Of Rules, Regulations & Discipline…
4:05 AM
JITIN
,
He has a cellphone. But you can’t call him. His sleeping hours are in the range 0-5 hours a day. Not one minute more. He has to wake up at 4am daily, throughout his stay. But he is not sure when he would sleep at night. He lives in dehradun, but knows only one place here: Indian Military Academy (IMA). He is a cousin of mine & there are many like him!
There is only one day when you can hope to meet him: Sunday. So I had the distinct pleasure to catch up with my dear cousin during the last two Sundays (being in doon luckily)! And what followed was a riveting account of ‘Living life on the edge 24*7’…
If you thought: ‘Rules are made to be broken, regulations are only on paper & disciplined behaviour is out of fashion’. Think again!
Because when you enter into the hallowed portals of IMA, Dehradun reality bites!
Its when the very definition of ‘difficult’ & its horrid synonyms changes! I have been through quite a few ‘tough’ situations during my life. But nothing can beat the rigorous schedule of a normal day at the academy. A brief snapshot:
0400 hrs: The alarm clock rings, but there is no option of snooze. You have to wake up now. You have to complete the morning ablutions, bath, dress-up and get ready in exactly half an hour.
0430 hrs: The uniform check is done. A proper dress up means: Only three buttons of your shirt should be visible, the rest should be inside your trousers. The tie should be perfectly aligned with the shirt & the trousers. The shoes should be well polished at all times. And the whole uniform should be neatly pressed. If you fail to comply by even one of them, then its punishment time.
0500 hrs: The PT starts which goes on &on with different exercises, followed by a yoga session, then running 10 km everyday on the field. And all this for 180 minutes!!!
0800 hrs: Breakfast time. The basic funda is to eat as much as possible. Because you are not sure whether or not you would get a chance to eat again during the whole day!
0900-1300 hrs: Theory classes in state of the art classrooms. No physical activity is involved here. And if you are lucky that any teacher is absent, then there is some rest, much to everyone’s relief.
1300-1430 hrs: The Drill test. The toughest of them all. It involves completing tasks of the gravest kind in minimum possible time. Usually, it takes more time than the allotted period. And once it is over, most of the people are totally exhausted & near a state of unconsciousness.
1430-1530 hrs: If you are lucky enough to survive past the drill test in time, then you can have lunch but only at your seniors mercy. Well there are three types of students in the academy. The first term’s are called ekkis, the second term as dukkis & the third term as teekis! One of the ‘teekis’ is your overstudy. He is responsible for all your actions & the way you behave in the academy. In return, you will have to complete all his tasks. From bringing items from shops, to searching for his bike and cleaning his room also. So you can eat only if the teekis allow you to do so.
1530-1630 hrs: Sports time! The most enjoyable time of the day. Here you can play all the games of your interest and based on the competitions ahead. Excelling in sports is considered to be of special significance in military & all the senior personnel in the academy are distinguished sportspersons! So even sports is a serious business here…
1700-2000 hrs: After a half an hour tea break (again only if you don’t have to complete any punishments or the order of teekis), this is Study time! Non-stop for three hours at a stretch…
2000-2100 hrs: Dinner break! Time to get some food in after a long day out :-)
2100-…… hrs: And now begins the dreaded part: The night time :-(
Because now you return back to your respective rooms and the dukkis & teekis are waiting for you there! No its not ragging… Infact, it is discipline being taught to the juniors by there kind seniors… You have to do everything: somethings which are uncensored to be written here and others which are physically draining, to say the least!
Hmmm… anybody reading this would have been terrified by now!
But not everything is so menacing... Their is the other side too!
There is only one day when you can hope to meet him: Sunday. So I had the distinct pleasure to catch up with my dear cousin during the last two Sundays (being in doon luckily)! And what followed was a riveting account of ‘Living life on the edge 24*7’…
If you thought: ‘Rules are made to be broken, regulations are only on paper & disciplined behaviour is out of fashion’. Think again!
Because when you enter into the hallowed portals of IMA, Dehradun reality bites!
Its when the very definition of ‘difficult’ & its horrid synonyms changes! I have been through quite a few ‘tough’ situations during my life. But nothing can beat the rigorous schedule of a normal day at the academy. A brief snapshot:
0400 hrs: The alarm clock rings, but there is no option of snooze. You have to wake up now. You have to complete the morning ablutions, bath, dress-up and get ready in exactly half an hour.
0430 hrs: The uniform check is done. A proper dress up means: Only three buttons of your shirt should be visible, the rest should be inside your trousers. The tie should be perfectly aligned with the shirt & the trousers. The shoes should be well polished at all times. And the whole uniform should be neatly pressed. If you fail to comply by even one of them, then its punishment time.
0500 hrs: The PT starts which goes on &on with different exercises, followed by a yoga session, then running 10 km everyday on the field. And all this for 180 minutes!!!
