No, absolutely not, I am not going to bore you for the next 15 to 30 minutes, depends entirely on your reading speed. You would find plenty of experiences on SSBCRACK of course, so I just tried to deviate a bit, I sat on to write something related to my SSB interview and when I completed it, I gave a look at the bottom of the laptop, and I had already written 14 pages covering over 3300 words, no of course don’t go after the stats, just sit back and enjoy my journey…
“ Dear, Rahul Pareek, report at NSB Agrani, Coimbatore at 6000hrs on 05 may 2014”.
Yes I had received the call letter for attending the much awaited SSB interview for 10+2(Btech) finally. When everything goes fine, there is something which will try to oppose your flow, the same happened in this case and my externals were scheduled from 5th May itself. Now I had two options, attend the interview for getting into the life that I have always dreamt of or attend the externals. And then I thought, five ‘Fs’ in the mark sheet would not be so beautiful but if it is engraved on it for attending the SSB interview then it is quite acceptable.
5:08 AM, and 12626 Kerala Express reached the Coimbatore Station (2 minutes before time!!).
One more day, and the NSB correspondents will come and take us to the NSB. So had one day, enough time to use and explore the city, by then I had met three more SSB aspirants who were also there for the interview, we booked a room in a hotel, nearby to the station. We went through the city temples, restaurants to have a taste of the Tamilian food, as I always love to have a break from the routine food. The place was quite good, people too (please don’t raise your eyebrows!!) and worth mention Rachin, Saksham and Nitish made the pre-SSB day quite fun.
DAY 1
Sharp at 6 AM, the NSB bus came down to the Coimbatore station to take all of us to the centre. I roughly guessed the number of candidates arrived, they were around 100-150. Their faces could be easily read, as the next five days were going to decide their, I mean “our” fate.
Reached NSB Agrani, a formal environment started getting built up, may be because all of us were asked to immediately change into formals, luckily I was in it already. We were made to stand in a line by the duty CHM and chest numbers were allotted to us, I was chest no. 49, then our documents were verified and then we were sent to the dining room to have our breakfast. There I came to know that total 91 candidates were going to face the first stage of the SSB Interview, scheduled to be held the same day itself.
Gyan 1: Please do bring all your documents as mentioned in the call letter, to avoid returning back home, it really causes embarrassment.
SCREENING TEST
We were asked to stand in a queue and then move inside a large auditorium. There we were handed over the TA and the identification form, after which the Screening test started.
Officer Intelligence Rating Test
The first series of test that was to be administered was a verbal and non-verbal test collectively known as OIR. It was scheduled at 8:30 AM, the tests were quite easy and I was able to do 45 of 50 questions in the first half and 47 of 50 in the other. So the test was quite good.
Gyan 2: Do only those questions that you know well, don’t waste time on the questions that appear difficult. I did the same thing.
PPDT
After that we were briefed about the PPDT. The picture shown was quite blurred as I had read everywhere on SSBCRACK, you would not be able to figure out the exact image just use it to stimulate your mind and write the story in time, with a hero in it, mentioning the past, present and the future of the picture.
I wrote a story of a social worker who was helping the poor and uneducated people to get educated and be a responsible citizen of the country. Gave positive qualities of the hero, and concluded positively.
Followed by this, we were assembled for the group discussion, 15 in a group, we sat in the Ante room, in front of 3 officers, but we were asked not to look at the officers in any case. I was quite confident as I had already done some GD in my college and had a good command on English. First we had to narrate our story and then discuss on it. I narrated the story confidently with eye contact with all the group members. Then the GD started, I initiated it, appreciated a few chest numbers whose narration and story I liked, the discussion was really good as all of us were active in it except a few. Though we could not bring down a conclusion, but discussed well and were very near to it. One of the 3 officers ended the GD and appreciated it.
Gyan 3:
- Try to write a story related to your own life or the life which is very near to you.
