Winner for Life - My Experience @ SSB

Hey there, Just wanna share with u my experience at 22 SSB Bhopal. I am sure you all aware of the regular procedure of the SSB Interview, so I won’t dwell much on it. I reached Bhopal station on 10th July, 2009 early morning. The army people were to pick us up at 2pm... & it was barely 9am then. Getting bored I decided to have a stroll across the street. To my surprise Bhopal was as sad as Bhusaval or something.. well that aside..I reached the Board at 3pm and was shocked to see about 150 + guys like me assembled there ,from all across India, some of whom I had befriended at the station itself. We were allocated chest numbers for identification... n left to relax at our lines or dormitories. I chatted with many candidates there...it was almost like Bharat Braman.. :) Many of them were coming there for the SSB Interview for their n^th   time, I as a rookie was actually very nervous.. However the instructions from the army gentlemen put me at ease in no time.

Here’s a day by day story of all that happened there.

Day 1 :

Here we were to get up at (any time you desire), but were to report to our exam room at 6am sharp. By the way, we were supposed to have our breakfast before that J. It was after ages that I was awake so early. Once in the exam hall all 150 of us were addressed by the head of the SSB. Then began the exam –> General Aptitude + Visual Reasoning + Picture Perception Test + Group Discussion. To be very frank I really don’t know what I did, except in the GD where I spoke pretty reasonably. The results were out by 1pm. They were calling out chest numbers ,around 47 from those 150 were selected and were all standing .. however on counting only 46 were standing .. n then came the yelling ”Chest Number 128..are you sleeping”.. I really didn’t know what was happening until the guy next to me reminded me that I was chest no. 128. Finally the man stood up... n there was a laughter....perhaps all were wondering what a **** I was. J

Never the less all congratulated me and the 47 of us were given our new chest numbers.. I was now 34. We all left for seeing off all our other friends who couldn’t make it.

Day 2 –Day4

I was (shooting) eliminating the treacherous of all the enemy on the Pakistan border ...and suddenly I hear a bang.. ohh don’t worry..I wasn’t shot.. it was my alarm clock ticking at 4am..my deep slumber was  broken.. all for the good though.. b’cos  2day we had to report on the field at 5am.

Once on the field ..”Gentlemen on the double..you are always suppose to double up once on the field. No lazy walk “ said a strict voice.. our Ground Officers were already there. There were a number of physical activities that we were asked to do..Jump, Run.. Think, Plan..Lecture etc.

Thankfully all these activities used to get over by 10am, at the most. After that we had the whole day to ourselves. Once the lunch was over we would hop into to rickshaw and go site seeing. Bhopal was grand old city.. and it was a delight to see the zoo, the lake, the mosque.. it was all very nice.

This was my routine for the all the three days.

The most amazing part of the SSB was the interview. Many of my friends from the NDA had told me about it..and it turned out to be better than I had expected... it lasted for about an hour..in fact more than an hour... n it was better than sach ka saamna J. The officer asked me about each and every aspect of my life.. and in a matter of an hour he knew me better than I could ever know myself J. I realised a few of my follies only after discussing it with my friends.. few of my answers didn’t really show me in good light. [I can’t write too much here due to obvious reasons, however I am open to discussing it in private]

Day 5

This is what they call the conference round, where almost 10-15 Army Officers (all in uniform for the 1^st time.. badges shining of gold..Spectacular scene..) make you sit in front of them for a short period.. They’ve actually made up their mind as to whom to take..and why. But then this round helps them better their decision. The results were announced shortly. As always the results were astonishing as people we had presumed would make it, actually couldn’t. Only 7 people now were shortlisted for the next round(Medicals), and I WAS NOT one of them. I really couldn’t have made it. [Remember I told you about my interview J ]

We then had lunch and after seeing off (and congratulating) those few lucky guys, left for the Bhopal Junction Railway Station to board a train back to Pune.

Lessons Learnt

·         The Indian Army is undoubtedly one of the best in the world, considering their strict selection procedure, amazing Infrastructure, never ending zeal and unmatched Lifestyle.

·         Officers from the Armed Forces are the best Gentlemen one can ever meet. No wonder that girls go mad after the men in uniform.

·         After having lost  all hope (actually respect) in all the examinations that I’ve given , due to their innumerable loopholes, SSB is the only testing funda that I can respect.

·         SSB is one of the few immaculate testing procedure, with absolutely NO loopholes, and harnessing the best talent on the Indian soil.

·         Though the Indian Armed Forces are facing a shortage of thousands of officers annually, there isn’t a 0.0000000000000000000000000001 % dilution in their selection criterion.

Personal Gain

·

           Once I was just walking from the Candidates Mess to my room on the SSB campus, when suddenly I realised there was a change in the aura around me. It was almost instantly that I realised a positive change in my body language. [I was almost walking like an officer, already].

·         On the field when I was asked to complete my Individual tasks, I was very nervous and apprehensive, since it was after almost 5 years that I had actually put on my sports gear. But to my pleasant surprise I not only managed to run quite fast but also jumping from or climbing a 8 feet wall, swaying across a bridge 15m apart using a rope, all just seemed a cake walk. It was just the mere atmosphere that was so encouraging.

·         On the journey back from Bhopal, the girl sitting in my compartment was so engrossed in asking me about my SSB Experience, that we became friends almost immediately. [Girls just die for the men in uniform (though I wasn’t really the one..but I had almost become LIKE one)]. :)

·         These 5 days  taught me more about myself (and life) than the previous 5 years put together. SSB is best Personality Improvement programme one can ever have access to. By the way, it doesn’t cost you even a pence, the Govt. Of India spends nearly Rs. 3000/-,per candidate in those 5 days, your railway fare excluding.

·         I was granted a 10 Day Leave from college [By the way, only a RSCOE [ www.rscoe.co.in  ] student will know its importance, J].

I was a little disappointed to not have made to the final round, but somewhere all that I had learned in these days enthused an unprecedented confidence in me, just like the one that made some big personalities like Rahul Dravid, Shah Rukh Khan, APJ Abdul Kalam all of whom were at one time SSB Rejected Candidates. The confidence and glory that had been reinforced in myself then, definitely made me feel like “ WINNER FOR LIFE.” 

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