Dev in College
In a short span of time, Dev and Vasant got used to college life. There was no more fear of ragging and abuse from the seniors. As these brothers belonged to a nontribal family, it was not that easy still for the Bharti family to support their higher studies. Thanks to the elder siblings Madhu and Naina who worked really hard in their late teens to support the family need. Ganesh and Mina worked for their own grocery which somehow managed their basic family expenses.
In college, the NCC (National Cadet Corps-the youth wing of Indian Armed Forces) enrolment for basic survival skill training was compulsory for all students across all faculty. Dev, along with his brother, Vasant, was to move to Laitkor for a period of one month for the training in his second year of the pre-university course.
"You know Vasant, I'm really excited to start the training to be facilitated by the Eastern command wing of the Indian army."
"And so am I. Just imagine we are in camouflage attire and targetting the enemies like Sylvester Stallone in the Rambo sequel."
"No illusion dear, keep working harder, the day is not far when we'll have joined the army and fought for the nation."
They packed their luggage and headed to board the TATA Stallion for Laitkor, Assam Rifles Public School campus, Shillong Peak.
In less than two hours did the truck drop them at the venue for the month-long NCC training. This was a huge green plateau in the midst of tall pine trees with the chilling wind.
In the boys' group there were 286 and in the girls were 358. It was for the first time the camp had received such a huge number of NCC trainees. The army men together with the boys and girls set about 175 tents for 3-4 inmates per tent in less than an hour! Dev and Vasant were really excited to have gotten the responsibility of checking if any of the tent fasteners were not done well. What was evermore a thing of pride for them was the camouflage uniform that made them forget that they were actually college boys and not the infantry.
Their training started on 14th August 1998. The first part of the training was a sort of institutional training where cadets are taught the theoretical aspects of life in the army, basic adventurous survival skills, and the fundamentals of defense services.
At first, most participants could grasp nothing but Dev for his curiosity and inquisitiveness kept asking and clarifying his doubts to the officers, and soon he was out of the wonderland. Vasant on the other hand was looking for adventurous hiking and trekking to learn survival skills in the extremes of nature.
It was now already a week of their training where they learned basic life skills like the values of discipline: duty, attendance, order, personality traits, work ethics, self-confidence, self-reliance, need for voluntary service, charity, communication skills, the value of confidentiality, leadership or commandership, the fundamental rights and the directive principles of state policy supporting secular mindset.
This one-week-long theory class reminded the cadets of their regular classes in their colleges more than challenging the extremes of their mind and body. They were desperately looking for something challenging in nature and guess what! The commandant officer declared a one-week-long adventurous training. This was not just a fun-filling training but full of challenging sports and learning like hiking, trekking, camping, rafting, identifying edible plants and herbs for survival, rock climbing, swimming, mountaineering, sea sailing, paragliding, along with the application of basic medical aid in snake/ wild insect bites.
Accidents and mishaps are easily encountered when such a big number of students/people make a move to the unknown for something new for the first time. During the camping, Rina Rai from Lady Keane College in Mt. Abu group was stung by a northern rough green tree snake. This was never expected. Although the snake was not poisonous, she was screaming out her guts for fear. The boys and girls from her group were also at a loss as to what they should be doing next to save her. While everybody else was waiting for the orders or advice on medication and first aid, Dev took immediate action. He gently lifted her in his arms and took her to an open airy place.
"Hey, Rina ... Rrrina ... wait ... wait! Cry not for fear. This is a harmless snake and it lives on trees. Locally, we call it vine snake. It's found all over our farms, pastures, and forests. Please take this ibuprofen and the pain will subside in a while."
Rina slowly opened her eyes and swallowed the tablet. But she was still panicking. This was like a fatal blow to many in the cadets' groups but for boys like Dev who has had far harsher and painful experiences in his young days was nothing as such.
Rina couldn't even express her gratitude to Dev as he was a complete stranger to her as yet. She just gazed at him until he was called by their commandant officer, Mr. Jacob Kutty. He was praised for his presence of mind and the timely action before it would have become a matter of commotion.
As expected, the college students found the second-week training more fulfilling than the first as it was an interesting experiential learning. This was hiking to the top of the Shillong Peak, 6433 feet from sea level, a 14 km ascent from Laban. The cadets were to start it from the lowest point in Laban after breakfast at 6 in the morning and reach the top by 11just before lunch. Thirty TATA Stallion trucks brought down all 644 students at the base exactly at 5:20am and after a short briefing- the dos and don'ts by Mr. Kutty, the cadets started their ascent.
