This was not just a story. It was a DREAM!!
Varanasi, Jan 2014 – After sleeping on the railway station from 1 AM to 6 AM I could hear the Indian Air Force bus arriving at the station. It was going to be my first SSB (Services Selection Board) experience and that too at one of the toughest selection centers in the country – 4 AFSB Varanasi.
I, along with 30 other aspiring candidates, boarded the bus and left for the facility. On reaching there, all I could see were 350 candidates with 350 dreams and going by the trend in which the previous 3 batches were all complete washouts, probably 350 heartbreaks too.
Flashback to 2002 – A 12-year-old kid woke up at 4 AM every morning just to see the airplanes take off from the Air Force training base. He used to visit his grandfather who was a primary school teacher by profession along with 8 other cousins for a yearly family meet. His grandfather always admired the pilots who had wings to fly high into the sky and keep a watch over their fellow countrymen. He had even trained his 3 sons to become pilots but none of them could make it through. While his 8 other cousins slept, he woke up every morning just to see those unknown heroes take off. He used to pretend to drive the planes like cars and run under the shadows of those planes when they took off.
He didn’t do it because he loved planes or he wanted to become a pilot to oversee the safety of his fellow citizens, he did it for that beam of happiness which spread across his grandfather’s face. It was PRICELESS.
Fast-forward to 2014 – The recruitment process was for 7 days and the intake ratio was less than Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge combined. After the first five days of intense group discussions, Group Activities, individual and group tasks, I had started losing hope. I just wanted it to end. The phones had been taken away and I had not been able to get in touch with my parents, my pillars of support. I felt like I was just like the other 68 candidates who had managed to survive the 5 days. I had nothing extra to give.
However, on the 6th day, we were allowed to leave the campus just before the final interview and conference round. I left the academy and started roaming the city. I remembered how my grandfather told me stories about Varanasi and how all of my uncles had been there along with my grandfather who always came to Varanasi with them and stayed with a friend just to see if this time any of his kid makes through.
He wasn’t here this time but that span of 3 hours changed everything for me and I was determined to give it my all for the remaining 2 days. The results were announced and I was selected.
But as it’s often said- “Fate Loves Irony”. Even after qualifying the SSB, I found out I had myopia in my left eye.4 months,3 medicals, 3 unsuccessful attempts. I was being offered Ground Duty in place of Flying duty. I wasn’t deemed to be physically fit to be a pilot in the IAF.I had already left my campus placement to be fit for this day. I was supposed to be shattered after this experience. This wasn’t supposed to be in the script. I had given up everything to be at this stage. I had emptied my tank with nothing left in me. But I still had that letter with me which said “Recommended from 4-AFSB Varanasi”. This was the actual success which I had always hoped for and whenever I look at the letter all I see is that beam of happiness spread across his face. RIP NANA
