The journey started when I first saw the movie border in 1997 and decided to become an army officer when I was just 8 years old. The interest started becoming a passion and I went close to the army more and more. At that time I didn’t knew about ssb and the selection procedure.
Then in 1999 the kargil conflict took place and it was the first televised war, but I was not mature enough to understand the consequences and the reasons of a war. I heard the name of the great captain Vikram Batra and after that I studied many books written on the kargil conflict. My passion for the uniform kept on increasing and due to this I served the Scouts and Guides and NCC for 3 years each.
Then I grew up went to higher classes and got the knowledge about other professions but at the back of the mind the passion for the army remained. I knew about the armed forces from a very tender age as my uncle and my maternal grandfather was in the Indian air force. During this journey I met the parents of shaheed captain Anuj Nayyar and heard about the bravery of their son in the kargil war. He was honored with the mahaveer chakra. This journey inspired me to apply for the armed forces after I passed out from the school.
I took admission in an engineering college in Jaipur and on the day when I was leaving for the college I received my ssb call letter for the army tes entry to be held in Bhopal. I was very happy and all the sadness to leave my house went away. I had to report to the selection center in October 2007, I applied for leaves and went to Bhopal with my father as this was the first time I was going out alone. My father stayed in a hotel and I decided that if I go out on the first day then we will leave together on the same day. I went to the center in the afternoon and in total 88 candidates reported, all the formalities were done on the same day and we were sent to our barracks. Then we reported on the next day for our screening test and in the afternoon the results were declared and I got screened in, total 25 got screened in. i went to my father in the evening and informed him and told him to leave as it will take 4 more days and I came back. The real selection procedure started the next day and for me everything was new and I decided to give my best and enjoy the selection procedure. The psychology day ended and we went outside to visit places in Bhopal and we used share a nice time in the barracks. Then from the next day the GTO tasks started and I felt as I was taken to a ground to play around and perform certain tasks as briefed. I started getting the feel of army and I felt as if I am leading an army life. I saw others performing in the GTO tasks and felt as if I am lacking certain preparation and skills. Then in between I was called for an interview in the afternoon which lasted for 45 minutes and this was the first time that I interacted with someone in a formal manner and spoke so much about me. Amongst all the candidates I shared a great bond with one of the candidate from Mangalore. So now the end or the conference day was fast approaching and I was very sure that I will not make it as some my friends in the group performed better than me so I called my mom and told her that I would be coming back tomorrow and my friend also called and said the same thing. On the conference day we were prepared for the results as nothing special was asked from us during the conference. After the lunch the moment arrived, I was tensed and then our GTO called out chest no. 4 and it was my chest no. I was shocked and didn’t know how to react and the next chest no. was 5 that were of my friend, and then the GTO said “only these two are selected”. We were looking at each other and also felt for the others. We went to the station with them and gave a small party and we came back and informed our parents. Then our medicals took place and unfortunately I was declared unfit due to an injury on the toe. I went back to the college and shared the experience and I also had to report for the AMB and RMB but didn’t clear it. I was disappointed as I spent around 3 months for the selection including the medicals and lost a lot of time for the studies and my university exams approached and somehow I cleared it and then I decided to apply for the ssb after completing my engineering. During my pre final and final year I got selected for the ues entry for both army and navy from the college.
Now I had to report again to Bhopal in January 2011 for the ues(navy) entry. Now the real struggle began, I got screened out and it was a shock, somehow I came to the terms and went to Allahabad for my ues(army) entry in April 2011 and their I was conference out. Now the things were not that rosy the way it was in 2007 and I started introspection of my performances. Then I cleared my engineering and my only aim was to get into the armed forces. I went to Varanasi in July 2011 after clearing AFCAT and again got conference out. Now my attempts were increasing and the credibility of my first recommendation was diminishing. Then I started applying for the TGC entries and went to Allahabad in November 2011 for the TGC-114 entry and again got conference out. Now the people around me except my parents started raising doubts over my credentials and wanted me to stop attempting. I never reacted to these concerns as I was confident that I have it in me, so my introspection increased further and I gained confidence.
I was preparing for my sixth attempt and went to Bangalore in January 2012 for the pc(NAIC) entry and got screened out and it came as shocker to me which I never expected after my performance, then in the same month I went to Bhopal for the SSC gs(x) entry and got conference out. At this point of time I started thinking about my future as I was already passed out about a year ago. So I joined a company and started working but when I used to sleep after my work they’re used to be many questions which I asked myself that how I lost my OLQ’s? Then what is going wrong during my attempts? Then a self-introspection of all the attempts individually and pointing out things which could have been better. In my free time I used to write down all the attempts in my diary and thinking about the GTO tasks, the interview questions and how to handle them and the approach for the psychology tests. After all I was determined to get recommended and wanted to prove my words. Then in the month of June 2012 I again went to Bhopal for the SSC gs(x) entry I got conference out but I saw an overall improvement in my performance and I felt as if I came close and missed it. This gave me an extra confidence to perform better in the future. As I believed in one thing that if I stop attempting I will never be able to join the armed forces. Now I became a veteran during the ssb and their used be very less candidates with so many attempts and I used to come under the category of recommended. After few months in November 2012 I went to Dehradun for the AFCAT entry and it went horribly wrong and I got screened out.
