It was May 2013, I had lost my chance to join the National Defence Academy and now I can only try after 4 years. That was too long a time to wait for a dream which I desperately wanted to live.
I made my mind to join engineering so that I can apply for technical cadres of Army/Navy/Air Force. I was in Kolkata, my home town and all the good colleges there were too expensive for my family to get my education done. So I started looking for a quality education either a good colleges outside Kolkata and my search stopped when one of my relatives staying in Indore told me about LNCT Group, Bhopal.
It was a stepping stone for me as LNCT Groupwas offering a scholarship on merit that time and with luck on my side, I made it to LNCT Group, Bhopal.
Being from Kolkata, Bhopal was a slight culture change for me, but that was maybe because
this was the first time I was stepping out of the comforts of my home, all alone.
But Howeverstrange it might have seemed to me at the beginning, LNCT Groupand Bhopal was soon going to be a life changing and indispensable part of my life.
Be it making friends from various parts of the country, learning engineering, organisingfest , participating in Debates, volunteering for NSS, everything was developing me personally and professionally, which I don’t think studying in Kolkata, staying with my parents would have helped me.
Those mid semester exams, those 75% attendance policies, that uniform (which seemed like we are going to school) were actually designed for inculcating a sense of discipline in the students and without doubt, that very well helped.
Days and years passed and we were in the final year, preparing for placements, though I had a different plan altogether. I somehow knew, I don’t want to settle for a 9‐5 Job, and the dream which was left unfulfilled was now igniting.
Despite that I appeared for placements of CTS, Wipro and Tata Technologies, opportunities which only LNCT Groupwas giving at that time, many of my friends and I made it to more than one company (this may seem overwhelming to many, but that’s true). But fate had something else planned for me.
During my third year, I had applied for the UES entry of Indian Navy and to my amazement the preliminary interview for that was going to be held in LNCT Groupitself. I remember the day, thousands of students across Bhopal had come for the interview. I cleared that and was then called for SSB interview at Coimbatore. It was December 2016, my dream was on the verge of getting true. Things fell right in place, all the preparations and all the sacrifices bore fruit and I cleared SSB for Indian Navy.
I remember I had called Anuj Garg sir and informed him that I would not be accepting the joining letter of CTS, and he supported in my decision. I remember the support my professors rendered on me. I would fail in my duties if I don’t mention my HOD Dr. Anil Singh Yadav, who was constantly backing me in the entire process, Mukesh Narula sir, who made me learn programming, Haider Ali Naqvi sir, who made sure I don’t lose out on attendance when I was appearing for SSB, Mukesh Sahu sir, who made sure that I never lose sense of ground, Sachin Khare sir, who taught me what simplicity looks like. I can just keep on taking the names of the professors, lab assistants and my batch mates and the list would keep on going.
Today, I am a Commissioned Officer in the Indian Navy, a rank bestowed upon me by the President of India, but whenever I look back, I affirm myself, that all this is just because I had the backing of wonderful people of LNCT Group and Bhopal who made me what I am today.
