Hello buddies, my name is Dhruv and I am from Rewari, Haryana. I recently(actually in August but was waiting for the merit list) cracked the SSB interview in my first ever attempt and got RECOMMENDED FOR NDA-143 course. I never actually prepared for the written examination ,as I was taking coaching for IIT passing NDA written was a easy for me.But I never had interest in IIT, I always wanted to join the armed forces but due to parents pressure I took the coaching and as a result could not score a good rank. Actually it was my THIRD SSB chance, I was not able to give the previous 2 SSB due to unforeseen circumstances. But this time I was determined to crack it. I would like to inform you that I have no one in my family who could guide me about SSB procedure, so I took help from one of my TES-42 RECOMMENDED friend and DEEPAK PARWANI bhaiya.These two people guided me through the entire process and I will always be thankful to them. Even my father was not sure me cracking the SSB without coaching ,I still remember he said “BETA GHOOM KE AAJANA, AGLI BAR COACHING LEKAR JAANA”.But I wanted to crack it in my first attempt and without any coaching. So I started preparation by nourishing my CURRENT AFFAIR knowledge. I used to make notes about everything I either used to watch from YouTube or read in the newspaper. I bought 2 books-“SSBCRACK’’ and “SSB INTERVIEW” and started practicing innumerable WAT’S,SRT’S,TAT’S. I used to send them to Deepak bhaiya for suggestions and he would use to tell me the areas I needed improvement. Even at night I used to send him my stories and bhaiya used to give his suggestions at that time also. I kept on improving my sentences and started practicing with time limit. Being a debater ,there was no shortage of self-confidence in me which was a plus point. I did not prepare for any GTO task specifically but watched some videos to get a brief about the proceedings which takes place. I prepared my self-description well in advance and took views from all my teachers, parents and friends. This was all I did for my SSB preparation but preparation is of no use if you do not perform on the D-DAY.
I had my SSB reporting on 20th August and SSB from 21st August because it was a NDA ENTRY. I reached the centre well before time along with my friend and roaming outside the centre for 4 hours. Then the bus of reporting candidates came and we all were taken to the reporting area for our documentation. The documentation process was smooth and I was given chest number 1 and wearing it gave me good feeling I do not know why. Then the next day we had screening ,I had previously practiced quite a few OIR questions so it was easy for me to pass through the OIR test. Then came the PPDT test as I was chest number 1 I narrated the story first and had an advantage of listening to other candidates stories more attentively. Our GD was smooth and I was selected to narrate the common story which I did with confidence. After that our screening result were told I was given the chest number 17.I was happy with my performance on day 1.The next day we had our psychological test as I had prepared for it in well in advance I was easily able to complete 12 STORIES,58 WAT’S AND 42 quality SRT’S.On day 2 also I was satisfied with my performance.
Then came the GTO TASK day. We were taken to the ground by the NCO and were divided in 3 groups. I was the first member in the group so I was the one who performed all the task first(still wondering if it was good or bad for me).I completely dominated the GROUP DISCUSSION AND GROUP PLANNING EXERCISE and was chosen to tell the final solution of GPE which again I did with full confidence but the assessor did not seemed satisfied. Then we had FGT and HGT both of which were not quite good for me, as the students who took coaching and came had better ideas so I agreed with their ideas. Then we had our GROUP SNAKE RACE and our war cry was “VANDE MATRAM” but I was the only one shouting the war cry all the way with only a little support from my group members and as a result I had a sour throat but was happy that I did the task with full “JOSH”. Then we had “INDIVIDUAL OBSTACLE TASK” in which I was only able to complete 8 but did them without any fear and with perfection.Then we had INDIVIDUAL OBSTACLE TEST in which I was only able to complete 8 but with perfection. This was our last GTO task on that day and we headed back to our centre from the ground. Our GTO DAY-1 was over and we headed back to our rooms. I was 75% satisfied with my performance .All my friends went around the city of BHOPAL but the NCO told me not to go because their were chances of my interview happening the same day. On our GTO DAY-2 we had “COMMAND TASK” in which I was given a moderately difficult task which I completed within the time limit. But to my utter disappointment nobody called me as their sub-ordinate in their command task. I was totally shocked and depressed by this because it will definitely affect my performance. I forgot about this and tried focussing on my next task which was “LECTURETTE” as I had participated in many speech and debate competitions I was sure of performing well and did that. My topic was “SPORTS LEAGUE” and I gave a good intro about the topic and completed it in style. Then we had PGT again the coaching guys took over and I underperformed. With this our GTO TASK ended and I was not at all satisfied with my skill display. The next day was my INTERVIEW and I was ready for it despite having a bad day at GTO. My interview was normal and was a mixture of personal and current affairs as I wrote my hobbies as collecting information . I was not able to answer 3-4 questions and told the IO that I will tell the answer in conference. I was quite satisfied with my performance overall but had a feeling of packing bags and booking a ticket. Then came the “FINAL DAY” I mean the “CONFERENCE DAY” I was made to wait 20 minutes before I was called and then I entered the room and saw a group of officers sitting in a semi-circle. I was told to greet the PRESIDENT OFFICER so I did and then came a flurry of SRT’S and I answered accordingly the assessor again did not feel satisfied and this time I was 199 % of packing up my bag. My conference lasted for 20-30 minutes and as I came out my friends started telling “TU TO PAKKA RECOMMEND HOGA” I just smiled and told nothing. After 2 hours we were called in the reporting hall for the result. The officer came with a file and gave a brief motivational talk and then asked everybody to guess chest number everybody ”CHEST NO 17 …. CHEST NO 17”(which was my chest number) and the assessors announced my chest no 17 .That feeling is not comparable to any emotion in this world, no other thing can give me the same amount of happiness as those words from assessors mouth while calling my chest number gave. I stood up shouted my UPSC roll no with all the energy I had and walked to the stage. Along with me 12 other candidates were recommended. So friends this was my first and thank god last SSB experience.
I hope that those reading this also go through this feeling someday and feel proud of themselves.
At last I would like to say “GIVE YOUR BEST,NO MATTER HOW MUCH PEOPLE TRY TO DEMOTIVATE YOU, REMEMBER PEOPLE ONLY CRITICIZE SOMEONE WHEN THEY KNOW THAT HE/SHE HAS THE CAPABILITY OF CONQUERING THE WORLD”.
ALL THE BEST TO EVERY SSB ASPIRANT.
JAI HIND!!!!!!!
