A mix of pride, enthusiasm, tears, and happiness was witnessed at the sprawling Somnath Stadium as the proud parents put epaulets on the shoulders of the newly commissioned officers at the ceremony.
The families of the new officers presented a motley mix of different social and cultural backgrounds and were proud to be parents of these fine young officers of the Indian Army.The Academy adjutant lt Col Sudhakar Thakur administered the IMA oath to the newly-commissioned officers at the start of the ceremony.
The parents and the family of the recipient of Sword of Honour, Bhanu Pratap Singh looked elated. Their joy was doubled by the fact that apart from being adjudged the best GC, Bhanu Partap was chosen to lead the Passing- out parade. Ram Avtar Yadav, the father of Bhanu Pratap, said that his son used to excel in sports during his school days and he had remained invincibly determined to don the military colours. An elated Bhanu Pratap Singh said that he had never wanted to a do a job of desk and is happy to serve the nation by joining the armed forces. The recipient of Gold medal in the overall order of merit Pawan Kumar Sangwan said that his father Dharamvir and mother Jaywanti had regularly motivated him to fulfill his dream of becoming an army officer. Incidentally, Sangwan was part of Ex ACC and had joined the Air Force in 2006 and ACC in 2011.
Saudan Singh, a constable in the Delhi Police, was on cloud nine to see his son Pankaj Kumar in the uniform of an army officer. A pass out from the Army Public School Hisar, Pankaj was the recipient of Silver medal in overall order of merit. Another recipient of silver medal in the TES category Prasanjit Dutta said that he had dreamt of joining the army since his days in the Army school Sukna in Chandigarh. He attributed regular inspiration from his father who despite being a driver supported him in his dream to his finally having become an army officer.
Harsh Mishra of Almora said that he had dreamt to become an army officer since his college days. However, he had failed in his previous two attempts. He said that since he had done his Bachelor’s degree in journalism he had been working as a journalist in a Delhi-based magazine. It was at that time that he had succeeded in his third attempt in CDS. An emotional Harendra Singh Negi of Dehradun said that his late father who was a Subedar in the army had wanted him to become an officer and he is happy to fulfill his dream.
Jitendra Dhingra of Kashipur could have easily joined business of his father Ved Prakash who is the chairman of Mandi committee of Kashipur in Uttarakhand. However, his single-minded mission to become an army officer materialised on Saturday. Sumit Saklani of Dehradun said that his father K N Saklani kept on inspiring him when he was disheartened on failing in his earlier attempts in CDS. Kamran Nijjar of Jullandhar in Punjab looked overwhelmed when he realised that he has got the unit of his choice, the Artillery. Interestingly, his father Brigadier K S Nijjar too has been serving in the Artillery.
The young officers were seen congratulating and hugging one another while celebrating their new status as officers of the Indian Army. Their joy was reflected in the audience too as it was found rapturously sharing it.