It was indeed a very big crowd to handle by a single commander. Mr. Kutty, therefore, chose a group leader for every 50 cadets from among themselves. Dev was chosen to look after Mt. Abu Group. This was a piece of exciting news for Rina because it was he who had saved her life from the snake bite earlier. She grew more confident and felt safe to hike under such a caring leader.
"Dev, you are a true leader. You have all the characteristics of able leadership. Can we be good friends?"
"Ha.... ha... please don't flatter me. I know nothing. In fact, I'm learning a lot of things from you all guys."
"Do ya think I can ever flatter? I spoke the truth I'm experiencing. And now don't tell me that I can't even speak the truth."
"Oh..., c'mon Rina. Take it easy and forget this serious stuff. By the way, where do you stay?"
"Not far from the residence of Naina, a really hardworking girl I know. She lives in Raid Laban with her parents and three other siblings. They are a really hard-working family; the Bharti Family."
Dev became serious and more curious at Rina's reply. He started pondering as to how come She knows so much about the Bharti family. Despite his curiosity, he only listened to her and wanted to divert the topic of their talk in sound but he actually wished Rina told more about her knowledge of Naina's family.
"I wish such heart-rending test of time never came to anyone in their entire lives...never in their innocent childhood."
Dev was reminded of the 1986-87 summer days how his parents had taken the little kids to safety from the obscurantist tribals and all that had ensued for the next 3 years.
"Hey, Dev what's wrong... what's up? You look a little moist-eyed. Did I make any mess?" I'm sorry if I've hurt you."
"No, no... nothing. Everything's fine. There was an insect, a fruit fly, that got into my eyes, you know these insects are hotter than Naga Viper, the chili." Dev couldn't speak the truth this time, nor could Rina decipher the truth.
By and by, they were halfway through the steep slope of the deep pine forest to the peak. Dev regarded his watch and it said quarter past eight.
"Friends, walk up hard and fast and not rest a while, the time's running out. We need to go past that huge rock that is standing in our way." Dev was heard encouraging and leading his group on and off.
"Aye, Dev...dev...wait for me. I'm here down about 50 feet from you all." Nobody had noticed Rina was left behind. She was never used to walking uphill like that. She was absolutely fatigued and waiting for someone to help her.
"How come you're so far below the rock when most of your hike mates are almost atop?"
"Dev, actually, there's a leech-like insect that was stuck on my thigh and when I tried to get rid of this, everyone unheedingly left me behind. See this blood still oozing out." Rina pointed her index to him that had some blood.
"Oh, so sorry to know this, but you could've used the salt that was in your backpack to get rid of such insects, they are highly sensitive to salt and alcohol. You may also rub some Ultrathon if you are carrying it at the moment, trust me it works."
"At times, I ask myself how on earth you know all this stuff; from plants and animals to the problem solving that comes in your way at any time."
"Not at all. I know nothing in fact. I just suggest to you what my instinct and some experiences guide me. You know what, there's so much to learn and understand from our environment that one life is never enough. I enjoy observing even the minute things in the environment like watching the anthills and knowing how these tiny creatures build such colossal mountain castles. Maybe we've learned to build our skyscrapers from these inspiring beings, haven't we?"
It was nearly quarter past ten when they were able to go past that big rock. Most of the hikers had already ascended the peak while Dev and his team were making their way through the thicket under the dense pine forest. Now they had only the last three-quarters of the hour left to reach the peak. However, it was no competition that would declare the winner but measure how safely and timely the cadets complete their mission.
Around 11:15 am, the last team successfully ascended the peak where 30 TATA Stallions were standing to drive the cadets to their camps some 12 miles south of the peak.
Dev got onto the truck after having ensured that no one was left behind. He was especially concerned for Rina for some inexplicable reasons as yet.
They were 25 minutes behind the scheduled time for their lunch. There wasn't much for that day after the tiresome hiking. They could spend the rest of the day on their personal grooming and watching some adventurous journeys on the Nat Geo channel, if not the India-Pak cricket test series.
