The pre – RDC (as the selection camps are called) started out sometime in April’05. It was an ATC (Annual Training Camp) for the Girls Battalion and shockingly (to me and others concerned) I was not selected for the next pre – RDC. I was devastated since going to RD Camp at Delhi was a cherished dream for me.
Fortunately, the next pre-RDC in May was again open to all interested and I got back in.
From there on, every day at every camp was a routine of waking up at 5:00 a.m., not having a bath or having a bath (cold water being the only option), falling in line (that’s the term to assemble) at 6:00 a.m. for the morning part of marching practice.
We would have about an hour to finish breakfast and tea (usually sticky upma or some such sad stuff). We could have a bath if we had the time / inclination.
After this around 8:00 a.m. we would “fall in” again for the selection March past.
Marching for at least 2 – 3 hrs at a stretch with a 15 mins break in between, the selections were torturous. We would be marching in the dry, hot weather of Hyderabad summers in May – June where temperatures would reach up to 43-45 degrees. Girls would faint and would be pulled aside.
Each ATC camp normally lasted 10 days. The Sunday that came during the week was a day when we could go home. This was the most awaited day during camp time since we would rush home to first go have a complete cleansing ritual – top to toe – scrubbing to remove the dirt, dust, grime of a whole week.
The first 1 – 2 ATC camps were battalion wise (i.e. Girls Battalion 1 – The Hyderabad – Secunderabad Girls Battalion). People selected from here would participate in the All Girls Battalion (from across AP). Further selections would be emotional for all cadets since there would be bonds formed, friendships forged within a matter of few days.
A similar process would happen for the Boys (Army, Artillery, Armoured battalions etc), the Naval Wing and the Air force Wing.
After the monsoons, from October onwards, the combined pre – RDC (all selected cadets from all battalions, all wings) would start.
Oct – Feb is considered to be the best months in Hyderabad but not for cadets sleeping in tents in an open ground. Our last few pre – RDC camps (combined ones) were held at Garrison Parade Grounds in Secunderabad.
We would be 12-15 cadets huddled inside struggling to wake up for the regular practice.
Toilets would be in the form of trenches dug in the ground covered by canath (tent cloth) on all sides open from the top. The toilets were a little distance away from our living area, so we would prefer to go with company – never alone.
If you thought, the camps were only about marching well, then that’s a fallacy. We had to everyday work on the line area (area around our tent), the Flag area (outside the quarter master’s tent), keeping our quarters clean and in shape for sudden inspection. There was never a moment of rest during the day. Evenings would be the time for cultural activities – that is a part of every contingent’s agenda and we had to put our best foot forward. People would try to compete to participate in this also, since the idea was that if I did not get selected in marching, I could at least go through the cultural route. We had a few girls (2 singers, 1 dancer) and guys (1 singer, 1 tabla player) who came to be a part of this category.
Apart from this we also had something called the National Integration Awareness (NIA) quiz. As a keen quizzer, I was a part of this and eventually went onto win the 2nd prize at the All India Level. My friend Janaki won the First prize. Of course this quiz did not guarantee our selection to the final RD nor did the Cultural – we were part of all things possible. It was only our Marching which took us there.
As one camp merged into another (Nov-Dec were continuous camps with just a couple of days break), the selection got more frustrating.
Politics overtook performance, favouritism edged out talent!
Friends who were good were pulled out, the not so good girls were retained (heard they sucked (sic!) up to the CO). Amidst all this, the fear of “what was in store for me” kept haunting us day after day.
Finally the selection for the girls had all been done but the boy’s battalion still had some reserves. We boarded AP Express on 31st Dec’2005 at 07:00 hrs in the morning filled with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm. We were shocked when we got to know that the boys in reserve were pulled out of the train in the last minute.
What would have been the feeling – I cannot even think!
