Hello Friends! My name is Chandra Bhushan Kumar from Bihar. It’s all started on 1 November 2016 when I got the call letter from Indian Navy for SSB Interview at Coimbatore, I was very confident at that time but I got screened out, from that day my journey to become an officer in Armed Forces started.  I got screened out twice and conference out thrice. And then the day came when I got the SSB call letter from Indian Army and I had to report at Selection Centre South, Bangalore on 9th October 2017 at 1400 hours.
Also a few months ago I got the call letter from Indian Army for TGC-126 entry at Bangalore but I didn’t go because I had already got conference out from Allahabad and I was very upset. 

I make my mind book the ticket and on 7th October 2017 I started my journey to Bangalore and my train was 12 hours late after 44 hours of the journey I finally reached and luckily just before the reporting time. The gatekeeper shouted at me and told me to go to Reception for Document Verification. When I go to Reception I saw 208 Candidates already there standing in a queue for Document Verification. *I was stunned and control my fear and asked one of them “What documents we needed to verify”*because different SSB centers have different procedures. After spending 2 hours in a queue I was done with my document verification and we all have given a Batch no. N-STL/68316 and chest nos. My chest number was 115. After document verification, GTO officer came and give Opening Address and welcome all of us and allocated rooms for our stay. I asked one of the candidates ” How many Freshers, Repeaters and Screened Out are of 208 candidates?” He replied, “160+ Repeaters and 40+ Screened out and No Freshers” I was shocked and “What!! Really?”

Day-1
Next morning we have to report at 0600 hours for Screening Test which consists Officer Intelligence Rating (OIR) Test and *Picture Perception and Discussion Test (PPDT).
OIR test was little bit competitive because we have allowed only 20 minutes to do 45 questions and PPDT was easy and most of us had made the same stories.
Now it’s time for Discussion Test, the testing officers gave us sufficient time for narration but in Group Discussion we all made a fish market and after 20 min of narration and discussion, we nominate chest no. 118 to conclude our common stories. He narrated well and precise.
After Screening Test the time came for our results. Out of 210 candidates, only 42 candidates made to Stage-II.
I got the Chest no. 8 for Stage-II and again the GTO congrats us and brief the procedures for Stage-II.
We all are happy but we have to fill those 7-8 forms and PIQs which takes around 3-4 hours after then we have allotted new rooms for our next 4 days stay.
I started preparing for Interview and Lecturette because I know where I lacked in my previous attempts, I thanks the God for giving me the opportunity and go to bed and we have to report at 0730 hours next morning for Stage-II.

Day-2
Psychology Test
It consists of Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) where we have to write a story about 12 pictures and this time I follow all the instructions carefully and observe the picture carefully then I write the story and try to make a good and positive stories, and then Word Association Test (WAT) where we have to write a sentence on 60 words displayed one after another and I practiced a lot for this test and I try to make sentence which reflects my personality, and then Situation Reaction Test (SRT) where we have to react  in situations and write the action that came into the mind, this time I did only 53 SRTs and try to maintain my handwriting and complete all the action and at last Self DiscriptionTest (SDT) in this section we have to describe our personality, what our parents, friends, teachers think about you and This time I was prepared with my SDT so I completed within time.

Interview
When others are going for outpass I have to stay back and wait for my Interview but this time I didn’t study at last moment. I had already studied for my SSB and ready for all the Technical and Current Affair questions. 
I introspect myself, started taking responsibilities at home, change my daily routine, planned my timetable and eliminate all wasteful times and use those time in a productive way.
When I was in the waiting room I looked into the mirror and tell myself to be confident and be thoughtful before speaking. And then the CHM call my Chest Number, I open the door and wish the Interviewing Officer “Good Afternoon Sir” he came to me and shake hand and tell me to have a seat. 
I was feeling comfortable and confident, and he started his rapid-fire questions, I carefully listen to all of them and arrange in a sequence and answer most of them brilliantly.
He asked me some technical questions and current affairs. And again rapid-fire questions about family.
After about 1 hour of interview, I came out of the Interview Room and was very happy with my performance.

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Day-3
Ground Testing 1
42 candidates are divided into 5 groups.
My group members were excellent and competitive, I smartly snatch opportunities to show my skills and ideas, most of the members were agreed to my ideas which makes me confident and helps me to do better in next GTOs test. 

