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PICS: Inside the world's toughest military camp - Rediff Getahead
Inside the world's toughest military camp, Rovers
National Defence Academy's Camp Rover puts to test the physical and mental endurance of 19-year-old cadets. Rediff.com's Cameraperson Hitesh Harisinghani and Abhishek Mande sneak a peek into what is supposed to be the toughest military camp in its age group.
We are walking along a fog-covered footroad not more than nine inches wide. The incessant drizzle has made the path slippery, and dangerous. One wrong step and we could end up in an 800 m deep gorge that stares menacingly at us.
Some of us are quite certain that we've lost our way. Yet we keep going, obediently following the map-readers who have led us to this path.
Sooner rather than later, a voice at the beginning of the single file we've been walking in, tells us to start walking back.
We were on the wrong track.
Slowly, we trace our steps back and reach the point from where we had taken the wrong turn.
It must have been quarter past 1.30 am when the last of us finally made it to the clearing. Most of us gave in and, ignoring all that slush we'd just walked over, simply sat down on the ground.
The hours between midnight to about 3am, I would learn later, are the trickiest of the day -- it's when you feel most lethargic and sleepy. The real challenge, especially during an all-night trek, is to get past these dark hours.
Now, none of these theories are of any help though when you have a 12-15 kilo backpack and a 3-kilo rifle and have slept barely for a few hours in the week before.
The 19-year-old cadets of the India squadron of the National Defence Academy (or NDA) are no exceptions. If at all, they are just boys -- some of them haven't as yet had their first shave -- trying to discover perhaps who they really are.
Right now though, they are lost, quite literally.
Camp Rover puts to test the bonds of friendship and camaraderie
From behind me, I can hear the beginning of an argument. One of the cadets has lost his cool. Another one is trying to shut him up without much success and a third one is trying to shut the other two.
The argument goes on for a while before sense prevails and everyone decides to take a break while the map readers figure out what road to take.
This is just the first night at NDA's Camp Rover (or Rovers as it is sometimes called) and the young cadets, battling sleep and exhaustion are trying to navigate their way to the base camp at Andgaon, a small village about 17 km before Lavasa.
Their day had started a little after 4am when they walked a considerable distance within the NDA's sprawling 8000-acre complex to collect their equipment and rifles and presented themselves before their commanding officer.
During the previous night, practically all of them have been up until late preparing for the long days ahead.
There is a reason why Camp Rover is said to be the toughest military camp in its age group.
For five days the cadets of the NDA trek during the nights covering over 60 km of gruelling terrain (if not more) on foot, each carrying an average weight of about 15-18 kilos on them.
During the day, if the extensive lectures and demonstrations on survival skills don't keep them awake, the punishments they receive if they're caught napping certainly do.
And yet, the physical strain is just a minor part of the whole exercise.
A cadet I spoke to pointed out that Rovers isn't so much about the body as it is about the mind. "At the end, it boils down to how far your mind can carry your body," he said.
Much before I trekked the whole night with cadets of the India squadron, I was told that one of the primary objectives of Camp Rover was to strengthen the bonds of friendship and camaraderie.
Barely hours into the camp, I saw for myself how these bonds were put to test. Over the days, I also witnessed how they withstood it.
Cadets walk towards the briefing point after an exercise
Commander Peush Pawsey looks into the distance. He stands solemnly at one corner of the firing range as two groups of cadets wait for their orders. On his right, another group is sitting under a tree at a distance.
Behind him are soft boards with maps, satellite images and a 3D map showing the terrain of the surrounding areas pinned to them.
At the other end of the firing range, a lush green hill rises behind the targets. Somewhere midway, a large part has been cleared and a message -- written in Hindi, albeit using the Roman script -- stands out: Ek Goli, Ek Dushman (A bullet each for every enemy soldier).
A young cadet, dressed in his standard combat uniform -- a green camouflage shirt and trousers -- a rifle, helmet a small chestpack and a backpack marches towards Pawsey. He halts a few feet away, salutes, hands over a piece of paper and announces that his squadron is ready to leave.
Pawsey looks at the checklist and asks the cadets to show him each item listed there. He accepts the salute, wishes them the best and watches them jog away.
Then he pulls up a plastic chair, settles himself behind a white makeshift table and buries his head in the papers before him.
