DEHRADUN: Never say die. That would be Gaurav Yadav from Alwar in Rajasthan, who won the coveted Sword of Honour and the Gold Medal for ‘Officer Cadet Standing First in Order of Merit’ at the passing out parade at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in Dehradun on Saturday.
Son of a small farmer in Jojor-Baas village, Yadav sought inspiration from his elder brother Vineet Kumar who is serving as a Naik in the Army after failing to crack the National Defence Academy exam.He learnt the ‘dos and don’ts’ in the NDA exam from Vineet and managed to crack that exam in his last attempt only to go on to win the President’s Gold Medal at the academy’s 143rd course last year.
Yadav told TOI that he was “determined to don the olive green uniform since class 6 after seeing the village boys running long distances to prepare for the army recruitment test.” “Before my last attempt, I had also cleared the IIT entrance test. I lied to my family that I failed in it and went on to join a college in Delhi University for a few months before finally tasting success at NDA. I told my family about the IIT results only after entering the NDA,” he said. Yadav would be joining the famed 1/11 unit of the Gorkha Rifles regiment to which Captain Manoj Pandey was also attached while making the supreme sacrifice during the Kargil war.
Among the other award winners were Sourabh Badhani who won the silver medal for the ‘Officer Cadet Standing Second in Order of Merit’ and Alok Singh who won the bronze medal for the ‘Officer Cadet Standing Third in Order of Merit’. The Silver Medal for the ‘Officer Cadet Standing First in Order of Merit’ from the Technical Graduate Course was presented to Ajay Pant. The Bangladesh Medal for the ‘Officer Cadet Standing First in Order of Merit’ from friendly foreign countries went to Sailesh Bhatta from Nepal.
Son of a small farmer in Jojor-Baas village, Yadav sought inspiration from his elder brother Vineet Kumar who is serving as a Naik in the Army after failing to crack the National Defence Academy exam.He learnt the ‘dos and don’ts’ in the NDA exam from Vineet and managed to crack that exam in his last attempt only to go on to win the President’s Gold Medal at the academy’s 143rd course last year.
Yadav told TOI that he was “determined to don the olive green uniform since class 6 after seeing the village boys running long distances to prepare for the army recruitment test.” “Before my last attempt, I had also cleared the IIT entrance test. I lied to my family that I failed in it and went on to join a college in Delhi University for a few months before finally tasting success at NDA. I told my family about the IIT results only after entering the NDA,” he said. Yadav would be joining the famed 1/11 unit of the Gorkha Rifles regiment to which Captain Manoj Pandey was also attached while making the supreme sacrifice during the Kargil war.
Among the other award winners were Sourabh Badhani who won the silver medal for the ‘Officer Cadet Standing Second in Order of Merit’ and Alok Singh who won the bronze medal for the ‘Officer Cadet Standing Third in Order of Merit’. The Silver Medal for the ‘Officer Cadet Standing First in Order of Merit’ from the Technical Graduate Course was presented to Ajay Pant. The Bangladesh Medal for the ‘Officer Cadet Standing First in Order of Merit’ from friendly foreign countries went to Sailesh Bhatta from Nepal.