At this point of time I felt as if my dream was going out of my hands. Then I started getting sleepless nights and only thought about improving my performance and then I decided that I will write and speak the first thought that comes to my mind after the stimulus or the question or the situation and will record the original thoughts as much as possible without manipulation and without thinking about my previous performances. I also decided to be focused on each and every task equally and not to think about any other task or question while performing a given task. Then I went to Bhopal in the month of December for the SSC gs(x) entry and applied the same thoughts to the maximum and gave everything to each and every task and put myself on every situation and gave the answer which I could and would have done. In the interview I expressed the views which were there in my heart and talked freely without showing any signs of nervousness. Then on the day of conference I analyzed my whole performance and found myself confident. I was called for the conference and was asked few basic questions and I felt I replied well and impressed them, and then they gave me a situation and I answered it very practically according to my capability. Then the results were declared in the afternoon and the technical officer of the board announced the chest no. of 5 candidates and after such a long struggle I got to hear my chest no. on the final result again. I felt a sigh of relief and I got the feeling that “I proved my words”.
Then in the span of 15 days I went for the army SSC (tech) – 40 entry at Bhopal again. I just went back for one day to attend my sister’s reception and came back for the ssb , 150 candidates reported 30 got screened in. I got screened in and applied the same approach due to which I was able to give my best. Then on the conference day I was called and to my surprise my conference went for around 15-20 minutes where the IO and the board president asked me several questions one after the other and it seemed as if they were trying to check my response under pressure and consistency. Then after lunch the technical officer of 21 ssb board announced the result and this time only one candidate got recommended and that was chest no.21 and that was me. I felt as if the time was changing and my struggle was bringing light into my life. Unfortunately I have been declared unfit again for both the entries due to a dental problem this time. I am undergoing a treatment which will take around 1.5 years so this incredible journey still continues…..
So aspirant candidates should not get disappointed and should keep working hard until they reach their goal.
Author: Abhishek DasguptaAbhishek Dasgupta has given SSB 12 times and has been recommended 3 times.
My story is almost similar to you. infact its ditto.. i have got recommended thrice. Its been 8 attempts now..my next SSB’s are lined up back to back. Lets c whats there in the future , keeping my fingers crossed. Wish you luck.
u r simply great bro by reading u r story i noticed one point “NEVER GIVE UP”
your journey towrds armed forces is really uncredible….I don’t know how to express my view…..but I want to say one thing that u helped me a lot…thankuee Abhishek ji
Hats off to you Abhishek ! Yes I remember my 1st ssb , how can I forget u and CMD(chest no-5) . I was chest no. 14 ….
Really inspiring…Best of Luck….:)
FRIEND
i have one question about the medical procedure, do they conduct full medical or rejects a candidate after finding out one problem. And if former is the case then does this problem developed in consequent four years ….??
man……!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hats off………. JAI HIND….!! am 3 times conference out….. come on…… am gonna prove my self….. YES YES AND YES I CAN DO IT…………….thank you…. and JAI HIND
This is what we call HOPE NEVER DIES….Congratulations…:)
hats off to u bro..its really very inspiring for me…tanks a lot..
Which dental problem are you undergoing…..
malocclusion.
dude wat exactly the prob is malocclusion-2 or 3..??
each word is a golden for other aspirants n hats off to u bro for ur Incredible valour !!u r the real fighter,u will certainly accomplish ur target keep the same momentum ahead god is always with u…
GOD BLESS U BRO!!!
friend u r awsome, bst of lk, mine nxt attmpt is 11th, m highly inspired
same lines bro. two ssbs. recommended twice. 1st time merit out. lets see what happens this time
Brother one big salute to you………you have the true spirit of armed forces of never giving up…!!!!
really inspiring…great of your perseverance and zeal to serve for forces…you will surely make your dream come true..!! All the best….
i dnt knw y???//,,but after going thru dis article,,,i became so emotional…..can feel d pain,,!! in myfirst attempt i was also recommended,got 2nd rank in d merit too,,but wasnt able to join the academy because of one silly reason ,as i did my btech from EI branch,,it pains a lot… a hell lot infact!! i m not jus a btechpassout,i have got only limited attempt after dat i will not be able to gv ssb also.so trying hard for my coming ssb and i wish,,,dis time i surely make it to cheenai ota.
salute to u bro 🙂
congracts for your recommendation brother.. If u dont mind answering… Having filling in your teeth will create any problem during medicals??
thanks mohit….it depends purely on the dental standards, but according to me permanent filling is acceptable but their are some limits.
Brother i need u 2 cntact me.. At my id. Abhishekchaudhary23@gmail.com
I wil pray 4 u bro’ makes my eyes wet.. Bhai lga reh..
i m going 5 my 5th attempt for 10+2 Navy-tech and ur words give lot of motivation.Thanks bro,u r a true officer
i m going 5 my 5th attempt for 10+2 Navy-tech and ur words give lot of motivation.Thanks bro,u r a true officer
great journey bro….. i was feeling the same heat ,may be applying your approach prove vital for me
thankss
First of all let me tell you it is not only a inspirational story but also touched my heart
will you have chances left after 1.5 year bro ??what will be your age after 1.5 years ?
Regards
Amit Sharma
thanks amit….my age will be 25 years after the treatment………
Hes d man of honor.. Honor to himself and his dreams..hes our boy our frnd.. Luv dassi.. U rocked.. Ur struggle wont b useless u r a hero nd ull b a captain..
thanks a lot for these kind words…..but how do you know my nickname????
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ok report………….grt dedication…………….crossing all hurdles of life…..i need to cntct u
mail me ur no..plz at aggarwalmohit90@gmail.com
really,,,you are hero,,,