This is how Camp Rover begins.
The obstacle course at Camp Rover
Pawsey is the camp's commanding officer. There is always an air of urgency around him.
Even when he is speaking to you, you get the feeling his mind is elsewhere, thinking perhaps about the next thing to be done, the next check post to be set up, the next radio contact to be made...
Like many of the senior officers in the camp, Commander Pawsey has a relatively basic mobile phone, which he uses largely to speak to his juniors he cannot reach on the radio. It's a no-frills machine yet it is practically welded to his hand.
When he speaks on the phone, his sentences are short and instructions precise and clear. But once in a while, on that rare occasion, his voice softens. Instead of his customary greeting -- a terse 'Ya?' he says 'Hello!' After this, he usually moves away, talks to the person briefly and then returns to the group.
As I would find out later, Peush Pawsey is as committed a husband and father, as he is a solider. How he manages to juggle these roles would however remain a mystery to me.
Soon after they arrive from a night-long trek, the cadets set up bivouacs which will be their homes for the next few days
Camp Rover is part of the fourth term syllabus at the NDA. It is the second of the three camps that the cadets should participate in before graduating from the Academy's three-year course.
The first camp Greenhorn is, I am told, a relatively easier affair where most exercises are conducted during the day with a somewhat less strenuous schedule.
Torna, the final camp is held at the foothills of the fort by the same name and stresses more on tactical exercises than testing the cadets' physical and mental endurance.
These are put to test at Rovers.
Soon after they arrive at the camp, a little after daybreak on Day 2, the cadets set up bivouacs, which will be their home for the next four days.
Together they work hard at making the barren land livable. If they were at each other's throats the previous night, they have forgotten about it.
Like most of the officers posted at the NDA, quite a few of the cadets I spoke to were first generation faujis, a trend that I am told has been on the increase in the armed forces.
Many of them come from small town India in the hope of a better, if tougher life.
Some like Aditya Kohale have been dreaming of making it in the armed forces from when they were very, very young. Kohlae knew he wanted to be in the army since he was 14.
Soon after he completed his schooling, Kohale went to the Services Preparatory Institute in Aurangabad where he studied for two years.
Then he appeared for the NDA entrance exam and failed.
Inside the world's toughest military camp, Rovers
National Defence Academy's Camp Rover puts to test the physical and mental endurance of 19-year-old cadets. Rediff.com's Cameraperson Hitesh Harisinghani and Abhishek Mande sneak a peek into what is supposed to be the toughest military camp in its age group.
We are walking along a fog-covered footroad not more than nine inches wide. The incessant drizzle has made the path slippery, and dangerous. One wrong step and we could end up in an 800 m deep gorge that stares menacingly at us.
Some of us are quite certain that we've lost our way. Yet we keep going, obediently following the map-readers who have led us to this path.
Sooner rather than later, a voice at the beginning of the single file we've been walking in, tells us to start walking back.
We were on the wrong track.
Slowly, we trace our steps back and reach the point from where we had taken the wrong turn.
It must have been quarter past 1.30 am when the last of us finally made it to the clearing. Most of us gave in and, ignoring all that slush we'd just walked over, simply sat down on the ground.
The hours between midnight to about 3am, I would learn later, are the trickiest of the day -- it's when you feel most lethargic and sleepy. The real challenge, especially during an all-night trek, is to get past these dark hours.
Now, none of these theories are of any help though when you have a 12-15 kilo backpack and a 3-kilo rifle and have slept barely for a few hours in the week before.
The 19-year-old cadets of the India squadron of the National Defence Academy (or NDA) are no exceptions. If at all, they are just boys -- some of them haven't as yet had their first shave -- trying to discover perhaps who they really are.
Right now though, they are lost, quite literally.
Camp Rover puts to test the bonds of friendship and camaraderie
From behind me, I can hear the beginning of an argument. One of the cadets has lost his cool. Another one is trying to shut him up without much success and a third one is trying to shut the other two.
The argument goes on for a while before sense prevails and everyone decides to take a break while the map readers figure out what road to take.
This is just the first night at NDA's Camp Rover (or Rovers as it is sometimes called) and the young cadets, battling sleep and exhaustion are trying to navigate their way to the base camp at Andgaon, a small village about 17 km before Lavasa.
