This was something which I as an Aspirant was telling myself every day.

Two years ago, at the age of 24, me and my friend were sitting at the Office Cafeteria one day and thinking about the voidness surrounding our life, despite earning well and living a comfortable life. We decided that we needed to do something that would be soul satisfying and give back to the society in our own way. Only then I remembered my childhood aspiration of becoming a part of the armed forces. I was fortunate enough to have lived near an AIRFORCE STATION all through my adolescence and I always got goose bumps whenever I spotted an uniformed officer. This dream of mine could not be materialised initially and I had to put it in the back burner then. But, during the course of our discussion, I felt that this dream had to be brought to light and this was through which I was going to shape my destiny.

Initially, I was sceptical about how to pursue it, as there were many factors like the age, mentality, a totally different work environment, which were all trying to bog me down. But, as the saying goes, ‘NO GUTS, NO GLORY’. I took the initial step of researching about it and talking to the veterans in the armed forces. I applied for the AFCAT exam and prepared for it over a month and gave the exam. Little did I know that I would clear the exam and once the results were out, I started preparing for AFSB.  Since, that was my first attempt, I tried to make it the best and I was fortunate to have reached till the conference stage. This gave me the much needed confidence required for this arduous journey of 2.5 years and helped me reassure that the path I have taken wasn’t wrong.

Back home, I dedicated time for both my Studies and Work. 2 months later, I found an opportunity in the onset of pandemic. The work from home option gave me more time for my studies. I was again Conferenced out, but this time I met MOHAN KUMAR (Lieutenant now) who got recommended in that attempt. He served as a guiding light ever since I met him and it was through him that I came to know about Col. BALASUBRAMANIAN sir. Sir took meticulous effort in giving me a 360 degree view of ‘What is required in an Army officer, How an Officer should be, How high his vision should be’. In each of his sessions, he never hesitated to point out even the smallest mistakes which we tend to often ignore. His personal guidance helped me in overall Personality development and has made me realise that Army is NOT JUST A PART OF LIFE, BUT IS A WAY OF LIFE in itself. I started inculcating the Officer- like habits in my daily life as an aspirant under Sir’s guidance.

After series of failures, the fast approaching LAST ATTEMPT gave me chills down my spine. I was constantly in touch with Sir and he gave me his feedbacks till the D-Day. The last mock interview which I had taken from Sir helped me boost my confidence a lot.

The FINAL ATTEMPT - I was allotted BANGALORE BOARD for SSC TECH. On the day of Screening process, there were around 300 candidates gathered, the highest number ever since I started attending the SSB. This thrilled me and as they say, “Believe you can, and you are half way there”, I was strongly believing in myself and gathering all my focus towards my performance and got SCREENED IN. Later, in the Psychology test I followed Sir’s time tested methods firmly and gave my best. Next came the Interview, in which I was concentrating on grabbing the attention of the interviewer in the 1st 10 minutes as per Sir’s advice and performed well throughout. The group to which I was allotted for the GTO Task was equally competitive and everyone was trying to give their best in the tasks allotted. One thing which I felt that worked for me was the NOTION OF REMAINING CALM AND COMPOSED and SPEAKING ONLY WHEN MY WORDS ARE BETTER THAN MY SILENCE. Though I was told that I could have performed better, I didn’t give up hope and I put in my best effort till the last.

On the conference day, I was well prepared to face the questions by recalling all that had happened in past 4 days. I knew that I would not get a chance to relive SSB moments again, which I call it ‘A LIFETIME EXPERIENCE‘. I was so thankful to God for giving me the opportunity. I had mixed emotions and was trying to live at the moment. Later, I was called in for conference where I was asked many questions to check the level of motivation and confidence I had. I answered all those earnestly.

Finally, I was inching towards the MOMENT I was waiting for. An officer came in and called the RECOMMENDED Chest numbers. When he called ‘CHEST NO. 23’, it sounded surreal. I had tears in my eyes and finally my hard work had paid off.