230 cadets graduate from OTA as parents watch from home

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:22.11.2020

An II Tian who left a well-paying job in Dubai, an army widow out to fulfil her husband’s dreams, a young girl from a poor family in rural Bihar — they were among the 181 gentlemen cadets and 49 women cadets who got their commissions at a passing out parade (POP) held at Officers Training Academy in Chennai on Saturday.

Parents, however, couldn’t pin the shining stars onto the cadets’ uniforms during the pipping ceremony as they were not invited due to Covid-19 restrictions. They watched the livestreamed ceremony virtually.

Amar Simha, an IIT graduate, said, “Before coming here, I was in Dubai, getting paid well. But I was sitting at a desk, working on a computer the whole day. I was gaining weight and losing my eyesight. The Army is the only organisation where you get paid to stay fit, and you get respected.” OTA has been seeing a trend of techies joining them in the past few years.

Meena, from Bhagalpur in Bihar, was happy to fulfill her father’s dream. “Hailing from a humble family in a small village, it was not easy to come up to this level. But my parents, teachers, friends all stood by me.”

Fifteen gentlemen cadets and five women cadets from foreign countries were among the graduates. Five gentlemen cadets and three women cadets hailed from Bhutan, two women cadets were from the Maldives while 10 gentlemen cadets were from Afghanistan.

Lieutenant General R P Singh, general officer commanding-in-chief of Western Command, reviewed the parade. In his address, he stressed on the relationship between emerging technologies and changing face of soldiering. “There have been sweeping technological advancements in the form of sophisticated weapon systems, electronic warfare devices and force multipliers which have changed the face of conflicts. It is necessary for you to know the changes and reorient your mind,” he said. He presented the sword of honour and gold medal to Varun Ganapathy, silver medal to Mahadev Singh Rathore and bronze medal to Patil Dhiraj Patangrao.