0800 hrs: Breakfast time. The basic funda is to eat as much as possible. Because you are not sure whether or not you would get a chance to eat again during the whole day!
0900-1300 hrs: Theory classes in state of the art classrooms. No physical activity is involved here. And if you are lucky that any teacher is absent, then there is some rest, much to everyone’s relief.
1300-1430 hrs: The Drill test. The toughest of them all. It involves completing tasks of the gravest kind in minimum possible time. Usually, it takes more time than the allotted period. And once it is over, most of the people are totally exhausted & near a state of unconsciousness.
1430-1530 hrs: If you are lucky enough to survive past the drill test in time, then you can have lunch but only at your seniors mercy. Well there are three types of students in the academy. The first term’s are called ekkis, the second term as dukkis & the third term as teekis! One of the ‘teekis’ is your overstudy. He is responsible for all your actions & the way you behave in the academy. In return, you will have to complete all his tasks. From bringing items from shops, to searching for his bike and cleaning his room also. So you can eat only if the teekis allow you to do so.
1530-1630 hrs: Sports time! The most enjoyable time of the day. Here you can play all the games of your interest and based on the competitions ahead. Excelling in sports is considered to be of special significance in military & all the senior personnel in the academy are distinguished sportspersons! So even sports is a serious business here…
1700-2000 hrs: After a half an hour tea break (again only if you don’t have to complete any punishments or the order of teekis), this is Study time! Non-stop for three hours at a stretch…
2000-2100 hrs: Dinner break! Time to get some food in after a long day out :-)
2100-…… hrs: And now begins the dreaded part: The night time :-(
Because now you return back to your respective rooms and the dukkis & teekis are waiting for you there! No its not ragging… Infact, it is discipline being taught to the juniors by there kind seniors… You have to do everything: somethings which are uncensored to be written here and others which are physically draining, to say the least!
Hmmm… anybody reading this would have been terrified by now!
But not everything is so menacing... Their is the other side too!
Starting on a humorous note:
A conversation between a teeki and my cousin (ekki)…
Teeki: Hey you dumb ass come here!!!
Ekki: Yeeeeeeeesssss siiiiiiiir….
Teeki: What happened to you?
Ekki: Noooooo siiiiiiiiiir…….
Teeki: What yes and no? Bring fruits for me from the market you doper!!!
Ekki: Okkkkkkk sirrrrr….. Whiiiich onesssss?
Teeki: Some bananas, apples, mangoes etc.
Ekki: How maaaaaaaanyyyy……………….. Siiiiiiiiiir!!!
Teeki (now in a rage): Jitne milein! Now go. Fast!!!!
Ekki (floating like a drunkyard): Okkkkkkkkk….
(Slips and falls down!!!!!)
Teeki: Ok get up! Tell mishra to do all this. You go doper!!!
& so he manages to esacpe… With a drama act!
So its not only the physical stuff but your personality which develops on all fronts!
And once your over with the first term, life becomes more & more smooth…
As they say: First termer is an ‘orderly’. Second termer is the ‘master’. And the third termer is the ‘king’!
A movie is also screened every Saturday evening in the IMA’s world class auditorium known as “Khetrepal”! Another welcome change for the students!
And the icing on the cake is the famous POP. That is the “passing out parade”…
A once in a life-time experience…
So as this rather intriguing conversation came to a sudden end with a voice from behind. It was my cousin’s overstudy calling him from behind!
My cousin: Hello sir! How are you? Meet my elder brother. He is from dehradun only.
Overstudy: It’s a pleasure to meet you. (Then pointing to my cousin) Have you completed that…….
(But before he could finish)
My cousin: Oh brother I think you are getting a bit late now. Lets go. See you soon sir…
So as I get a real time experience of my cousin’s trickery at display…
I moved out of IMA with mixed emotions!
Life may be really tough here… but then at the end of the day: Its worth the pain!
There He was standing waving me “good-bye” and assuring me that he would call me from my cellphone again whenever he is allowed to meet people from dehradun! The dehradun that exists outside Indian Military Academy!
wel am d fst 1 to comment...grt description boss, u must hv taken d intrvw of ur bro along wth a notebook n pen to note dwn..
nyways, for d fst time(aftr colg.) i hv felt,am greatful to be at home...n i ll ask d uncensored prt frm u later on..
again..grt wrk...
gr8 won........
can be a movies script.........
keep it up..........not to u jitin.....to ur cousin......he he eh
Wow, all of this sounds really scary....Personally, I can't believe how the military academy of our country can allow ragging and humiliation and general oppression of students under the guise of 'building character'. The whole 'suffer now and enjoy tormenting juniors later' attitude is nothing but an extension of sixth grade bullying, not to mention a disturbingly perfect example of sadism. It's despicable behaviour no matter which way you look at it, and I cannot imagine how generations of students have been tolerating this so impassively. Sorry to be so crabby and serious about this, but for some reason I feel very strongly about this issue. On a lighter note, your article gives a very good account of how determined a person has got to be to become an armyman. It's a tough life for them, and hats off to all those who even go so far as to attempt it.