- Be imaginative, add positive qualities as at the end of the day, it’s your qualities that you are tested for.
- In the GD, narrate your story, coolly and calmly, with proper English and confidence. Try to appreciate others, if possible initiate the GD and try to keep the GD cool in the house.
- Do not make stories confined to army, navy or airforce. Many did it, and it acted upon them negatively.
After having lunch, we were again asked to stand in the queues, as the result for the stage I testing was to be announced. I was quite nervous inside but confident outside, I really did not want to return back the same day and somewhere down I was sure, that I will get screened in.
“Gentlemen, here I announce the name of the screened in candidates of stage I.
Chest no. 16…
Chest no. 25…
Chest no. 39…
Chest no. 58…
Chest no. 49…
And yes I would be staying for more 4 days and the white pairs and formals would not be wasted. I was now chest no. 12.
Total 24 candidates were screened in, and we then assembled for a group photo.
All the screened in candidates were then briefed by the duty GTO about the do’s and don’ts that we have to follow during our stay at the SSB.
DAY 2
And here comes the psych tests, as these tests are conducted early in the morning, we woke up at 4:30 AM.
There was no alarm to wake us up, it was the duty of the one who wakes up first to wake others up. We were to bath in a common bathroom under 6 showers, it seemed as if we all are buffaloes being made ready for the morning milk.
After the showers, we had to wear formals ( formals were compulsory every time, except when we are sleeping..) along with our chest numbers and go to the dining room for having our breakfast. We were served with noodles along with bournvita. A quick headcount took place and we were taken to the testing hall.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
I won’t stress much upon what these tests are, as I know many of you know it quite well with details of time durations.
I just made sure, that I will project my qualities in every given chance. In the TAT, I wrote stories with practical solutions and qualities of the hero, I had already prepared a story for the blank one and thus completed all the stories in time.
In WAT, I completed all the 60 words.
In SRT, I was able to write 39 reactions only, but with proper solutions.
In SD, I wrote all the paragraphs in time.
I made sure, no chance is left untouched. Soon the psych tests were completed and we were asked to go back to our barracks back.
Gyan 4:
- Be as imaginative as you can, and give your first response always.
- Dont think much, write what comes in your mind first.
- Try to give the characters the name of your friends, it will save time.
- Prepare a story well before for the blank slide, with good qualities.
- SD is like a leaked question paper, so prepare well before, give balance between your good and bad qualities, giving weightage to good qualities. Above all be truthful, as you will be crosschecked by the interviewing officer related to the psych tests.
- In SRTs, keep the quality over quantity, its not that how much you do, its all about how you do. Dont just give reactions, give actions too.
The time for our liberty was 2.30 PM to 7.00 PM. Again we had to go in formals even if we were going for “Maal” seeing!!! The duty officer who administered our stay was a strict cum funny man, who soon became an entertainment mode for us due to his funny English.
“ Aye buddy, no one do unky-funky here now, tomorrow your GTO I day now, come in queues, go in queues, no unky-funky.. aye what now..”
His frequent uttering of ‘Unky-funky’ got him a name by us by the same rhyming words.
Soon all 24 candidates had become a good friend, to name a few, Rohit, Sreerag, Aman, Rachin (he made our 5 days heaven by his funny jokes), Clinton, Basil, Lovesh, Shivam, Akshay, Shashank, Yagyavalk and many others.
Many faced their PI on day 2 itself and few were left.
DAY 3
The same routine was followed again. All of us were looking sporty gentlemen in those white shorts and T-shirts. As advised by ‘Unky-funky’ we made ‘queues’ and head count started. It was GTO I day, so adventure and fun were guaranteed, but our fate played with us and it started raining heavily. It was for sure that everyone is going to get a tough time but still the Josh was on its height. We were taken to the GTO ground and asked to sit under a shed were 8 chairs were placed( 24 candidates were divided into 3 groups of 8) I was in the 2nd group from Chest no. 9 to 16. Our GTO turned up, a gentlemen no doubt, he introduced himself to us and asked us general queries about our stay. We then headed towards the 1st task of the 9 tasks of the GTO series, which was Group Discussion.
