Cadets to Slither down from flying chopper

This story was a repeat after I had written about four NCC cadets who would slither down a flying chopper in 2002. In 2003 too the NCC 9MP and Chhattisgarh) had selected four boys but his time around they had also selected three girls to slither down the flying chopper. This story was again given to me by my good friend Ritu Raj Mate.


In biting cold every morning, three girls and four boys selected from the NCC (MP and Chhattisgarh) unit can be spotted slithering down a wire pole near Bhadbhada dam like a skilled acrobat.
None of them in into any kind of aping a monkey. Nor are they practicing any kind of rope tricks. They are the few talented young kids of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) selected to slither down the rope from a moving helicopter in front of the Prime Minister on January 27 in New Delhi.
What is more significant this year is that the girls of the NCC have also been included in this event to celebrate Republic Day for the first time.
The girls- Swati Singh and Vandana Gupta (both from Jabalpur) and Padma Jagat from (Raipur) along with the four boys – Krishna Kumar (Jabalpur), and Harjyot Singh, Praveen Marscole and Deepak P (all from Bhopal) are excited about the practice. That is of course understandable.

Among the audience who will watch their well practiced feat would be President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani.
Apart from the cadets, their trainers too are eager about a good showing from their trainees. The entire NCC Directorate from Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh is keenly looking forward for Republic Day related event on January 27, 2004.
The team of seven cadets is put through a rigrous drill every morning by the Commandant, Brigadier Prabir Goswami, and Lt Colonel Yusuf. Ex-NCC cadet Ritu Raj Mate, an adventure sports trainer, also joins in the training.
Lt Col Yusuf says this will be for the first time that girl cadets would perform para-drop on a rope from a helicopter. “It’s going to be an exciting event,” he says, and adding that after they para-drop they would perform a war simulation to show the Prime Minister of the NCC could effectively be the Army’s second rank soldiers.
Brigadier Goswami, who had taken personal interest in the training, was seen asking the cadets as to how they felt after they finished their slithering down. The excited cadets replied, “Very good, Sir”.
The contingent will leave for New Delhi on December 29 where they will be given full-fledged training at the NCC camp. Lt Col Yusuf says that the next 25 days in Delhi will be crucial for these cadets who will have to slither down the rope from a moving helicopter.
They will be imparted training in how to attack the enemy after slithering down the rope with their weapons, adds Lt Col Yusuf.
For Mate this is the second consecutive year that he has been training the cadets in as many years of the event.
The cadets get tougher because he makes them climb up the wire pole and then slither down from a height of 60 to 70 meters, he says. He adds that this kind of training can be imparted only when one has already gone through such tough drills in his early stage of life.

Come R-Day, these boys will slither down flying chopper

This story idea was given to me by my good friend in Bhopal Ritu Raj Mate, who was training these NCC cadets in slithering down from great heights as part of their preparations to use these practice jumps from a chopper at the 2003 Republic Day Parade at New Delhi. Four NCC Cadets were hand picked to do this dangerous but yet fun jump from a flying chopper in front of our President of India and The Prime Minister of India. Ritu Raj Mate who was himself a disciplined cadet during his younger days was given the charge to give them the basic training to get the scare of height from their minds first. When he invited me two weeks of the cadets onward journey to practice on their real jumps from a flying chopper, it was exciting and also great to have a word with the future defense personals. I thank Ritu again for giving me another wonderful story.

Every morning four boys can be spotted climbing down the rope from a high tension wire pole at Bhadbhada dam like an agile monkey. No, neither the boys are into some kind of monkey business nor practicing any rope trick, so to say. They are the four talented National Cadet Core (NCC) corps selected to slither down the rope from a moving helicopter at the Republic Day Parade in the National capital. The boys – Ravinder Rajput, Anup Karmakar, Phool Singh Netam and Sheshnaryan Namdev look pretty excited about the practice. That is of course, understandable. For, among the audience to watch their well-practiced feat will be the President of India A P J Abdul Kalam, the Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
If the boys are excited their trainers and supervisors are no less so. Entire NCC Directorate for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is keenly looking forward to the R-day.
The four boys are put to a rigrous drill every morning by the commandant Brigadier Das Gupta (deputy DG MP & Chhattisgarh), Colonel R R Gadkary, Subedar D S Chouhan, Havildar H M Data Ram and Ex- NCC cadet Ritu Raj Mate.
Colonel R R Gadkary informed that this would be for the first time that the cadets would Para drop with rope from a helicopter. “It is going to be an excellent one.”
The contingent is leaving for New Delhi on December 29 where another 25 days will be more crucial training period for the boys.
The will start actual practice of slithering down the rope from a helicopter.
Ritu Raj Mate says that when he was a cadet he had had training in all sorts of adventure sports. He feels that the early training has stood him in good stead now that he is imparting training to these boys.

Training to be Gentlemen

This story by me was given to me by Ritu Raj Mate a good friend who used to train the NCC cadets in adventure sport. So when he told me the background of what all these students are taught apart from adventure, I thought this angle to cover these students some of them who have never eaten in a spoon or worn a tie would be a great story for the paper. So I quickly contacted the Commandant of the NCC for Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh and requested him if I could be allowed into their camp to write a story, for which re readily obliged in December 2002.

Each year, 110 NCC cadets (65 boys and 35 girls) from Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh are groomed to be sent to various friendly countries as part of a youth exchange programme (YEP).
The journey for these young goodwill ambassadors from cadets to officers is a long one. But at the end of it, the cadets emerge perfectly well-mannered gentlemen, groomed a year ahead of their passing-out by senior officers of the 4 MP NCC Battalion of Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh.
The cadets are put through their paces under the watchful eyes of DG MP & Chattisgarh LT General Das Gupta, camp Commandant Col Gadkary, YEP in charge Col MP Patil and Lt Col Ajay Dubey. The cadets learn everything right down to tying their shoes laces and minding their manners at the dining table.
The training starts for the cadets with learning to correctly pronounce difficult English words, geography, history, economy, current political happenings, religion, capitals, customs, languages and currency values of the countries they would visit under the YEP, says Lt.Col Ajay Dubey.
Adds camp commandant Col Gadkary “We teach them basic manners, the culture of India, interview techniques and above all, the word “truthfulness”, to ensure the cadets act like true ambassador of the country.
The day begins very early for the cadets, who also prepare for the Republic Day parade. In the afternoon, selected cadets gather in a hall to refresh themselves about the YEP, says Lt.Col Dubey. Here a few former YEP fellows lecture them about their experiences.
Cadet Captain Rashmi Agwekar, who visited Vietnam in September last, says it proved a wonderful experience for her. She says she came back with a lot of knowledge of the country and a horde of friends from there.
These cadets not only learn for their personal growth but for the overall growth of their school and college they represent, because they go back to pass on these tips to their juniors too.