The result of the nearly 6-hour hiking was seen the next day as most of the cadets had sore legs and jammed muscles between their calves and high hips. Unless you are a regular walker or hiker, you are most likely to have this especially the next day of your long walk. But it soon gets over as you continue to walk on a regular basis.
Mr. Kutty, arrive at 7 the next morning and made an announcement of a friendly football match between the army jawans and the cadets which excited the cadets all the more. As per his announcement, the match would start at 3 pm in Nehru Stadium, Polo Lawmali.
Of 22 cadet groups from a total of 286 boys, they needed 22 players for the match. And it wasn't eating a piece of cake finding 22 best players from that big number. In the late afternoon that day, the boys along with Dev and Vasant were able to make a team from the cadets to play against the veteran army from 10 Assam Rifles brigades stationed in the eastern command headquarters.
Dev was chosen as the goalkeeper of the team while Vasant was playing center half-forward. Formidable awe filled the psyche of not only the cadets' team but the whole cadets who were facing the grand match at such a reputed stadium at 3 the following day.
All the cadets were taken to the stadium 3 hours before the match time for their preparation and proper acquaintance with the ambiance of the ground. They did some practice and waited for the opponent to arrive. Soon the stadium was filled with football lovers. Of 30000 seat capacity, there were nearly 5000 army personnel cheering for their team and some 15000 students from 21 different colleges in the East Khasi Hills district. Over 2000 including the dignitaries and security officials nearly filled the total seats of the stadium. The number of spectators reminded the locals of an inter-state level match. Players like Samuel J Lyngdoh and Novin Gurung and Rakesh Pradhan were on the cadets' team while veteran players like Lalboy Kipjen and Sukhvinder Kulkarni were on the Army.
The match began as expected. Except for these three players who played for Shillong Lajong FC, the rest were naive and novices. However, there was a high spirit of sportsmanship in them all and planned to play 3-3-4-1 as a defensive game. The cadets' team resolved to play only a cool entertaining game of discipline and not vie to win. While the army planned to play 4-4-2-1 that meant an aggressive game.
The cadet's team won the toss and started the match. Rakesh Pradhan and Samuel J Lyngdoh started the ball and kicked it back to Novin and he made a long pass to Vasant and then to Dev. He kicked the ball from the 6 yard-box across 90 meters to Novin Gurung and what happened was just unexpected. He waited for Samuel to take the crossing but three players from the army were on guard and there was no time for Novin to wait for Samuel as he was not getting easy access to hold the ball until his partner arrived. So he had to make a crucial decision in a jiffy and shoot the ball hard straight through the D- box into the goal net. What Novin did then was hit a long parabolic overthrow aiming at the left corner of the net. The army underestimated this and thus there was a first-of-its-kind goal, in the first 90 seconds of the first half. The crowd in the stadium stood up in ovation for the cadets.
The cadets' team was now under heavier pressure to save the grace and hopes which the cheering spectators had just planted in their minds. The army was even more under pressure as there was a crowd of nearly 5000 from two renowned brigades. The army now started an attacking match against the cadets, however, the boys managed to keep them at bay until the first half. Cadet was leading 1-0.
The second half of the match started at 4:00 pm. Lalboy Kipjen and Sukhvinder Kulkarni from the army started the ball and the goalkeeper, Lokesh Singh. Copying Dev's strategy, he gave a long overshot to Kulkarni in the midfield from where he tried another parabolic overpass to Kipjeng bur Dev jumped in the air and firmly caught the ball before the army menace arrived. Off and on the professional team made several amazing attempts but the cadet's teamwork and unflinching resolution stood like a firewall between their goalpost and the army. As scheduled the match was over by 4:45 pm with an unforgettable experience for the army and the cadets as well.
The chief of the eastern command, Lieutenant General Ravi Eipe handed the trophy to the winners and expressed his best wishes to the youth of the nation.
The captain of the cadets' team Samuel J Lyngdoh thanked and congratulated his team members and promised to recommend the intake of some prospective players into Lajong FC.
It was nearly half-past six when the stadium was cleared and the cadets boarded the TATA Stallions for Laitkor camps to reach there by 7:10 pm traveling another 10 miles.
The past two days were really tough for the cadets as they tasted the extremes of their physical stamina more than the mental. The cadets were now worried if Mr. Kutty might show up again to announce for yet another taxing task. Fortunately, it was too late to make any such announcement for the already tired and trainees. To be continued...
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