Group Discussion
In the GD I tried to keep my points clearly, did not dominate, appreciated others, spoke relevantly and encouraged the low speakers to speak and contribute. Both our GDs were good, even the GTO appreciated it.
Gyan 5:
- Its a common myth that if you initiate you get advantage, yes of course you get, but at least speak relevant to the matter, there is no point speaking rubbish just to initiate the discussion, of course it is taken negatively.
- Be bold, speak clearly, don’t hesitate, and remember the KISS theory, I mean Keep It Simple Silly.
- Dont over speak, let others speak, don’t interrupt if someone is already speaking, listen to them and then speak.
- And above all be cool and calm.
The same instructions follow for the GPE, and you have to be very practical over there, remember you are not a superman.
Gyan 6:
- In the PGT, be a team member, listen to everyone’s solution and if you are leading then implement the common solution, do not dominate i.e. let others give some ideas too. Remember team goal is very important in the GTO series.
- In the GOR, the same instructions follow, just be active and at the same time don’t suppress.
- Be supportive and a team worker and leader in HGT.
- Speak fluently in the lecturette, make eye contact, don’t elongate your talk unnecessarily, speak relevant points only.
- In Individual Obstacles I was able to do 8 properly, but then got exhausted. As it had rained, all of us struggled hard to tackle them, its unusual so be energetic and sporty.
- I followed the same things in FGT too.
After the completion of the GTO tasks, our GTO had a small talk with us, he briefed us about the conference day that was to be held the next day.
We then got fresh as we all had turned muddy in the quenched Coimbatore. As I was left with the interview, I was intimated to get ready.
Dressed in formals, and confident enough I took my seat at the Candidate’s waiting area, I tried to keep calm and cool, had my lunch already done and water to not to dehydrate me at least in the interview (of course that was not going to happen).
I had not prepared for the interview, but I was prepared for the interview.
The bell rang, I stood up, stood up my heart beats, stood up my confidence to take over the interview. I knocked the door, entered the room, a gentlemen was standing in front of me, the person who was going to analyse me for the next 45 to 60 minutes.
IO: ( with a tight handshake) Good morning Rahul, how are you?
Me: ( with a confident smile) Good morning Sir, I am absolutely fine.
IO: Please Sit down.
For the next 45 minutes he asked me questions about my parents, friends, education, my stay at the SSB, the friends I made.
IO: Where do you position yourself in your group?
Me: (after a pause of 3 seconds) At the top Sir ( with a smile).
IO: Okay, and who according to you should be the next?
Me: Chest no. 16 Sir.
I was confident through out the interview, I talked sense, spoke short but crisp. He asked me few technical questions too, some I answered, few I could not. I tried to project my qualities well in front of him, I just wanted to show, what I am, and nothing else. As I could imagine that a few days ago I just used to dream of this day, the interview, the entire SSB interview, hardly there had been any section left in the SSBCRACK website that I had not gone through, and now, I was realising my dream interview here, in front of a senior officer of Indian Navy, who a few minutes ago, had stood up for me, to greet me. Its passion, its zeal, its love, true love, believe me there is nobody in this world who can teach you or coach you to do well at SSB, because if you are taught to do something, its not your dream. And remember, If you are confident, passionate for the armed forces and really enjoy everything about it, then cracking SSB is like walking on a smooth cake.
In the night we were again debriefed about next day’s proceedings of the conference.
“ Aye buddy, make queues and koi unky-funky nai karega, ayei chest no. 7 idhar udhar kya dekhta, buddy girlfriend ko khojta hai kya.. so what now, tomorrow your conference now..” and thus went the speech of our dearest ‘unky-funky’.
