Sainik School Bijapur: Nostalgic memories of yesteryears.

Sainik School Bijapur: Nostalgic memories of yesteryears.

I am blessed to be among those very few privileged alumni from one of the prestigious chain of residential schools in the country - the Sainik School Bijapur. Very recently I joined the  ‘All India Sainik School Alumni Association (AISSAA)’ group, which has motivated me to write this post to introduce the Sainik Schools in general and the Sainik School Bijapur (SSBJ) in particular with special emphasis to our batch (1970-77) to other members of the AISSAA and to all others, through this blogpost.

The Sainik School scheme was launched by the government of India (Ministry of Defence) in 1961 to bridge the gap that existed in the rank of the military officers from  certain sections of the Indian society.  The scheme was conceived by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, with an aim to rectify the imbalance caused by religion, class, and creed among the Officer cadre of the Indian Military and to prepare students for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA). This scheme was a god sent scheme to most of the lower and middle class parents, who aspired for giving the best of education to their wards at almost no cost. I am one of the beneficiaries of the vision of Krishna Menon. My father, a primary school teacher, with a large family (seven children), could not have afforded education in such schools had it not been for the free scholarship, which covered all our expenses. During my time, when I joined the Sainik School Bijapur in class 5, in the year 1970, at an young age of 9 years, our education was completely free and we had a scholarship of ₹ 2400/- per annum, which was quite substantial, later it was enhanced to ₹ 4800.  Most of the Sainik Schools, during our time, provided 100% scholarship to the students who were selected through entrance exam. These residential schools were meant primarily for boys and aimed at imparting quality education with majorly military bias. 

Every Sainik School was affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi and had a common curriculum, system of selections and examinations. The primary aim of the Sainik School was to prepare boys academically, physically and mentally for entry into the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla (Pune) and also to be the leaders in other walks of life. Currently there are 31 Sainik schools in India where an estimated 3000 students join every year. Currently the entry into the Sainik Schools is through competitive entrance exams for admission to 6th class and few for 9th class. Every year, entrance tests are conducted all over India for entry into any one of the 31 Sainik Schools and over 8-10 Lakhs of children from across India appear for the Sainik School Entrance Exams. The premiership of the Sainik schools can best be seen when compared to the internationally acclaimed Indian Institute of Technologies - the IITs - in India. There are a total of 23 IITs and for the session 2019, they offered 11289 seats. The number of students who appeared in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for the entrance test for the IITs is around 10 lacs each year. 

It is almost 43 years since most of my batch mates (Ajeets of 1970-77) and I passed out from our beloved alma mater - the Sainik School, Bijapur ( SSBJ) - yet the bonding that exists between each of us, our school and fellow Ajeets, is so very alive, full of life - burning eternally bright like the अमर जवान ज्योति at the India Gate, Delhi. The  four plus decades of bygone years has never faded my memory of those seven eventful years that we spent together in Sainik School Bijapur as cadets. We - all Ajeets - experience this feeling of cadet comradeship each day every day and for eternity. Ever since my passing out of the school and settling down with my chosen career as a science communicator, I always wished to experience those nostalgic feelings at our school, house, barracks and every other place, which was integral to us for all of seven long years in school, from age 9 to 16. All of us joined the school at age 9 or 10, as innocent boys to be shaped and reshaped, polished to shine like the quintessential diamond that gets shaped, from the hard cuts and rough and tough polishing that the original charcoal receives before getting reshaped as diamond. The roll number that each of us, including yours truly, was assigned and so also the house to which we were admitted, when we first joined the school, gets etched for life and in my case the number 505 and Vijayanagar house, remains my Ajeet DNA code and identity when connecting with fellow Sainik School friends and so also with other Sainik school alumni across the country. Each of our batch mates are  in contact with each other and through this blogpost I am making an attempt to write reminiscence of the batch.

