After the Air Force SSB, I had one week time for the next SSB, the Navy UES SSC. The recommendation in the Air Force had boosted my confidence & morale and my desire to give SSB(s) got intense. So for the upcoming Navy SSB, I prepared and made notes related to the technical questions, Indian Navy and its working, assets and about GK. I also did introspection, worked upon improving my negativities and weak points that came up during the Air Force SSB.
Unlike AFSB, here on the day I arrived, was just document verification and form filing. It is important to keep all your documents ready with at least three sets of photocopies of them along with forty photocopies of the passport sized photo (light & plain shirt, simple tie, nice haircut, smiling face, white background). After that, there was briefing; about the stay, dos and don’ts in SSB area, upcoming events starting from next day; by a dashing naval officer. I was awestruck by the fluency he spoke in. Anyways, after that refreshments are given (which is paid and it is better to remain hungry for a while for dinner).
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This time, the interviewing officer was the president of 33 SSB, Bhopal. I reported for the interview immediately after lunch but was told by the IO himself to come around 1730 hrs so that the interview can be started by 1800 hrs. I slept in between & reported again at the stated time. After waiting for some more time, I was called in. Unlike the environment inside the interviewing room at AFSB, the climate here was somewhat tense (to be frank, I was nervous). The questions were shooted at me in rapid fire manner. While answering, the officer dwelled deep into some more questions and then I continued answering the rapid fire questions. An awkward moment came when suddenly I forgot all the questions; silence of about thirty seconds, after which I started answering the questions which I could remember (later I came to know that I skipped a lot of questions). Then second part of the interview came in which I was asked technical questions, the first question being ‘Archimedes Principle’. Believe me ladies and gentlemen, it may seem to be a pretty easy question, but for me, it came out to be a tongue twister. I started correctly but with each word that came out of my mouth, I got confused and said totally wrong answer, I tried again but still with the same result. In between, I spoke some keywords like volume, weight, force which I could not able to correlate with the answer. Then the officer asked me what is the difference between mass and weight, then about volume, force and weight. I was utterly puzzled. Still I tried to put a brave smiling face and spoke whatever came to my mind. Being a computer science student, I was asked the question “what is bootstrap program and why it is called so”. I was totally blank and said something with a cheerful face to which the officer said “Don’t shoot shit and that too with confidence”. I thought that was end of my interview & my navy selection but then he posed another question i.e. “What is the use of the cell in the laptop or computer”, “What is CMOS & its use”. I was not able to give answer to any of these questions. He also asked me “Out of Air Force and Navy, which you want to join and what will be your job profile in Navy as an officer”. Honestly speaking, I did prepare about the Navy but forgot to prepare my job profile. Also as the interview was not going on the right path (path which I imagined), I, in order to please the officer, said I want to join Navy but then again went blank when he asked “Why”. Ladies and Gentlemen, although I had prepared a lot for the SSB but unfortunately I was not at all ready for such questions. It was a grave mistake (especially the one in which I tried to please the officer by saying I want to join Navy instead of Air Force without knowing why). The officer at the end told me to prepare these questions for the conference. After the interview, I was sad and was sure of not getting recommended. But I did not lose hope and noted down all the questions and their answers which I was not able to give during the interview. Later I diverted my attention by visiting places in Bhopal with my friends.
About Nomit Sharma: Failure’s not an option for a dream I wish to achieve. Resides in Himachal Pradesh. Recommended in Air Force, Navy and Army. JAI HIND.