Day-4
Ground Testing 2
We have left only with Command Task and Final Group Task and by analysis the structure carefully I completed my task.

Day-5
Conference Day
The day came 14th October 2017. The closing address was given by Colonel where he motivates us to do better in our lives and become a gentleman wherever we work.
I was very confident that I will get recommend this time but the fear of conference was always in my mind. When Chest no. 9 came out of the conference hall my heartbeat starts beating like an engine and after 1-2 minutes of waiting the bell rang and I enters the hall and all the testing officers are in their uniform and their stars are shining on their shoulders.
I wish the Interviewing Officer “Good Morning Sir” and sit on the chair.
And then he asked me only 3 questions:

• How was your stay?
• What have you learned here?
• What was the result of your previous SSBs.?

I answer all the questions quickly and he wishes me best of luck and this all happens in just 40-50 seconds.
When I came out of the hall I was so depressed and started introspecting where I did the mistakes, and after 1 hour the result came.
The GTO came and said ” I will call the chest numbers and those who were called will come here tell your name and stands beside me”
And then he started…
Chest number 42…
Chest number 34…
And 
Chest Number 08…
I ran towards him and my eyes were full of tears and shout in bold “Chandra Bhushan Kumar”, stands beside him and my eyes can’t hold the tears and on that day 14th October 2017, 12:50 PM I learned that even a bold man can’t hold his tears when he achieve ultimate goal of his life, I was feeling numb. I hug everyone and they congrats me for my success.
I thanks the God for giving me the opportunity to show who I am.
I thanks my parents who always with me and have believed in me.
I thanks my brother who help me a lot in preparation and only because of him I achieve this.
I know my friends will kick me when they will read this because I didn’t tell anyone of them and ignore them since 2-3 months because of my preparation.
Thank you, everyone, who made my life beautiful and fill my life with joy and positive vibes.
– Jai Hind

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Hello! My name is SOUMIN KUMAR SADANGI from Delhi. Today, I’m going to share the best experience of my life i.e getting recommended for my dream institution, NDA. It all started on 17 September 2017 when I gave my first attempt for TES 38 Army and got conference out. Then I had an SSB for Navy 10+2 BTech which I could not attempt. My SSB for the NDA was on 28 September 2017, in the remaining time period from 21 September to 28 September, I made myself mentally prepared for the next competition through introspection.

On 28 September 2017, I had a different point of view from the last SSB. I was getting positive vibes that I will make it in this time. With all my dreams and passion I touched the Bangalore City Railway Station.

Day 0: Reporting

2:30 PM, The bus arrived to take us to Selection Center South. There were a total of 42 candidates on the bus. We were asked to show an ID card and got entry to the bus. I took the front seat and we all reached SCS at 3 PM. All the formalities started from there and we were set free at 7 PM after documentaion and form filling. Our phones were taken away from us and we all were sent to barracks for some rest. We, a total of 42, spent our first night at the barracks. There was a guy from Sainik school who was really funny. We enjoyed the first night by cracking some jokes, forgetting about next day’s nightmare, That night was legendary.

Day 1: Screening

So called the toughest day of all the 5 days at SSB, but to be honest, this time I was not afraid. We all reported at the testing area. My chest number was 5. The first test was OIR, since I had practiced enough for this test all the two tests of OIR were a cakewalk.

Test 2 was the PPDT, a picture is shown for 30 seconds and a time of 4 minutes is allotted to write a story, which is then followed by individual narration and GD. The picture was of two men discussing something. I wrote a simple story of a boy seeking help from his brother for clearing his doubts. During the narration, I had a really impressive narration, clear and bold. Next thing was GD since I was a repeater I was a part of the group of 8 repeaters( out of which 2 recommended) and 1 screened out, so obviously one can imagine the fish market. Seeing a chaos, the GTO divided our group into two parts. each group came to a consensus and at the end, I merged the idea of both groups and decided the common theme. And that’s when the GTO asked us to leave.

Results arrived, and 20 candidates were screened in out 42. My new chest number was 12.