Their day had started a little after 4am when they walked a considerable distance within the NDA's sprawling 8000-acre complex to collect their equipment and rifles and presented themselves before their commanding officer.
During the previous night, practically all of them have been up until late preparing for the long days ahead.
There is a reason why Camp Rover is said to be the toughest military camp in its age group.
For five days the cadets of the NDA trek during the nights covering over 60 km of gruelling terrain (if not more) on foot, each carrying an average weight of about 15-18 kilos on them.
During the day, if the extensive lectures and demonstrations on survival skills don't keep them awake, the punishments they receive if they're caught napping certainly do.
And yet, the physical strain is just a minor part of the whole exercise.
A cadet I spoke to pointed out that Rovers isn't so much about the body as it is about the mind. "At the end, it boils down to how far your mind can carry your body," he said.
Much before I trekked the whole night with cadets of the India squadron, I was told that one of the primary objectives of Camp Rover was to strengthen the bonds of friendship and camaraderie.
Barely hours into the camp, I saw for myself how these bonds were put to test. Over the days, I also witnessed how they withstood it.
Cadets walk towards the briefing point after an exercise
Commander Peush Pawsey looks into the distance. He stands solemnly at one corner of the firing range as two groups of cadets wait for their orders. On his right, another group is sitting under a tree at a distance.
Behind him are soft boards with maps, satellite images and a 3D map showing the terrain of the surrounding areas pinned to them.
At the other end of the firing range, a lush green hill rises behind the targets. Somewhere midway, a large part has been cleared and a message -- written in Hindi, albeit using the Roman script -- stands out: Ek Goli, Ek Dushman (A bullet each for every enemy soldier).
A young cadet, dressed in his standard combat uniform -- a green camouflage shirt and trousers -- a rifle, helmet a small chestpack and a backpack marches towards Pawsey. He halts a few feet away, salutes, hands over a piece of paper and announces that his squadron is ready to leave.
Pawsey looks at the checklist and asks the cadets to show him each item listed there. He accepts the salute, wishes them the best and watches them jog away.
Then he pulls up a plastic chair, settles himself behind a white makeshift table and buries his head in the papers before him.
This is how Camp Rover begins.
The obstacle course at Camp Rover
Pawsey is the camp's commanding officer. There is always an air of urgency around him.
Even when he is speaking to you, you get the feeling his mind is elsewhere, thinking perhaps about the next thing to be done, the next check post to be set up, the next radio contact to be made...
Like many of the senior officers in the camp, Commander Pawsey has a relatively basic mobile phone, which he uses largely to speak to his juniors he cannot reach on the radio. It's a no-frills machine yet it is practically welded to his hand.
When he speaks on the phone, his sentences are short and instructions precise and clear. But once in a while, on that rare occasion, his voice softens. Instead of his customary greeting -- a terse 'Ya?' he says 'Hello!' After this, he usually moves away, talks to the person briefly and then returns to the group.
As I would find out later, Peush Pawsey is as committed a husband and father, as he is a solider. How he manages to juggle these roles would however remain a mystery to me.
Soon after they arrive from a night-long trek, the cadets set up bivouacs which will be their homes for the next few days
Camp Rover is part of the fourth term syllabus at the NDA. It is the second of the three camps that the cadets should participate in before graduating from the Academy's three-year course.
The first camp Greenhorn is, I am told, a relatively easier affair where most exercises are conducted during the day with a somewhat less strenuous schedule.
Torna, the final camp is held at the foothills of the fort by the same name and stresses more on tactical exercises than testing the cadets' physical and mental endurance.
These are put to test at Rovers.
Soon after they arrive at the camp, a little after daybreak on Day 2, the cadets set up bivouacs, which will be their home for the next four days.
Together they work hard at making the barren land livable. If they were at each other's throats the previous night, they have forgotten about it.
Like most of the officers posted at the NDA, quite a few of the cadets I spoke to were first generation faujis, a trend that I am told has been on the increase in the armed forces.
Many of them come from small town India in the hope of a better, if tougher life.
Some like Aditya Kohale have been dreaming of making it in the armed forces from when they were very, very young. Kohlae knew he wanted to be in the army since he was 14.
Soon after he completed his schooling, Kohale went to the Services Preparatory Institute in Aurangabad where he studied for two years.
Then he appeared for the NDA entrance exam and failed.
