The ITBP story

When I came to New Delhi for my civil service preparation, I had only one place in mind to go from here which was Mussoorie. Duh, not for chilling dudes! Mussoorie, the Queen of hills and which also is the home to the grooming institution of the brightest of civil servants.  Well all right, I did manage to reach Mussoorie but unexpectedly to an altogether different world and a different academy. A midst my civil service attempts, I had given the lesser known CAPF exam also conducted by UPSC. And like others I was also enticed by the prize which was at stake-a gazette post of the Government of India. Henry Fayol listed “stability of tenure” as one of principles of management and surely it attracts quality even to this date. The famous 14 principles at work!

So here I was all set for this unforeseen adventure that would later prove to be very elemental to the way my perception of things would shape up. As I reached the gates of ITBP I saw a couple of guys wandering here and there and as confused as myself.  We were looking for the premier institute of national importance which trains the officers of ITBP and all we got was way way (the repetition here being totally intentional!) under the mark. To add to the misery, we had to take our luggage to our rooms by our own. Now this seems like a not-that-difficult a proposition. But when you have to climb mountains with that kind of weight, it becomes a little overwhelming. I was puzzled whether all this was because of the mismanagement of the institution or it was all intentional to acclimatize us for what was forthcoming.  And as I write this, I still have no clue. Perhaps no one has. But in adversities, there are avenues of becoming stronger. And this place was no different.

And hence I marched forward carrying about 40 kgs and consoling myself that it was ok and perhaps other things will be in place and of some standard. Yes, perhaps the accommodation would be awesome. Perhaps the sporting facilities would be outstanding. Perhaps the gymnasium would be world-class. And then I learnt the most important lesson of life, never to expect anything in life. As I wandered in that jungle..err campus, I couldn’t find anyone who would be able to tell me where I have to put up.  Then I saw this partially bald guy dressed in white who advised me to ‘adjust’ myself wherever I find space. He was quite mature and seemed like he has been there for a while. Possibly he was one of the instructors, I thought. In the next few days he always had ample stories to tell us about ITBP and how this training experience was going to be a topsy-turvy ride with an exhilarating pace. It took me a while to figure out that this guy was one of us, a trainee. But then he turned out to be a really nice and supportive guy to whom everyone would go when in shit. You know who I am talking about if you belong to 20^th AC Basic A/B batch!

So all set in the wilderness of the cold forests of Mussoorie, we were excited and disgusted at the same time. The zero-week began. The so called ‘initiation’ into a difficult daily physical regime. But it was ‘zero’ for just namesake. They made us run like mad dogs chasing cars for the very first day. And I vividly recall that I have never used collectively so many cuss words as I used on that morning doings push-ups on the spit-full roads of Mussoorie (Almost felt like transforming to Virat Kohli!). To top that, they made us run upto LBS NAA. There I was, physically drained and emotionally screwed looking at the dream. Irony is a bitch!

Going  a few steps backwards, before entering the slaughter Academy, I was confident enough that I would manage my preparation for mains while doing the training. I don’t know what gave me that kind of confidence and that turned out to be a nightmare of a choice. In a week I realized that I was loosing interest in geo-politics of nations as my physics and biology were going for spin in this arduous and grilling training session. Then I had a vision one night that these two things cannot survive together. Choice has to be made.  Choice was made. I am not going deep into the shits I went through to finally negotiate with the authorities to give me time to write mains and then I can continue with ITBP after that. But it happened eventually. I am grateful to the officers who pursued the case and made it possible.

After writing my mains, I was back at the academy but more as a guest this time as I awaited my posting to some battalion of ITBP. I had all the time to read and write at leisure meanwhile the rest of batch was undergoing severe stretches of physical endurance tests. To many it would seem that I was having the time of my life but the truth is that it was awful, real shit. To the extent of living in a jail. Without purpose, without direction. But the trainees of 20^th ‘B’ Batch had come very close to me and that was the saving grace, you rock guys! I would listen to the instructor bashing and all kinds of criticisms when they came back to the barrack. I sympathized and thought wow my ass just got saved from all this! They were all very supportive and I wish all of them all the best for everything. At the end, I would like to mention that even with the constrained resources, the commitment and determination of the training personnel stands out. You are surely creating tough, skilled and leader-like officers who would do great at the field level and make the country proud.