No doubt IMA churns out winners all the time!
@ devein
no i dint hv a notebook & pen to take my cousin's interview... just my memory :) & thanx for ur praise... ya u wld know the uncensored part soon ;-)
any guesses!
@ ajaypal
thanx...
not to u ajay, but my cousin for providing me with such wonderful info!
@ mridul
Bingo!
keep visiting :-)
@ musab
well it indeed is scary no doubt!
and thanx for bringing forth a very valid point which needs urgent attention... Infact, i was absolutely stunned when i listened to this account first & then saw it happening myself! how all this takes place in such a premier institution as IMA, still eludes me. And how are cadets there allowing all this in the name of so called "disciplined behaviour"!
Well i will try to get more info from my cousin about whether something is being done in this regard or would it go on & on in the future also!
thanx for ur appreciaition...
& yes hats off to these cadets!!!
its really really tough out there...
Wow..! Thats the variety in ur writing i was wanting 2 see.
Good work..!
(try a hand on something serious or something which would engage the readers heart and soul for those mins he s going thru ur post, its jst a suggestion )
@ sidharth
thanx again sid :)
& i will keep in mind ur suggestion...
something very serious & engaging is coming then................
Lyf is tough and it ought to be, and the last part featuring the twist where the ekis try to overcome dukis/ teekis is commendable, their job profile demands it. Moreover, the workload mounted upon them is moulding them for the tough future ahead.
and jitin!! thanks for making us aware that its not only our job that is hectic but many other job profiles are even much tougher and screwing.
Looking for such good posts..
wisiting ur blog after a long time n ust say i wasn disapointed
a gud discription bout life in IMA one dat i expected.
keep it up dude.
@ shuchita
thanx a lot.. yes their 'job profile' demands a lot of wit & character. Because there is only "Survival of the fittest"!
& yes their work is incomparable to ours! there is a hell lot of a difference..
will keep blogging & you keep visiting :-)
@ ashish
thanx dude..
plz keep visiting :-)
the way u hv captured the army life is commendable..our family has a tradition of these, so quite close to me.My cousin is in Air Force : Flying Lft Vikram Thakur..he has seen one of his friends dying in a crash during training..that itself explains the challenges of this life that they chose...hats off to these heroes !!!!!!!!!!
Entertaining read! Cause my beau comes from IMA, i happen to know a lot abt this place. Arent the movie nights on thursday instead of saturday?? Yeah... first term is the worst. And whats worse than the worst... ask me! He hardly ever had the time to talk until this one fine day when he broke his ankle at a game of handball and was in the hospital for a good 2 weeks. That was pretty much the only time we got to talk during his stay there... really rigorous! A few good things IMA is capable of-
1)Making you lose all body fat REALLY fast.
2) Scaling down your immune system and disease resistance.
3) Making people break up with their girlfriends because once they join, they have "no time to talk".
4) Overhyping the POP which anyway happens twice every year.
Okay... some claims were exaggerated but i have serious issues with the place! Anyway, great read and being from dehradun, you HAD to bring this up :))
@yashika
Hey nice to hear about your IMA connection... Then you must be a lot better informed than me for sure... Abt the movie nights, i think they are on thurs & sat both. But ekkis hardly get to watch on thurs: teekis dont allow them! Sunday being a holiday, they are allowed movie watch on sat!
No doubt first term is the worst... And hey thats not a great way to talk... after being hurt... but i perfectly agree with you: this is really the only time!!!
But there are many-many positives about life@IMA just like you pointed out! Though i must say about point-3 & the "anti-talk" syndrome: i really sympathize with you... It must have been very frustrating at times! Thanks for info about the POP. I didn't knew that. And i would also like to add:
5)Bringing forth all your dramatic skills upfront: you can't survive without them!!!
& yup i had to bring this up!
Hoping for a counter-counter on this :-)
i was jus searchin for the life related to IMA and found ur blog ... thanx brother!!!
well I'm expectin a call from IMA and hence wanted to know about raggin and other issues so if u could gimme a lil more info(though I already appreciate what uve done )... it'd be great :)
thanx !!!
The only time I saw IMA life was in movie LAkshya..and tht to say was not even a small part of wat u told...
thanks 4 increasing my awareness on IMA n its students(or cadets/jawans)
http://www.quora.com/Indian-Army/IMA-OTA-What-is-a-typical-day-like-for-a-to-be-commissioned-officer-a-trainee-in-Indian-Army-soon-after-he-she-begins-his-her-training