Just the feeling of writing a reminiscence of our batch takes me four plus decades to experience those nostalgic feeling filled with emotions, brotherhood, triumphs and tribulations cut across the vast canvass, as if our togetherness has never ended. Courtesy the technology platforms like the WhatsApp, the group is continuing to be well knit even today sharing and multiplying our joys and dividing our sorrows in the very essence of brotherhood, which the school has imbibed in us. That is what the spirit of Sainik School has always been and will continue to be so and it is this feeling of oneness that separates all of us - the alumni of the Sainik Schools - from many other equally reputed schools.

There will be stories that every batch from Sainik schools will have to narrate about their stay in school and so also their achievements  in their respective batches and our batch is no different. However, there are two unique things, which we feel separates our batch from the rest. The first of course is our batch mate Pradeep Bhat (roll number 500) who went on to break academic records wherever he went, be it in our school, the NDA or the IMA and subsequently in the military and so also while he worked with IBM. He is known to every Ajeet (all SSBJ students are referred to as Ajeets) and it is our privilege that we are from his batch and it becomes easy for our batch to identify itself with the batch of Pradeep, when connecting with other Ajit’s. While Bhat himself was an institution all by himself specially in academics, but then there are some interesting anecdotes, which Pradeep too must have felt embarrassed about. Although, he came first in all academics, most often the house that he belonged to (Chalukya) was infamously known for coming last in almost every event including academics, and every one of us - the  70-77 Ajeets - vividly remember the infamous announcement  “Chalukya House Fifth”, which used to be called out by our head master after each of the competitions.

The second uniqueness (infamous) about our batch, was that we were reduced from a strength of 96 strong, when we joined in 1970, to just about 50 when we passed out in 1977. Our batch, when it came to mischief and naughtiness, was no different than others but then what separates us from others is that even in the last days in school, notwithstanding the NDA preparation time or the HSC exam preparation, the mischief remained unabated with some unprecedented mischief played out in class X with catastrophic consequences. While the mischievous act in itself may have raised the bar of mischief to an unprecedented level, its consequences on the batch are best left to history. But then as they say in military “when the going gets tough, tough gets going” and so has it been for most us who are now very well placed and contributing in our own little ways not just to the school but also to the society.

There is another incident that needs to be mentioned for it evidences an indefatigable approach of the cadets - students of Sainik Schools. Almost every batch had the honour to partake in two NCC camps during our stay in school, outside the state and so was it for our batch. We too participated in the two NCC camps, one at Jagannath Puri and the other at Ramgarh Cantt. The former camp is something which will remain etched in the memory of some of us and this also shows the grit and presence of mind that the school teaches the young cadets to cope up with, when facing adverse situations. One designated railway coach was hired and was earmarked for all of us - including the teachers - for travelling from Bijapur to Puri and Back. We completed our NCC camp in  Puri (1974) and were to return back to school. We left Jagannath Puri along with our teacher, Mr G D Kale and our special coach was attached to a train that took us to Khurdha Road Junction from Puri. The coach got detached from the train in Khurdha Road and we were to travel to Hyderabad by another train to which our coach was to be attached in Khurdha Road Junction. We had couple of hours to spend at Khurdha Road by when our connecting train, which I now know was the “East Coast Express”, would arrive and our coach was to be attached to this train to take us to Hyderabad for onward journey to Bijapur via Solapur. All of us were informed by Mr Kale that we can roam the outskirts of the station and be back in 2 hours for taking the next train. But then mischievous that some of our batch mates were, they  did not abide by the instruction ( I was one of them). All but 3 students returned back in time and most unfortunately, our teacher forgot the count and the East Coast Express train departed from Khurdha Road for Hyderabad, leaving back the three of us. Lo and Behold, when  the three of us came to the platform, we could find neither our friends nor our bogey and we learnt that our friends have already left. We were all at sea and were left with just the uncouth NCC clothes,  which we were wearing (with the NCC and SSBJ Tag) and no money with any of us.  But then the rigours the Sainik school teaches to confront adverse conditions, came in handy and the three of went and met  the Station Master and narrated the entire story and requested him to help.