The next stop was 34^th Battalion of ITBP, sahasi chauttis, situated at a lowly place near the lowly town of Haldwani in the oh so beautiful! district of Nainital.  When I was told about the established battalions  of the force, I was told that they are beautifully constructed over nearly 100 acres of  land with high class accommodation and other infrastructure. And when I reached the place, it turned out to be an unit in transition. The dry run continues for my life it seemed. And this transition has been there for years. All it had were some unfurnished semi-permanent huts for the offices and with rest of the force living in tents. Looked more like a refugee camp where the host nation has decided to train the refugees in combat and use it for its own benefit.

But then surprisingly, all that never bothered me after I learnt more and more about the people there and the fraternity they share. As soon as I reached the Officer’s Mess area, I got an idea that an Assistant Commandant holds great value for the force personnel. Who would hate the idea of people giving you so much of respect and attention, but it did feel awkward. You get used to it eventually like every other thing in the world. Then I called on all the senior officers and found that all of them are from a generation above. That was discouraging at first but as I understood the dynamics of a government workplace and the vast experience that they repeatedly shared without hesitation, things improved and I got so absorbed that this concern never really bothered me. I was blessed to have a wonderful, highly experienced and welfare-oriented commandant (Sh. R.S.Vats), supportive seniors, wonderful colleagues (Dr. Dilip) and a highly motivated battalion. It was only here that I truly understood the sacrifices made by our force personnel as they stay far off their social circles and are dedicated to protect and guard our country in the most difficult of terrains. The induction training really helped me a lot to understand the problems of red tapism and other bureau-pathologies. This whole experience of coming around to know how a force functions has been truly enriching. People who work in the paramilitary and armed forces sacrifice a lot in terms of social capital and hence they deserve to be treated with respect.

 But now time has come to bid adieu. I acknowledge and thank all the officers of ITBP who have helped, advised and worked by my side. All the seniors too who have always shown the right path and guided me selflessly. I am proud of the work ITBP is doing. And the incredible commitment of the force eclipses all the shortcomings and I wish that the Government soon acknowledges the great contribution of all the Central Armed Police Forces and provides them enough to grow at par with others. As I walk away, I am more disciplined, ten kilograms lighter, slightly  muscular and aware of the nuances of Public administration.

Respect to all those people working in forces.

Special thanks to all from AC Basic 20^th A/B batches.

Bye, ITBP. Jai Hind!

P.S. For the uninitiated, ITBP stands for Indo-Tibetan Border force, a central armed police force which has the mandate of guarding the Indo-Chna border and also Disaster Management. To know more...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Tibetan_Border_Police

Modi: Reaching out to children and beyond!

On the dawn of the 68th Independence Day of India, we witnessed an outstanding roar from the red fort never heard before. We were really never bothered about the puppet whispering facts standing behind huge shields of protection. But this time was special, the Prime Minister was special. It was our beloved Narendra Modi for god sake. And the nation was not disappointed. In fact, it was way more than we had asked for. That voice, that energy and that vision...oh my god!

The nation was touched and felt proud of having such a man as our Head of the Government. And today we eagerly wait to see that vision come to reality as we move forward promisingly. And then recently he put forward his views of reaching out to all the children and teachers of India on the occasion of Teacher's Day. And the whole country waited again, eagerly and proudly. And at the end when it happened, we are clueless what to say of this man. We are so proud of our dear Prime Minister!

As we logged on to the television, we saw our Union Minister for HRD telling children a wonderful story with a lesson that learning is also a big part of the whole teaching experience and how our teachers must keep on their learning paths. As impressive as that story was the delivery and the texture of the language. She is a really good speaker, Smriti, let's see how she overhauls the educational framework in the times to come. And then there were couple of children with their energetic presentations but everyone really was looking forward to Modi getting up and conquering the dais. And then it finally happened.

He means business from the very first word he says and that tone continues till the very end. Modi talked about the sad reality of Indian society where the profession of a teacher is seen as a last resort by most of the people. They will try to get into every other avenue of employment and after exhausting all, they would start thinking about the possibilities of teaching. But why is that?. He tells us that the golden times where the teacher was the most respectful position has to be brought back into our times and rightly so. And a lot needs to be done in this regard.

Secondly, he emphasized a lot on the need to give special attention to the girl child and the urgent need to fill the vacuum created by the conspicuous absence of toilet facilities which are increasingly affecting their drop out rates. In one of the answers he argued that all must be seen as equals and how it is the responsibility of the teachers to address the special needs of the students and to include something for everyone in their lessons and lectures. Brilliant idea indeed. He went on to motivate children about saving electricity and conserving the atmosphere. He showed them the simple ways of becoming a good citizen and playing their parts in improving the status of the nation.

