NCC Days

Service in the National Cadet Corps was compulsory for all college students from 1963 to 1968. It was during this period that I was in college.

My first day at the parade was a memorable one, being a total fiasco.

I was getting ready for my first parade. I wore the dress and was trying to tie the boot lace, a leather one, and it broke! With ingenuity I knotted the two pieces and managed to tie the shoes. Then came the belt, a web belt. I could not adjust it to my waist size. So I carried the belt and cap in my hand and stood line when somebody barked something. When the ustad came around on inspection, he ridiculed me by laughing at my condition and showed me how to adjust the belt and the right way to wear the cap. I felt like a clown in that odd uniform and that ridiculous belt which covered most of my belly and in that cap which was ready to fall off any moment. I knew in my heart of hearts that the breaking of the boot lace on the very first attempt was a bad omen. My NCC career was going to be horrible.

On the days of the parade we normally attended the classes in the uniform itself. That meant we came wearing it from home in the morning. Not being used to the leather boots and its weight and length, apart from its unbending attitude, I found cycling in uniform very difficult as the toe of the boots used to foul with the front mud guard whenever I had to turn the wheel. Quite often I almost fell on my nose on the road! However soon I got the hang of it and learnt a particular style with which to pedal without any mishap.

On some days, the parades were held early in the morning. One day while executing the drills I felt rather light and weightless. I started floating. Next I knew I was being picked up from the ground! It appeared that the light early morning Sun had done the damage. I wondered whether I was too weak for the rigours of NCC, the second line of defence!

Soon I learnt to enjoy the parades. I learnt from the NCC peon about “fire polishing” the Oxford toe of the boot for that mirror shine. I learnt about preparing the starch for the uniform and even learnt to get it pressed thoroughly properly by the dhobi. I learnt proper 'brassoing' the belt buckles and 'silvoing' the cap badge to make them shine like the Sun. I found that I liked the business of drill. I liked the red hackles on the cap. I felt like a Roman Gladiator! Soon I was promoted to a Corporal (a double promotion actually) from a Cadet as they found my drill good, much to the jealous murmurings of some seniors. I used to go to the beach regularly and as a mad chap used to shout out the commands at the sea at the top of my voice. This practise was to help my throat open up (I had heard that singers do this) and to make the voice louder and clearer, emphatically. I bought my own khaki cloth for the pants and got it stitched from our family tailor, who was excellent in his profession, as per my design to get that perfect look from the side, with the curve. Only if you know what a cotton uniform pant is, you would know what I am saying. Ever since I used my own uniform pants.

I learnt about Republic Day Camps (RDC) at Delhi and about B and C certificates. To appear for B cert, one needed one year’s service in NCC. And B cert was a pre-requisite to attend RDC. Those who attended RDC were given a blazer with the NCC emblem on the pocket. That was my dream. I must get the RDC blazer. Having known the individual prizes given in RDC, I knew I stood no chance for the Best Cadet prize, due to my build, which was (and still is) nothing to write home about. So I decided to try the prize for the best Bayonet Fighter, which is based more on skill and the relevant drill. I leaned the trick of taking that crucial extra long jump in the ‘butt’ stage. This if taken correctly, can rattle the person taking the test, as he can feel the butt of the rifle almost hitting his cheek.  I practised like mad to almost make it my second nature.

But as my friend and college mate Balakrishnan often says, horoscope is a great thing! Next year, before the B cert exam could take place, Madras was shaken by the anti-Hindi strike, something unprecedented in which students took part en masse. And the B cert exam was cancelled! So I continued my second year in NCC, with no glory. Taking part in the Madras State RD parade at the Marina Beach Road, which I did in the first year itself was nothing great for one who had his eyes set on RDC at Delhi.

Those days, it was uncanny that I used to fall sick for a week or so during the holidays after my final exams. Much later I learnt the reason. It was the stress of exams! Thus I had been sick for a few days, when Karunakaran, another batch mate and NCC comrade came home and gave me the news that they were selecting cadets for Army Attachment Camp! My fever vanished and the next day I cycled down furiously to college NCC office where I was told by the Professors, who were Associate NCC Officers (ANO), that the selection was over! Karunakaran was late in informing me. I pleaded. They said only the Battalion Commander could help, if at all. I got the residential address of the Army Major, and next day rather very early in the morning knocked at his door. I was nervous that I had already wasted one day. His wife opened the door and I was shocked. We all had seen her during our Annual Training Camp held during the annual vacation of the first year and she had looked ravishing. We all were gaga over her. That day I learnt to discern the difference between natural beauties and beauties by make up! She was just a plain lady sans make up at seven o’clock in the morning!