Looking at the demeanour of the three crestfallen young students and listening to their impeccable English the Station Master took pity and assured help. He decided to put the three of us in a train, which was to go to Madras (now Chennai) and that this train was to reach the Waltair Junction before the scheduled arrival of the East Coast train, by which our friends had all gone.  The station master had advised us that we should ask the TC and get down at Waltair station. He also had informed that our train will reach Waltair before the East Coast Express so we should wait for the East Coast train on the platform on which it would arrive. The Station Master personally waited for the “Coramondal” express to arrive and put the three of us in a reserved coach by connecting us to the TC. The East Coast Express by which our friends had departed for Hyderabad was a fast train but then the Coramondal express by which we were travelling was a super fast train travelling from Howrah to Madras. Our train as scheduled reached Waltair Junction (Vishakhapatnam), one full hour before the East Coast express. The three of us were waiting on the platform, where the East Coast arrived, and our overwhelming joy of reaching before our friends  was too short lived. As soon as the East Coast express stopped at the platform Mr. Kale came dashing with the NCC cane and spared no time in beating the three of us left right and centre, in front of all the on lookers. This is one scene which will remain etched in our memory. The lesson though was the rigours of school lets you overcome any hurdle. This positive attitude serves all Sainik School students very well in their career all through their lives.

The batch of 1970-77 was perhaps the largest at the time of joining (around 96), roll numbers beginning from 491 to 587. The batch consisted people from most parts of Karnataka, including few from neighbouring state of Maharashtra and a handful from North India as well. Our school was spread across a massive 500 acres and ours was the first batch to join the fifth house in school - the Wodeyar house. The other four houses included the Chalukya, Hoysala, Adilshahi  and Vijaynagar. Our school was witnessing widespread construction when we joined and most of the buildings were on the verge of completion, which included the Wodeyar house, swimming pool, auditorium, Gymnasium and the horse stable. Our batch was lucky that most of these facilities were completed and thrown open for use by the cadets within one year of our joining, enabling us to enjoy every single of these facilities from almost the very start of our school days. Our batch also had the highest number of sons/wards of the school staff, but not all of them were day scholars. Pradeep Bhat (Colonel, who is now settled in Delhi) Prahlad Subbannnachar, TV Rajashekaran, Milind Deshpande, Luke Lobo and Christopher Mathias.

While Pradeep Bhat is known to many for his brilliance, our batch also had couple of other geniuses who were unfortunately partially eclipsed by the brilliance of Bhat. They included Anirudh Gudi (Colonel who did his Masters in Engineering from IISc, Bangalore) late Lt. Col. Ajit Bhandarkar, (Martyred in action) and Vice Admiral Shrikant from the defence, and Sudhir Phadnis, Manjunath Tambakad IFS, Late. Dr. Sanjeev Kumar among the civilians. Our batch also had a unique distinction that two of our class mates were directly selected for the most sought after, coveted bachelors engineering degree in the IITs. Sudhir Phadnis joined the BHU (Varanasi) and Bilagi joined IIT Chennai. Our batch had entertainers, dramatists and singers that included the great Madan Kulkarni (now in USA) who is now a big name for organising the best of shows in the field of art, culture and music in USA. Others include Promod Deshpande (Wg Cdr.), Krishna Mardur whose voice regaled many and reminded of Kishore da, Satish Kavishetti, a master theatre boy, and quite a lot of story tellers that included Neeraj Roy (Colonel) who continues to practise it even today, Upendra Katti, Dr. Narasimha Prasad and RG Kulkarni. RG-510, was also a typical “Rancho” of “Three Idiots” fame from our batch who always loved science and experimentation. He is now a highly successful serial entrepreneur. We also had our own bunking heroes who mastered the art of bunking to see films and several of them succeeded many a times without getting caught and their leaders included Shirish Patil, Arjun Misale, Dr. B.C.Koti, Satish Kavishetty, Srishail Deginal, Chandrakant, Upendra Katti among others. There were pitfalls too in this misadventure and 10 of us got caught for bunking to see “Kalla-Kulla” and the rest was history with punishments that followed, which included among others shaven heads, no movies and rifle drills.

