SSB at NSB-Naval Selection Board Coimbatore

Hmm finally settled down to write down my experiences about the ssb interview i had....

Somewhere in August..... Join The Indian Navy -Give Direction to Your Life......

I guess overviewing Lakshya... and other war movies like LOC-Kargil,Border etc... Sparked an interest in applying to the NAVY.. But Why Navy,,, It was for the logistics cadre,that too permanent...(20 years aaaram):) Besides i was not in that great physical shape... So thought this could be my best choice..

Somewhere in September....
Arrival of Subharanjan Panda son of Late.Col.M.Panda..
Col saab was a living inspiration to many youngsters.. When one of our batch mates ##Satwik could make it to the NDA with his guidance,, I decided i too 1 day would make him proud...
Subharanjan is trying high and low to use all his jacks to get into the Army....

Meeting with Major.S.Ranganathan @ CMP Centre,Bangalore
Major saab says that the armed forces adopt a free and fair... methodology of selecting candidates.. and that i being a complete civilian neednot worry and go and appear the ssb.

Well Well.. Bittu has reported @ ssb bangalore.. and i can only wait with baited breath ... for his results.. Day 2 - i am happy he has made it through the screening,,,, Frequent phone calls to him .... all evenings I get to knoe that he is having a gala time.. @ MG road nearby..

Day -5 Bittu calls me.. and i am all anxious... he says conference out,, and i am happy.. i think perhaps he is in.... I didn't know f all these terms the,,, He says perhaps he was a conference out candidate.....Anyways considering his level of knowledge i am assured that he will make it someday..

After few more days he reports to Bhopal for the TES SSB.... But again he's screened out :( That really made me wonder of the qualities lacking in him which i otherwise perceived to be apt for the FORCES.

He is kind enough to lend me his ssb preparation book called Arihant.. which is gonna be crucial for me in the later stages,,

Bittu leaves for Bhubaneswar... and i am all alone.. again in Bangalore....
Thoughts of preparation often comes....... and goes..
Arihant Begins:
Now i get a first hand experience from the book of what all the SSB is all about.. By 2-3 days i am all clear about the procedure,, and i really perceive it as gamble of luck + preparation.....
I started searching materials on the internet with some real good songs. in the background..(I am a guitarist u see) and to my dismay i find none..... my desperation.. even makes me find about it on youtube.. and to my horror i find.. funny videos about the ssb.. :) ( good fun though
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ILkB9n1FDeI And then this orkut community happens.. I find a bunch of intellectuals... sharing their joyous experiences,, on the various threads,, I must say this really helped...

Still more into preparation:
I decide to atleast put in some effort .. for the inteview.. and start reading the book everyday for 2 hrs.. and in the meanwhile collect some information on the NAVY from bharatrakshak.com ..
I prepared almost the probable questions that could be asked..... and have taken out printouts ,, for reading on the go,,. LOL...

Arrival of the telegram:
I am really charged up on seeing the telegram.This i thought was the first step... I studied the list of items to be carried along .,,, Tickets are made...... Chatting continues on gchat ... etc on ssb preparation.....

Departure:
Coimbatore is 7hrs away from Bangalore.. I decided to board the INTERCITY expresss @ 6:15 am... I was supposed to report @ 2:30 pm.... i anxiously look onto my watch... fearing the dreaded reputation out Railways have... Luckily the train is sharp on time... Laloo has really changed the face of railways.. After a few minutes.. an attractive..... lady asks me to help her with luggage.. and surprisingly in the 2s class f the railways... she speaks good english. we have a hearty chat..... i get to know that she's a call center employee.. gng home f diwali....Lucky me..

After a while i get to my regular dose of newspapers and outlook.. Which i continue for the entire journey.. regardless f the lady..... :)

Arrival:
Arrived sharp on time I must have never thanked any other politician in my life,, except 4 the rail mantri.. i had a chat with some of my future chest number friends......The bus is on time and we are taken to NSB Centre.. on time..


DAY 1:
We are made to stand in a straight line and to our surprise all our mobiles are confiscated ,, the guy in charge . keeps on shouting... in a high pitch,, note .I was getting a feel of life in the forces already.. I can hear the growls.. in my stomach, I had skipped my lunch ,, and these guys aren't going to serve dinner... before 7pm Mummy................

Meeting time:
Now we get to meet some navy personnel.. i expected to see someone in uniform.. but all were in civilian dresses..... After the welcome note from Commander Chakraborty we are made to fill in all sort f forms including the railway entitlement form,,,, In the hall we get to know that there are about 78 candidates in all.... 11 from B.com some from btech/BE B.A etc.... I also get to know the no attempts others have made..3 4 5 11 what the %^&* .. For me it ws now or never..... After all i had just come to see if i had it in me Rite ....
Allotment of chest numbers follows that.. I am no:48

After having dinner we all move to barracks.... i have a chat with my fellow mates.. and try to get a fair overview,, of the process.... hmm it's a tiring day and i go to sleep only to be awaken... by constant noise of candidates moving here and there...
DAY 2.
Anyway it's a early morning start.. we all pack our bags.. and get in front of the ANTE room... for breakfast.. The screening starts... It;s was a easy test though.. only problem was that of time hahahhah........ Both portions are over then it;s time 4 picture perception... it was a damn hazy picture.. anyways under proper guidance from my friends,, i was able to make out something postive from it.... hehe..
Then we move towars group discussion... It's a fish market scene,, everyone is busy putting forth their points,,,, I managed to stay calm.. i spoke about 2wice,, very politely intevening other candidates,, after all i am not a loksabha neta.. In the intial few secinds i start speaking looking towarsd the lady psychologist... LOL....then i turn otherside....

