everyone is Taant, Jat, Thambi, mallu, Khalsa etc etc. It’s an internal code. Civilians are advised not to try this stunt without Ex NDA’s supervision.

Always proud to be an ex NDA Lions forever !