The batch had its share of excellent sports persons, (whose records, we understand, are yet to be broken in School) like Kalyani Biradar a truly masterclass sportsman, who continues to excel even today in athletics. Mulgund was another achiever in sports and he had the company of Ramdas Ghadge, who too excelled in sports often at the cost of studies. Then there were the naughty and mischievous types like Chandrakant, Pradeep Talikoti, Upendra Katti and Rajeskhar Gabbur. Achyut Tiwari, was a terror for juniors. We had two Prasad’s Narasimha Prasad and yours truly - Shivaprasad - the former is now in academics and doing exceedingly well and the latter, works for the Science Museums. We also had innocent guys like Milind, Masgi, Badami and others. The results of class X were one of the worst experiences for our batch with quite a few of our batch having to leave the school, as they could not make the academic cut to the 11th Standard. Rachappa Talikoti, one of those who left school at this stage is now a respected District Judge of high reverence, and Milind Kulkarni, rubs shoulders with the best of CEOs and is more in Germany and Europe than in India, to promote make in India. Basavraj Nagur, is with a gas company in Abu Dhabi. There are two Chartered Accountants, Mukesh who is now the CFO of a prestigious multinational company and Pradeep Talikoti, who is in to stocks and brokerage. I may have missed out listing the achievements of some of the friends but one thing is certain every one of them are fairly well settled, in the true objectives of the Sainik Schools. 

We had some excellent teachers Mr. PC Thomas (fondly nicknamed by us as Pinching Commander Thomas), Mr. Kesnur, Mr. Krishnaji Rao, Mr. Velu, Mr. Bhat, Mr. KS Rao, Mr. Shukla, Mr C V S Rao, Mr. Hiremath, Mr. Pathak, Mr. Nambiar, Mr. Balbir Singh and Mr.Pawar and D.P. Pushkarna, who taught us Hindi. The matrons also deserve a mention. Our batch has faced the worst of bereavements with our classmates Lt.Col Ajeet Bhandarkar, who made the supreme sacrifice for the country, Lt. Dileep, who too made the supreme sacrifice while on duty that too at a very young age of just 24, VG Nazare, MC Ravi, Sanjeevkmar Patil, NS Dhawalgi, Ramdas Ghatge and Basappa Sulibhavi abandoning us enroute their heavenly abode. We all miss them a lot.

In the true spirit of the SSBJ, our batch too has almost 20% of the Ajeets, who have served/serving in the armed forces in different capacities which include among others, Vice Adm. Srikant, Pradeep, Gudi, BJ Hiremath, Prahlad, Ajeet Bhandarkar, Kalyani Biradar, Mulgund, Chand Nadaf, Pramod Deshpande, Deginal, Ishwar Pavate, Rajesh Malhotra, Neeraj Roy, Raju Nadaf, among others. Quite a few of our friends are engineers and some in teaching, some have their own business, couple of the are working with major corporate houses, in legal profession, banking and so also in government service. Five of our classmates have settled in US and one has come back from US, after a very successful career. Like most of the Sainik school students, who are very successful in their career, our batch too  has been very successful and true to the objectives of the school they have turned out to be good citizens of this country serving the nation very well in some or the other capacities. 

As a mark of our remembrance our batch came together to construct a separate entrance dwar, the Ajit Dwar, in memory of our classmate Lt Col. Ajit Bhandarkar, Shaurya Chakra, who was martyred in service while fighting the terrorists in Kashmir. We were expecting our classmate Vice Admiral Srikant to scale the pinnacle to become the. His for the Navy but unfortunately that was not to be. He however went on to become the Commandant of the prestigious National Defence College in Delhi. 

 On behalf of all my batchmates I take this opportunity to place on record our profound respect to all our teachers and other stakeholders of the Sainik School Bijapur who have been responsible in shaping our careers and ensuring that all of us succeed in life. Long live SSSB and all other Sainik Schools and continue to shape men out of boys who can contribute to nation building.

AJEET HAIN ABHEET HAIN