Modi also talked about how parents are responsible  to restrain their kids in certain domain. As soon as they are born, they are either labelled as an engineer or doctor leaving no space for free will. In this regard Modi warned parents against labeling their kids in any way. They should be given the freedom to choose their future. Modi also talked about creating a temperament in student so that they feel the responsibility towards their country. He illustrated by taking the example of a Japanese school where the student along with the teachers are responsible for the upkeep of the school toilets. That eventually develops a sense of responsibility in the students. Same must be replicated in Indian schools.

Then there were emotional and humorous moments as well when he talked about the mischief that children do and how it is very natural of them to do that. He went on narrating some of his own that cheered up all the little ones. And yes probably we would never have known this side of child Modi if not for today. Then on a deeper note, he gives a brilliant mantra. We should always think about what we want to do and not what we want to become. That would just mislead us. This clarity of thought has influenced me a lot and i am sure way too many people would also find it impressive!

Talking about his speech, one can easily see an altogether different approach from that from the red fort. This time the audience was different. And intelligently he had kept the speech short, simple and the tone and texture was entirely modified for the sake of children. In fact, he decided to give more time for the Questions from the students. And each answer he gave was so complete in itself. I wonder if we can write such answers in Mains! Anyways, another interesting thing was the use of video conferencing from various government schools. And the selection of places was also pretty strategic and correct viz. North East, South, Port Blair etc. The whole thing was pretty well managed. Kudos.

And lastly, the way he put forward that politics is not a profession and surely is more like a public service was legendary. Modi goes on to add that he feels that the whole of 1.25 billion Indians are his family and working for the benefit of these Indians motivates him a lot. And this is how public service to him is more like supporting a big family than a profession. And ergo he is always motivated to walk the extra mile. Ubercool. And also at the end he mentions that the whole idea behind this social experiment was to check the readiness of the networks to get connected with the rest of the country in case required, What a brilliant mind! To add to it, the terminal act to going among the children himself and asking them how did he do was epic, absolute epic!

So, i guess it is time to replace Chacha Nehru with Modi bhai  ehh!

I bow my head, to you, the legendary, Mr. Modi!

Ten books you must read!

1. India Unbound (By Gurcharan Das) BECAUSE this is the most lucid and crisp economic history of independent India . And it's not at all dull like all the other economic history books are. It contains the elements of Indian economy carefully grafted with a story. And at the end, it advocates a free market economy and you would find it difficult to resist.

2. Himalayan Blunder (By John Dalvi) BECAUSE this is the inner account of the war from the people who fought it and those who had seen it all through their own eye. People who went to the other side and came back.  What really happened out there? Why we had already lost the war before it began? It has all the answers to the historic 1962 Indo-China war.

3.Five people you meet in heaven (By Mitch Albom ) BECAUSE probably it might inspire you to be good while you are alive! We live in a world too involved in the instant gratifications and do not think beyond the horizon of life. We must think beyond and that would surely shape the way we act towards others.

4. Freakonomics BECAUSE in what ever amount we may hate the subject of economics but every damn thing in this world is based on that and the principle of supply and demand is ubiquitous. It is freakishly amazing how simple economic concepts explain a lot of complex things we do not understand.And this was the first time when I liked a book on economics!

5. India's struggle for independence (By Bipan Chandra) BECAUSE there is nothing like this gem on modern Indian history. You will find many history books but this one is unique as this has got a soul of its own. The way he has described everything takes you right in the middle of the battlefield and you feel like you are actually in that era. A must read for every Indian. And RIP the author!

6. Foutainhead (By Ayn Rand ) BECAUSE it's Epic, absolute epic. It's totally unbelievable that an author in the 1940s can write such a legendary classic in such an outstanding language which even the authors of today cannot perhaps manage. The characters created by the author would live with you forever and there are so many deeper connotations attached to every gesture that you cannot help but fell in love with it.

7. India after Gandhi (By Ramchandra Guha) BECAUSE it's the best account of post-independent India. Have you always wanted a single source of information and analysis to understand what happened to India after it attained independence. This is what you look for.

