As most of the cadets were having a lavish breakfast at the lawns overlooking the magnificent Sudan Block at the NDA, Yedige Mustafayev was busy packing his bags and trunks. While most of the students were going back home to their respective cities to spend a well-deserved vacation before embarking upon their respective higher academies, Yedige and eleven other cadets were readying to go back to their countries, carrying home a lot of memories. Yedige, the only cadet from Kazakhstan, joined the NDA in 2005. He was a member of the Lima Squadron and a 6-time holder of 'Silver Torch', which is awarded to those students who have excelled in academics. Speaking about his initial days at the academy, he said, "In my initial days, I was a little shy. But, right from day one, everybody here made me feel at home, which helped me to settle down very quickly." For cadets like him, the training here is something that he will carry back to his country when he joins the armed forces in Kazakhstan. What is the most important thing that he has learnt here? "The ability to judge people. The most important thing for a smart soldier is to distinguish different types of people. The training at the NDA is so precise," he said. What he liked the most at the NDA is the environment, "The entire campus is green and very beautiful. I will miss this campus as much as I miss my friends," He added.The fact that I am in a different nation does strike me sometimes and I do miss my family. But then with the internet being available its really not that much of a distance. Even though we are not allowed to have mobile phones here it doesn't affect much. Also we get two breaks annually," He went eloquent about home, nostalgia.At the end of the day, he was a contented man. "Everything that I was apprehensive about doing, be it riding or swimming, I learnt to do here. I learnt to work under pressure and complete my tasks properly and made some wonderful friends for life. There is nothing more I can ask for really. It is an amazing place to produce amazing officers," he signs off.
