Page 7 - 4. July 2016

ಸಿಂಪುಟ ೬, ಸಿಂಚಿಕೆ ೭, ಜುಲೆೈ, ೨೦೧೬

- Why serve NS? - Prajwal
Next Gen - ಲ ್ೀಕ

In the beginning when I started to write this essay, I didn’t see it coming anywhere near fruition. I was asked to write about my Na-
tional Service life, one could only imagine the innumerous experiences that I had gathered over the years. The moment I thought of it,
my mind raced back to the very first day it all started: Enlistment Day. The first and one of the two biggest days in your NS life, the
next being your ORD day. Anyway, as my mind raced back in time, I re-
membered that tinge of nervousness I felt entering the camp, it felt as if I
was going to prison. My father was right by my side, but the thought of liv-
ing without my parents the thought of suffering engulfed me. I was genuine-
ly scared. To the contrary, by father was genuinely excited and happy for
me. He felt that I would change, finally get up on time, iron my own clothes
from now on and do the household chores etc.… My parents saw this as the
perfect opportunity for me to reform and there weren’t wrong either for hop-
ing as much. I was an 18-year-old kid, spoiled by the comforts of home and
the shelter of my parents. I hardly cared for much in the world and my aspi-
rations were to conquer the never-ending desires of all teenagers. I saw NS
as the perfect opportunity to discover my limits and how far Id end up doing
in the real world. So here’s my story and what I learned most in NS.

I was enlisted into the SCDF and started off as a skinny, unfit and most of
all a lazy recruit who hated being in camp. I was posted to the National Ser-
vice Training Institute Basic Rescue Training Center, it required newly post-
ed personnel to go through a 3-month basic rescue training. As I familiar-
ized myself with my new friends and environment, I started to feel much
better, now that I look back and think about it camp life was basically a ro-
botic life of monotonous activities but it taught me things which I treasure
till today. Basically we all had to get up at 4:45 am. Be ready by 5:30 am for our morning routine. The day started with a warm up
which was called 5bx which basically meant 5 basic exercises. After which we had breakfast. Being a vegetarian in camp didn’t help
at all. The food was twice as worse for me compared to the rest. Luckily for me I wasn’t the only one. I had my best friend, Ajay with
me. Following breakfast, we had to clean our dorms and toilets, once that had been done there would be a morning inspection by the
instructors. I hated the instructors to my very bones as they found intense pleasure in punishing us. The biggest challenge that I had
faced during my recruit time was my fitness. I wasn’t the most fit person in the world and I knew that but what made my situation
worse was my mental strength was even more worse. Id give up when things got tough and because of this my platoon mates would
get punished for my weaknesses. I hated the push ups and the constant punishments in the hot weather. Challenge number two was
ironing and making my bed. I hated all of it. I hated cleaning as well. I found that to be a meaningless job and frankly not at all im-
portant. Challenge number 3 was liking my training. I hated being in camp and instructors I felt as if I was in prison. I felt that most of
my training was a waste of time. It didn’t improve anything. But nonetheless I had to put up a brave face in order to get through the
day and not incurring the anger of my buddies. They already had put up with my nonsense enough. Every night I would complain to
my mother about how tough things got. She would say it will all turn out for my own betterment and in hindsight, she was right. The
first three months inside camp followed the same routine and it was more of a wake up call to myself.

I thought to myself how could I possibly overcome all of this? At the time it seemed like a mountain to climb. What changed every-
thing was when I was selected to become a section commander. It required me to go through 6 months of Section Commander Course
(SCC), SCC trains firefighters in the Civil Defense Academy to become commanders capable of leading a section( which comprised a
team of firefighters). I was already dreading the three months inside and the thought of going through another 6 months terrified me. I
wasn’t ready for it. Section Commander Course is a 6-month course aimed to make individuals capable of leading a section (a team of
firefighters) in any situation. By the end of the course we are trained to faced a variety of situations. Honestly, the course pushed my
limits, both mental and physical. In those 6 months I made friends for life, I learnt things that I wouldn’t learn normally in real life,
things such as leading my men, taking responsibility, being disciplined and most of all being determined. All these qualities culminat-
ed to that of a leader, a strong willed person. My mental strength grew to heights which even I couldn’t even fathom. Firefighting is
by no means easy. Its all about thinking on the spot based on the situation at hand. As a leader I realized that I that I had to make deci-
sions with the very little knowledge that I had. In the end, I graduated top 10 of my course and being in the shortlist to become an of-
ficer (Lieutenant). I became a full fledged sergeant. In the end, I chose to go to the fire station where I could test my firefighting and
leadership skills at first hand where I would get to attend to real life cases of fire and rescue.

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