The Navy decided one fine day, sometime in 2011, that handsome Captain RK Dahiya (my seven readers will know that that is me) was the most appropriate guy to commission (ceremoniously induct) a new ship for our Navy from, and in, Russia. Excited at this honour, and pumped to the…
Robbery at the Salon!
Though humans have always had a strange fascination for hair (You can read about my earlier article about this here), the Armed Forces care little for vanity. Consequently, having joined the Navy 35 years ago, I must confess that ‘salons’ were uncharted terrritories things for me. Haircuts in the Armed…
‘Cross country runs’ and ‘hell’ are surely synonyms
This post is dedicated to our dear departed course-mate, the ever smiling, ever positive, Joginder Chandna. Chandna was born to run and was, to my amazement, happiest when participating in Marathons, burning up the miles with his graceful and fluid running strides. May his soul rest in eternal peace. My…
What is the greatest equaliser? Try Naval life!
Having just been promoted to Captain in the Navy, I was called to Naval Headquarters, New Delhi for some work. Ordinarily, an official move such as this should be a smooth affair, with vehicle and accommodation being arranged by the Navy. Equally ordinarily however, the vehicle remains elusive. But surprise,…
Dishoom Dishoom
As I have mentioned in some previous posts, the National Defence Academy lays considerable emphasis on physical fitness. This emphasis sees the Academy organising a large number of activities such as PT, swimming, drill, troop games, etc. This post relates to Boxing. Boxing is introduced in the first term itself…
Who doesn’t like a good haggle? Indians certainly do!
India being yet, despite the recent spurt in growth, a poor country, her citizens love to get maximum value for the buck in all situations. None more so than when it comes to street shopping. This is one area where men have yielded the lead role to women/wives. Men are…
You think jumping is easy? Think again!!
I had made a passing mention of jumping from the 7 m boardinto a swimming pool inan earlier post here. Well, this post aims to delve deeper into this lifealtering experience at the National Defence Academy (NDA).To recap – The swimming test at NDA has two phases; swimming50 m and…