I truly believe in destiny. Or else, how do you explain a small-town boy from Aalo in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh get through a competitive exam for entry to the ertswwhile Prince of Wales, Royal Indian Military College, now called the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Deharadun; that too, without any guidance or preparation. 
Every little detail of my trip to Shillong in the winter of 1973 to take the entrance exam are vivid in my memory. To begin with, it may sound whimsical but the truth is that the opportunity for a ‘trip to Shillong’ was the motivation for opting to sit for the exam, not having ventured out of Aalo, ever, till then. Also, I am convinced, it was sheer providence that the written question papers - syllabus unknown - turned out to be ‘friendly’ and the viva-voce, about which one had no clue whatsoever, went off without a ‘mishap’. I remember, when asked to explain the phenomenon of day and night, I was able to elucidate not only about day and night, but also alluded to the aspect of ‘four seasons’ for good measure. My lucid explanation, using the paper weights on the interview table as models to depict the sun, the moon and the earth was well received I presume, because the interviewing officers, six in all, nodded to acknowledge my response with warm indulgent smiles. And when I confessed during the course of my interview that it was actually the prospect of a visit to Shillong, and not necessarily the urge to don the uniform, that actually prompted me to take the entrance exam, they were probably scandalised! 
In hindsight, I wouldn’t be so stupid to make such a statement if I were to face the same interview again! Years later, when I had the opportunity to be a board member to conduct similar interviews, many of the young candidates often reminded me of the 12 year-old ‘lost case’ – I mean, ‘yours truly’- literally burning with a 102 degree fever – yes, I had developed high fever, looking like the proverbial lamb to slaughter! Would you believe that on my return to school, I had the gumption to tell Swami Kirtidanandaji, the school Principal then, that I would no longer be studying in Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) School since I was headed for Dehradun shortly! Confidence personified!?! Thankfully, the call letter arrived a few weeks later to announce my selection, and saved my day! And finally, my tryst with the uniform began in the spring of 1974. 
The arrival at RIMC was quite comical I recollect, because, for no good reason, it was rumoured that a tribal prince from Arunachal Pradesh was joining the school. So, there was this horde of school seniors, dressed up in proper ‘muftis’ in school ties, waiting to receive the ‘tribal prince’. Obviously, they were utterly disappointed to learn that I was just a common man! Since the spoken language of English was foreign to me then, they were mighty amused that a tribal boy from some god-forsaken leech-infested jungles of the north-east could speak fluent Hindi. Little did they know that this ‘junglee’ had finished reading the eight volumes of ‘Mansarovar’ by Munshi Prem Chand in the school library at RKM, Aalo prior his selection to RIMC; thanks to a selfless, dedicated and motivated teacher like ‘Gupta sir’ - the ‘achkan’ wearing ‘speco’ Hindi teacher from Lucknow - who imbibed in us not only the habit of reading but the love for the language as well.
 To my peers and seniors at RIMC, the Hindi songs I sang to prove my ‘nationality’ were a revelation too! I became an overnight ‘hit’ and had little trouble in settling down to life as a cadet. My initial ashram-like environmental upbringing at RKM, Aalo followed by a well-rounded curriculum in the haloed portals of RIMC, Dehradun during my formative years stood me in good stead and continued to inspire and shape my roller-coaster journey in the ‘olive green’ - that’s ‘Army’ for the uninitiated!.

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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