What does I-Day parade mean for NCC girls? Prestige, pride, and a step to bring them closer to their dream
NCC wasn’t popular among girls until recently but now they are being selected for Republic Day Parade and Thal Sainik Camp, said a sports teacher
3 min read
NCC cadets during full dress rehearsal for the 78th Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort, in New Delhi, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (PTI Photo/Arun Sharma)The 78th Independence Day parade at Lal Quila was everything that it usually is: Pushp Varsha (flower rains) by a helicopter, flocks of children dressed in white caps, and the Prime Minister’s marquee speech that lasted for an hour and 45 minutes, bettering his record of 1.5 hours. But for girls of a National Cadet Corps (NCC) Battalion from a school in Rohini, it was an inaugural step towards the realisation of a dream.
“I wanted to see him (PM Narendra Modi) for so long. It’s a great motivation to know that he started from the same place where I am,” said Gayatri, a Class 10 student. Another student who was part of the battalion says that she wants to join the armed forces in the future. “When I wear the cadet uniform, I am filled with pride and don’t want to take it off. I want to have this feeling always,” says Nancy, who hails from Rajasthan.
Monica Sharma, the sports teacher of these students and a part of NCC herself, said that the perception around women’s role in the armed forces is changing fast. “Till some years ago, there wasn’t much excitement over participation in NCC among girls. Now it has changed. Many girls, and their parents, show active interest in it. Our girls are being selected for the Republic Day Parade and TSC (Thal Sainik Camp), and are doing very well. The girls wanted to come here and see the people from the armed forces around, the officers, and the prestige of being one among them,” she said.
The seven-girl battalion, ecstatic at the thought of standing with the soldiers, then marched towards the Red Fort. In a line, backs straight and shoulders tight, they stood in front of the 19th Bihar regiment with the monument in the backdrop. Akshara, one of the cadets, recited a poem named “Insaniyat se sawal” (Questions to Humanity). As she concluded, the battalion roared with claps and asked the Bihar Regiment soldiers to click some pictures with them.
The NCC is a tri-services organisation of the Indian Armed Forces that focuses on training young students for a disciplined life. But what it also does is harbour dreams of young citizens joining the forces one day and being in fraternity with the nation’s elite soldiers. And it’s not discouraging at all to know that PM Modi himself was once part of it.
You May Like
Photos
