“The training here is one of the toughest in the world, but I wish it were even tougher because it brings the best out of one,” said a beaming Arjun Thakur, the recipient of prestigious Sword of Honour. Son of a college lecturer in Hamirpur Himachal Pradesh, Thakur had been admitted at the prestigious Rashtriya Indian Military College ( RIMC) Dehradun in class VIII. After which he had joined NDA Pune and completed his training at IMA with flying colours.
Thakur said buoyantly that the Indian Army binds the nation with its character being non-communal. Like Thakur , the recipient of silver medal, Gurveer Singh Talwar too has RIMC as his alma mater. He said that the regime here follows the rule ‘the more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war’. He also exhorted the youth to join the armed forces as it is the noblest of all professions.
While the gold and silver medalists had RIMC background, the bronze medalist Gurvansh Singh Gosal on the other hand had his schooling from Ropar in Punjab. He joined the armed forces preparatory school, an enterprise of Punjab Government, from where he received the impetus to join the Indian Army as an officer.
He said triumphantly that he has been commissioned in the unit of Sikh Regiment which had won the momentous Saragarhi war.