I explained my desire to the Major, whose name I forget, which I ought not ever. He said that all selection was over. I said I didn’t know because I was sick, but I wanted to go. He said the minimum rank was that of a Sergeant and that I was only a Corporal. I pleaded and pleaded. We went on and on. At last he relented and told me that from that day onward I was a Sergeant and to go and ask the college office to include my name for the camp. That was surely the first time I was so elated in life, at least NCC life!

I attended that Army Attachment Camp at Mount Abu as a Sergeant. The story about that camp, where I came across Rum, has to be told, but at another time.

After a few days of my return from the camp, my ANO told me that they wanted to promote me as a Quarter Master Sergeant. I refused. I was not going to be counting the uniforms in the store and accounting for the puri-masala or idli-vada that was distributed to cadets after each parade. It was another matter that these snacks were extremely delicious after the parades! My area of interest was the parade ground where I scream out the commands to the cadets. One day he called me away from the parade ground and said that I was blocking others from being promoted and that I should accept the promotion just for two weeks after which he would make me a Sergeant. I agreed, but said that I won’t do the job of a Quarter Master. He was okay with it and after the two weeks I became a Sergeant Major.

During that year, which was my third year in NCC and final year of college, a new company was formed. I was asked to move to the new company on promotion as an Under Officer. I refused to move out. I had been with my company for two years and I knew each cadet and I thought they liked me too. I didn’t want to forgo that rapport for the sake of promotion. In my own company, we already had Under Officers and thus I had no chance of becoming one. I didn’t care. Camaraderie, loyalty and affection were more important, I thought. If I say that there were many others who did not shift to the new company because I didn’t shift, would that suffice to explain the mutual loyalty?

Those days NCC Cadets were detailed as ushers for various cultural functions. An excellent practice I must say. We used to be either in NCC uniform or in civvies with NCC Tie. I don’t think this practice is in vogue now. Some of those programmes I remember were of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Kashmir, Manipur and Mizoram. One of the best was the classic Swan Lake by the Russians! There was no chance for a normal college boy to watch such interstate and international cultural programmes. I could watch them and learn so much and be in awe of those artists and arts. I made it a point to speak to many of those artists. I had the privilege of going in to their green rooms, as a Sergeant/Sergeant Major, you see! I leaned the technique of the dive made by the villain in Swan Lake, in which he comes flying high from the green room to land on the stage. I used to execute this on the games grounds to the astonishment of my fellow players. Seeing so many cultural programmes helped my persona, unconsciously, I must say.

I got the B cert in the second year and the C cert in the final year. When I was asked to attend the RDC, I felt it better not to, as I would miss more than three months of my classes and practicals, staying in the camp at Delhi. I thought this was unaffordable when I was in the final year of graduation. Getting that BSc was more important than the coveted RDC blazer! I had to sadly make that difficult decision.

Once in the final year as I was coming out of the Physics lab in my sharp, crisp uniform, the Physics professor, Mr Varma looking at my shining boots asked me; “What time do you get up to polish your boots?” I said 4 O’clock. He put his hand on his mouth and said: “If only you could get up like that just one day in a week to study Physics!” It was true that on the days of the parade, I used to get up at four and start polishing the boots for the parade at six. I didn’t want the shine to go dull by the time the parade started. And the starch of the uniform was such, that the crease of the sleeve was razor sharp and could cut! I am not lying. I was crazy!

Due to the C cert from NCC, I, like others with C Cert, became eligible for six months seniority in the Army, which meant I became that much senior to my own course mates, those who passed out along with me, sans the cert!

My NCC days were not a waste after all, as my Physics HOD thought. (I have mentioned about his question to me in the blog “Scholar’s Mate”). There were multiple benefits, as I see it now. What wonderful days!