Hailing from different backgrounds, ethnicity, regions and having different languages, the young officers took a similar oath of serving the nation.While some Gentleman Cadets ( GC) were carrying the family tradition of serving the army forward, many others were from non army families.
Ayush Singh Rawat, a resident of Dehradun has been commissioned in 63-cavalry regiment. Speaking about his inspiration he said, “It was my mother’s dream to have one of her sons in the Army. I did my basic schooling from Brightlands Public School and then went to RIMC, Dehradun.”Saket Saklani, a resident of Premnagar in Dehradun has been commissioned into Sikh light infantry. Speaking about his family background he said, “My father was a Havildar in the Assam Rifles and from him I got inspiration to become an army officer.’’
On Saturday Rohit Singh Bhandari, a resident of Purola in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand became the first person of his village to don the epaulets of an officer.
His father, J S Bhandari died, when he was only two-years old. Speaking about being in Army he said, “I joined Air force as an airmen and after three years of service I got selected in the Army Cadet College.”
Amandeep S Manral, a resident of Pantnagar has been assigned Parachute Regiment. He said, “My grandfather was a freedom fighter. My father does farming in our village, but I always aspired to in Army.”
A beaming Anuj Sharma, a resident of Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh said, “I was a sepoy in Artillery and now through ACC, I’ve been again assigned the same regiment. I am the first Army officer in my family, my father is retired district officer and mother is a gynaecologist.’’
Grandfather of Sankalp Raj Bhalla came all the way from Agra in a wheel chair to witness his grandson’s PoP. Speaking about his grandfather Bhalla said, “He was in EME.
I was district topper from my school and during Engineering got many job offers with excellent packages, but it was my grandfather’s wish for his grandson to serve in Army.”Amarjit Singh Dhaliwal, a resident of Patiala in Punjab became the third generation officer on Saturday. His father is a serving Colonel posted in Jaipur.
His grandfather was also an officer in 17 Poona Horse and had participated in the battle of 1965 and 1971.
His mother is a teacher in Army school; incidentally his sister too wants to become an officer in Army. He said, “Indian Army is a way to live life. It is in our genes.”