The situation was tense..... in the ANTE room.. i was worried too as i had not made my reservation for Bangalore.... We are asked to assemble in a straight line. and our chest nos are taken away.....

The an officer announces the results.... 1 -15- 49 oh shit i missed i was (48) -52-48...... I was on cloud 9.. I shout and say Ashish Dangua sir.. Roll_500100 Chest no:48...
I am alloted Chest No:15

First day is done.. all our mates were immediately sent off.. to the station.... 23 of us remain....
All of us congratulated each other ,, After that we were accomodated in 2 barracks..... the rest f day was of.. Most of them including me went off on sight seeing..
Sadly Coimbatore.. has nothing much to offer,, Neither pretty girls,No malls Nothing as such.. It was distasteful visit .. and i decided not to waste my time and money on it in the forthcoming days........

Day 3
It's written day...all those dreaded WAT SRT TAT etc.....it went on quite smoothly for me with my preparation and i was quite confident of my answers.. i answered 53/60 WAT 43/60 SRT....
Day is off at about 1 pm... again.. Some people have their interviews that day.Luckily we are informed that ours was scheduled the next day..
I get back to barracks and get on to preparing and brushing my current affairs knowledge... That night we had a good chat on the probable questions to be asked..... i was quite confident about my knowledge,, and skills except 4 i didnt know much of the recent Sub Prime Crisis.. and I was B.Com. :(
Day 4:
It's a nervous moment for 6 candidates.. in the waiting hall.. turn by turn.... i am in .. The president greeted me and offered me a hanshake,,, after that it began.... He was a true gentleman and made me feel comfortable...
He asked quoestions ranging,, from my academic to my parents, friends boss company details etc( i used to work for Hewlett Packard) what i was doing currently.. etc.. Boy Boy ...............so many f them...... Then he moved on the forces.. Aircraft carriers no of them.... Gorshkov deal etc..... i answered many of his questions .He was surprised @ my knowledge level me being a total civilian..... and aske me my sources of information.Throughout my inteview,i only anwered the questions i knew,, and didn't bluff...... Then he moved on to current affairs,,, ranging from US Crisis, repo rate ,reverse repo rate,CRR,SLR etc,,, Happening in neighbouring countries etc,, Throughout the process i could see him observing me carefully.. i had a bout of sweat in the AC room tooo........ At the end he asked my Why the forces... Other Options.. and qualities f a naval officer,,,,,, Luckily i was prepared 4 all these...:) thanks Arihant....

Day 5:
Early moring 05:30 hrs.. we are made to assemble.... we move on at about 6:30 hrs for the gd Luckily the topics are easy and we were given beijing olympics and india's performance and Current education system in India... etc.. It went on well.. then was the lecturette.. my toopic was Population Control . I spoke well with a good body language.. and ended in time...

Then was the snake race:never before i had experienced anything of that sort before.Our slogan was Bharat Mata Ki Jay.. It was very inspirational.. for a civilian like me.. i already was a soldier....:P.It was drizzling But as teh GTO said Rain can't stop us from winning a war... I slipped but was able to regain my balance.. also helped my fellow mates.... It went on well with minor injuries.....

Command task : was tough many of us couldn;t figure out,, LUckily the GTO helped us @ times.....We could do it afterwards,, :)
Then comes the biggest obstacle of all.. The INDIVIDUAL TASKS>>> Considering my not so robust phyisque I am doubtful of my performance.. Luckily i was able to complete 7 of the 10 2 i failed.. cause the ropes were slippery after rain.... i was quite satisfied of my performance...
Later that night we all have a good time... greet each other .Exchange email id's orkut id's knowing it could be well the last day for some of us tomorrow...... We slept late that nite... We had done our part..... Now was the phal ki chinta part.......

Our group ( 23 people) recommended candidates 15 & 20 

 

Day 6:
27th October 2008
Morning about 8:30 The conference thing begins.. Everyone is in air of anticipation.. I promptly put my ticket to Bangalore in my pocket. Not quite hopeful..... the train was scheduled 3 hrs later that day...
My turn comes... I am greeted by 5 officers... seated in an array.... i greet them warmly... have a seat and answer,,, the questions. ranging from best performance,areas of my improvement,rating yself ( i said 70/100) .

Results Room:
A attractive Lieutenant(lady) enters.... and starts the same age old .. kalam, shahrukh khan , akshay kumar stuff...... I hardly find anyone listening...... Then is the moment of triumph..... First name she tells.. Chest No: 15 WHAT THE FUCK THAT'S ME YAAR AND 1 OTHER GUY NO:20 Only 2 of a batch of 78 .. I couldn't be more elated that day... than any other in my life. YES I HAD IT IN ME that's what i thought to myself.. Greeting poured in from all over.....
i called my friends who were jubliated on my success.. We were allocated Red + Chest nos i was 1.Never before had a no sounded so beautiful... I had stripes in my thoughts... All our other 21 friends departed after congratulating me.. I really missed them.. Then it was part to medicals @ Wellington ooty for 2 days..
I was happy that i had done my part and my best..

What i felt about the SSB is that it tests u as a person.I am ASHISH DANGUA and that's the way it is .No one can be me And no one can be u... Individuality matters.. A good grooming.. good thoughts , effective intelligence etc are some of the qualities looked ...... I was glad enough to make it in my first attempt,a complete civilian,No coaching and NO JACKS :) An officer ( hmmm wow) Thoughts of a lovely date with a sweetheart emerged.. The day was pleasant,,, as never before

I would like to dedicate this blog to all my friends who were always with me @ all times of crisis.....Guys i owe u big time..... Thanks Subharanjan....Thank u all my fellow chest nos...

Dedicated in the loving memory of Uncle(Col.M.Panda)

Any comments or feedback are welcome

Will revert back as soon as possible
Ashish Dangua
ashishdangua@gmail.com