A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor.
Challenges are the opportunities given by life to improve ourselves and hence I believe one never loses after taking up a challenge, he/she either wins or learns, both of which are totally worth it.
When I cleared the selection process for National Defence Academy (NDA), I was just an18 year old boy who had finished his school. Coming from a family with no defence background, I didn’t have the slightest of ideas about what life in NDA is going to be. When I came to academy, expecting wonderful time at one of the best institutions in the world, I was bewildered by what followed. It was my second day and I was standing on a diving board at 10m height looking down towards waving water in the pool and an ustaad shouting
jump. Well, as easy as it may seem while standing on ground, it was one spine-chilling experience for someone who didn’t even know how to swim. With this started the journey of a school topper who weighed 80kgs in class 12 and had little physical fitness, towards becoming an officer in armed forces who will be leading men into battlefields. For 2 years, my day started at 3am in the morning and ended at 11pm in the night. From running cross-countries to horse-riding to boxing to navigating a forest at night, I overcame each challenge one by one and kept improving. Each morning brought in new challenges and with each night came the satisfaction of having pushed my mental and physical boundaries.
Tough times don’t last, tough people do.