8. Administrative Thinkers (By Prassad and Prassad) BECAUSE every Public Administration student owes it big time! It is a great collection of legendary administrative and management thinkers and their fabulous theories whose application are ubiquitous even though we might not notice it every time. Administration and management are universal phenomenons that every one should understand and hence this book!

9. My Feudal Lord (By Tehmina Durrani) BECAUSE every man must read this side of the story! Born and bought up in a patriarchal neighborhood, most men have this dominating attitude towards every woman they know and every woman they come across. But you are not aware of what they see, what they go through. And ergo you must read this book!

10. The Alchemist (By Paulo Coelho) We all today are wandering here and there to look for something. We don't know what this something is. But we are very sure, more than sure that it is grand. This grand would seperate us from the rest of the world and hence we must find it and own it. But what if you already have it somewhere near you? You don't have to run here and there! A mesmerizing story that answers this question!

[Book Review] Steve Jobs (Karen Blumenthal) * * *

Steve Jobs: The man who thought different 

Author: Karen Blumenthal

My Ratings: 3/5

Well okay, this one is not the Walter Isaacson one. But not bad either man. In fact, to those who are not much into him or into the tech savvy world he belonged to, this one is a fast, lucid and short version of that perhaps.

I really loved the simple and lucid use of language the author has depicted. the flow created is amazing. Just simply amazing. The paraphrasing is good too. And as you proceed with it, you do feel that the author is toughing just deep to make you understand his world. Inch perfect perhaps. It contains all the information you should know and avoids the excess does which you don't. 

I would say it's a very good read and not just because it's about a great man but also because of the fact that it has been greatly written down. It's not easy to ink another persons life. But the book makes you feel otherwise. Few good lines from the book:

"You have to have a real single-minded tunnel vision if you want to get anything significant accomplished ."

"You playing is the best argument I have ever heard for the existence of God, because I don't really believe a human alone can do this" Jobs to an music artist.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

[Book Review] The Fault in our Stars * *

Book : The Fault in our stars
Author : John Green
My Rating: * * (2/5)

I do not know if the oh so conspicuous NY bestseller thingy had something to do with the weird sense of reading a very mediocre novel that i felt post reading. Plus, recently the adopted screenplay came in the form of a movie and that ultimately motivated me to pick this up from the stands. Generally I do not go with this genre as I always feel that I have already read so many of these prototypes and it would be only sheer good luck to find something new from it. But then why people are going so crazy over a possible "A Walk to Remember" rip off? I was sure it was not more than that. Oh hell, let's find out, I thought.

So, this one is about a girl Hazel Grace who is a cancer survivor and still needs to be looked after by her super-caring mother and moves around dragging oxygen cylinders in a cart. She is the one narrating and probably her style, wit and weirdness are the highs of the novel. In one of her Support Group sessions she meets this blue-eyed boy "Gus" and starts liking him as basically he is just too hot. Not charismatic or anything, but just hot. He is also a survivor and has long one of his legs in the process but apparently is NEC (No evidence of cancer) for several months. Going forward, ahh..whats the damn point. We know this shit right. We remember this familiar walk of life, don't we?

Yes Yes, they fall in love. Both want to avoid each other so as to bear them the pain of separation as both are very fragile and the cancer can relapse anytime. But then love is not something you can manage and make it dance on your whims and fancies. It has it's own destiny. And in time we do realize that these smallest of moments spent with those we love stay forever, even if we don't, even if they don't. And we are ready at any point of time to trade a long luxurious lunatic life with this ephemeral love affair. Oh yes, we can live with the memories all right.  But dear Mr. Green, this is not something new dude, we know this. Perhaps even the people of Mesopotamia knew this shit.

The author introduces the a new angle of this elusive author and his one-time hit book to possibly bring something novel. It sounds interesting at the first place and then you expect that this has something to do with this story. You start to imagine all the interpolations possible but end up really disappointed. Yes Yes, there is some wit scattered here and there but it's not much. Not enough to impress or anything. Plus, there are certain sections in the novel which are just flow-breakers. The description of two people playing a video-game would hardly interest even an all time gamer when he is trying to read a book staying away from gaming. Ahh, ironies of life.

The characters are also kind off weird and not the kind people would fall for. Very mediocre sorts of writing I would say. Overrated to be precise. The style has no unique feature or signature about it. Just another novel with a "bestseller" tag. Probably a result of good marketing. Surely not good writing.

At the end, after reading this, it feels that there was some fault in my stars that i picked it up!