Citygritty 8212; Pune

The clubs cover a panorama of interests. Those in the outdoor category include aero-modelling, photography, nature study, trekking and rock-climbing, and sports-clubs like golf, riding, polo, squash, swimming, tennis, badminton. One of the most popular of these is the watermanship club 8211; where cadets are taught the intricacies of rowing, kayaking, sailing, wind and water-surfing.

The indoor clubs cater to a different set of favourite pastimes. For those interested in the wonder of the night sky, there is the amateur astronomers8217; club. For budding artists and actors are the arts, dramatics and music both Indian and Western clubs. Then there are clubs that encourage cadets to tinker around with electronic and wireless devices or make models in wood and metal. And then there are some rather off-beat clubs like body-building, ballroom-dancing, journalism and yoga. Isn8217;t it said that it takes all sorts of people with all sorts of interests to make up this world? NDA sure has this observation at the back of its mind!

The selection of the clubs is carefully done. While freshers here are not club members, the second termer states his choice. The Officer-Advisor OA of that club then checks out his suitability for that club. At the end of the term, the OA evaluates the cadet8217;s performance, his aptitude for that club activity. Accordingly, the cadet can continue with the same or is made to shift to another club the next term.

What a mess!
On the walls of polished teak are mounted glistening swords, pistols and colourful flags. The panels have woodwork depicting Indian classical dance postures. Crafted on the Belgian glass work near the entrance is the mythological horn of plenty overflowing with flowers and fruit. That8217;s the interior decor of the Cadets8217; Mess, on whose floor about 2,000 persons can be seated for a formal dinner. And also where the sixth-termers twirl their partners round in the bi-annual ball held in their honour.

On January 16, 1955, the electric cooking done in the mess was first tasted by Morarji Desai, the then chief minister of Bombay, after the inauguration of the academy at Khadakwasla. Till date, this is where the official guests to the academy are entertained, and toasts drunk to the promotion of international peace and friendship during the visits of various foreign and Indian dignitaries. Bearing testimony to their presence here are the framed and preserved menu cards presented to luminaries such as Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, what they ordered and what they ate.

Food being electrically cooked here, the kitchen boasts of gadgets of mammoth dimensions. Dough machines with a capacity of 90 kg, chapatti-pressing machines, giant cookers, toasters, ice-cream machines, coffee percolators, ovens8230; huge devices that get into action at the flick of a button. Not just that, even the dishwashers bear testimony to the amount of cutlery that is in use every day. But all that8217;s in the cookhouse and the scullery. Out in the dining hall, it8217;s spit and polish and glistening crockery 8211; all laid out for a seven-course meal.

Passing out in style
In another seven minutes, the parade will march past the quarter deck of the Khetrapal Parade Ground at Khadakwasla. Checking their watches, the pilots put on their helmets and goggles and take off from the Lohegaon air base. The moment the flag party the trio holding the academy colours moves in front of the reviewing officer, the IAF aircraft thunder across the sky above. Perfect timing, to-the-minute synchronisation. Another Passing-out Parade POP magnificently conducted.

The result of hours of practice that go to ensure that not one cadet lifts his foot out of turn, or swings his arm forward when the others are behind. What exactly goes into its making? Who are behind it?

An entire team. Comprising the adjutant, his assistant, the entire drill staff, the subedar major drill and, of course, the cadets. Who are trained into the formation of contingents, the various parade movements 8211; when to stop, when to march, when and how to salute.

Most importantly, this practice for the POP essentially involves the movement of 1,000-odd cadets, and coordinated movement at that. Also, the boys have to be repeatedly trained in the various squadron formations, the spacing between them and more importantly, the timing of each action.

Timing is the one crucial aspect of the parade on the final day. For in tune with the activity of the cadets on the ground, the pilots of the aircraft systematise their take-off.

Few minutes before the flypast, the Jaguars and MiGs are already airbone and hovering at some distance. The person positioned in the control room at the Science Block a building opposite the parade ground, with a rotating dome on top monitors the parade, and once it reaches a particular spot, sends a message to the pilots. Gauging how much time they will require to cross the ground in tandem with the marching cadets, they move toward their target area, and sweep across the skies at that exact moment.

Precision is the key word here, you conclude. A few minutes, that seem just a little bit of time on the ground, are an eternity for those who ply the sky.

And that, in fact, is true for all aspects of this magnificent event, marked by solemnity and dignity. Not to mention the endurance needed to move to the rhythm of the military tunes, in their stiff uniforms, tolerating the blazing summer sun or the biting winter chill.

Watched by adoring family members, under the hawk-like eye of senior officers, these to-be-officers cannot slip up.

Camera Capers
For 50 years now, the academy has opened its doors to gawky teenagers lugging their trunks and haversacks in trepidation. Occasionally, it has also welcomed done-up film-stars sauntering in with spotboys wheeling camera trolleys and make-up bags. A couple of days of lights and action, and what have you.

Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Param Vir Chakra, Vijeta, Major Saab and Prem Aggan 8211; all canned and ready. Ever since the late 1970s when Raj Kapoor arrived on site with his camera till Feroz Khan shouted pack up,8217; the academy has occasionally been transformed into tinsel town, what with the likes of Zeenat Aman, Shashi Kapoor, Rekha, Amitabh Bachchan strolling around the campus!

Not so anymore. While the star-struck janta has had a field day so far getting a ringside view of the different filmings, this shall not be the case anymore. Courtesy the controversial Major Saab. With the film being accused of false depiction of military life, the NDA is now out of bounds for Bollywood bigwigs. But those who8217;ve been here and seen that can remember8230;

8230; that scene in the film where Zeenat Aman gets swept away in the floods caused when the dam bursts, and how a double actually gave the shot.

8230; how Parikshit Sahani and Vidya Sinha were the cast for a film that somehow never made it to the big screen.

8230; and grin at the memory of a bell-bottom-clad Rishi Kapoor prancing about with Dimple in her mini on the NDA Road from Chandni chowk.

8230; that good boy Kunal Kapoor, who camped a month at the academy to prepare right for the cadet8217;s role he played in Vijeta, even participating in a boxing bout and getting a bloody nose. And how distinguished Shashi Kapoor looked and how Rekha stunned everybody in her elegant Puneri saris.

8230; the three young blokes nobody remembers their names who hoped to make it big with a film called Param Vir Chakra shot in NDA, but nobody knows what happened to them or their movie.

8230; of course, all the buzz about the Big B and the entire saga of a film that first delighted the local authorities, attracted the residents and then rubbed those in uniform the wrong way. The beard, the gate created as a set, the battered car to be used as a prop and which was parked outside Gol Market all through, the media swarming down8230; juicy snippets galore that peppered letters back home for almost a month!

8230; Salaria Square doubling up as a college garden with Fardeen Khan running around the manicured lawns wooing his lady love, while kids from Wadia and Fergusson and Symbiosis Colleges jived all around!

Films about life in uniform, films about love in uniform 8211; the academy has seen all kinds of action before the camera!