Day 2: Psychology and Personal Interview

I woke up early in the morning and got ready for the first test of phase 2 testing as I had already prepared well for the psychology, the whole test of psychology series was really easy for me. In WAT, a word is shown for 15 seconds and one is supposed to write whatever thought comes to one’s mind in a form of a sentence. I attempted all the 60 words in WAT and done 49 Situations in SRT. I was able to write 11+1 stories in time. And in the SDT, which every individual has its own way of writing about yourself, I gave 2 points in favor of my personality and against in all the sections.    I was happy with my performance in the psych test. For the aspirants I will say writing mugged up ideas in this test won’t work. Giving an insight of your personality is what is expected.

After the psych test, I was asked to immediately report the candidates waiting for hall for Interview at 11:40 AM. I reported there on time and I was called for the interview at 12:00 PM sharp, as soon as the LED display showed my chest no. I wished the IO and entered the room. At the beginning, the IO asked me some really easy questions to make me comfortable. After some time he grilled me with a rapid-fire consisting of 11-12 questions( excluding cross questioning) about my education, family, friends, and future career options. I replied all the questions but got stuck in the last question about my alternative options. I gently asked to repeat, which he did. He continued to grill me with rapid-fire questions throughout the interview. He asked about diplomatic relations of India with other countries, about Rohingya people and recent Defence deals. At the end, he asked me about the efforts that I have put in to get there when I told him that I used to travel 40 kms a day to prepare for the NDA written. He seemed satisfied with my answers. With this the interview came to an end.

Day 3 & Day 4: GTO

GTO tasks are completely different from other tasks at SSB. The GTO series is purely based on communication skills and physical fitness. The day started with GD. In both the GDs I gave 3-4 valid points and most of the members of my group were convinced with my points.

In MPE( Military Planning Exercise), I was able to complete my individual solution within time. And in GD every member agreed with my points and 70 % of the group solution was in accordance with my view.

In the PGT, due to a different point of views, we got stuck in the 3rd phase. But I gave sufficient ideas in the PGT. In HGT, I was leading my team from the front with basic ideas and we completed the task within time. The snake race and the lecturette went well for me. In the individual obstacles, I was able to complete 9 obstacles in 3 minutes.

In Command Task, I was called by 5 members of the group as a subordinate. And my Command Task went brilliantly I gave my idea and the GTO asked me to leave. And in FGT, I performed well.

Here in GTO series, I would like to say that this very part of SSB depends on you here you should focus on your performance rather than comparing it with others’ performance.

Day 5: Conference – D Day 

At last, this day came where our fate was going to be decided. After the closing address by Deputy President. We were called one by one. The conference is the day in which a candidate’s fate is decided in front of the panel of Assessing officers of selection center. After some time, I was called to face my second conference of the life. The conference started with the meaning of my name, then about my experience at SSB. Then the President of 12 SSB asked to rate my performance. But then he asked me ” Where do you see yourself in two and a half hours?” to which I replied, ” wearing a medical chest number, calling my father, teachers, friends and my girlfriend to inform them about the good news”. Everybody laughed by hearing the word girlfriend. Then he asked me about my stay and any suggestions, which I replied, and the conference came to an end.

Now comes the most difficult part of the SSB, in which you can expect to find many of the candidates praying to god, with their fingers crossed. Then the Tech. The officer came and announced the result in a random order. In the beginning, he didn’t announce my chest number, I got horrified but at the last, he called out my chest number and asked me to spell my name. I was completely blank at that time but managed to spell it out in my second attempt. ” And that’s all”, he said. I cannot explain that moment in words, a complete flashback of my past came into my eyes. After 1 failed NDA written attempt, a lot of criticism from haters, 4 months of struggle,  1 Conference out, this day finally came. Two weeks before that day I was sitting at the Allahabad Railway station waiting for my train after getting confernce out, thinking and worrying about my future, two weeks later here I was.

Although the merit list is still awaited, I’m happy to find that I have those 15 OLQs( Officer Like Qualities) somewhere hidden in me.

So here is what I wrote on my medical chest number, a modified version of Captain Vikram Batra’s line, PVC :

Live by choice,                                          

Love with Passion,

Kill with aggression.

Future Sub Lt. Soumin Kumar Sadangi

All the best to future aspirants.

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