That night those 24 pair of eyes slept with dreams inside, some where going to be reality the next day and some not.
DAY 5 ( The D Day)
All of us woke up late at 6 AM and much to the astonishment of all defence workers, finished our routine before 7 AM.
Dressed up in formals again, lined up for breakfast and then we were seated in the Ante room, our duty CHM came and tried to make the environment light by cracking some jokes.
We were taken to the conference hall, an elevated blue coloured rectangular huge container, from outside and a first class U-table with 12 chairs placed in the same sequence and a single chair placed at the end of the U.
I was made to wait for five minutes approx but it seemed 50 minutes to me, and then the ball rang, my heart started beating abnormally. My legs started moving towards the ‘Big’ gate.
I knocked the door and entered.
Me (to the president of the board): Good morning Sir.
IO: Good morning Rahul, have your seat (smiling).
Me: Thank You sir (with a smile).
IO: So Rahul, how was your stay at the NSB?
Me: It was fine sir, I enjoyed these five days a lot.
IO: How was the food here, any complaints?
Me: No sir, It was absolutely fine.
He asked me few questions that I was unable to answer in the interview and I answered them there.
IO: Any suggestions that you would like to give us.
Me: No sir.
IO: If I insist you?
Me: No sir, everything was really fine.
IO: Rahul, I am insisting you.
Me: I have already said this to the CHM that after every GTO tasks the candidate should be provided with light refreshments so that they could rejoice their energy.
IO: Okay, thank you Rahul, we will try our best to implement it.
So tell me any four qualities that you found in yourself in these five days.
Me:
i) Leadership
ii) Convincing power
iii) Power of expression
iv) Social adaptability
IO: This means you did not know these qualities before coming to the SSB?
Me: No sir, I knew it before too, just SSB gave me a better introspection in my personality.
IO: Okay Rahul, nice to talk to you, all the best (smiling).
Me: Thank you Sir.
After the conference we again assembled in the ante room.
The IOs came and briefed us about the selection procedure, and the same thing but in a different way was said.
“ I your mother ask you to buy fresh tomatoes from the market, but you find that only few fresh tomatoes are available and the rest are rotten, but in an another basket fresh apples are kept, what would you buy? Of course fresh tomatoes . So same is the case with us, we look for the Officer like qualities in you, when we find it, we take you in. “
It was consoling but not appealing, atleast not for me, who had already decided to devote his life for the armed forces, a U turn was not an option for me.
The officers went back, and the ante room, which once used to be filled with laughs and masti of the young gentlemen boys, now was filled with tension everywhere, dreams in eyes.
Then came the time for the results, a technical officer took the podium meanwhile my legs, my hands were near to unconsciousness.
“Gentlemen, here I announce the name of the SSB recommended candidates, the chest no.s does not resemble any seniority, please spell your name as your chest no. is called.”
Chest no. 3…,
Chest no. 5…
Chest no. 16…
My chest no. had already been crossed and my head had gone down. When came in my ears.
Chest no. 12..
“R A H U L space P A R E E K”
I spelled my name in excitement, and I was on cloud 9.. yes I had cleared the renowned and awaited SSB interview in my first attempt. The day which I just used to see in my dreams, I was actually realising that, Yes I had proved myself, YES I HAVE IT IN ME!!!
“If you have will, and you can put in your hard work along with your determination to realise the dream that you have woven in your eyes, the day would not be too far, when
YOU WOULD BE LIVING IT MY FRIEND!!!”
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About Rahul Pareek
I am a recommended candidate for Indian Navy from NSB Coimbatore.
About Shashank Shekhar: I have been recommended for Indian Air Force (All branches) and declared medically fit by AFCME.
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About SSBCrack Editorial Team
About Nomit Sharma: 
About Akash Sharma: Akash with his strong motivation and hardwork cleared the SSB interview and Medicals from Bhopal in his 11th attempt.
Author: 
