5th-gen officer to 1st graduate; stories of tradition, grit unfold at OTA parade

Chennai: From a fifth-generation officer Parul Dhadwal, carrying forward a 129-year-old military legacy in Punjab's Hoshiarpur to Varaprasad –– the son of Chennai daily wage workers who became the first in his family to step into uniform, the passing out parade of the SSC-120 and SSC Women-34 batches at OTA Chennai on Saturday showcased stories of grit and tradition in equal measure.Reviewed by Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, the parade saw 155 cadets –– 130 men and 25 women ––commissioned into the Indian Army, alongside 21 cadets from nine friendly foreign nations, including Uganda, Lesotho and Bhutan.For Officer Cadet Parul Dhadwal, association with the defence forces runs deep in the family. Her military lineage traces back to 1896, when her great-great-grandfather Subedar Harnam Singh served until 1924. Today, her father, Major General K S Dhadwal, and brother, Captain Dhananjay Dhadwal (20 SIKH), continue the legacy. With Parul's commissioning, three members of the family are now serving simultaneously, which is a rare occurrence. She was also awarded the OTA Gold Medal, presented by Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh.If Parul carried forward a legacy, Varaprasad created one. The son of two daily wage workers in Chennai, he is the first in his family to attend school and college. "Getting commissioned itself is a huge deal, but being posted to the Rajput Regiment where the late Major Mukund Varadarajan, a fellow Chennaite, once served, makes it extra special," he said. An economics graduate from Loyola College, he worked part-time to pay his fees. Though he received a fully funded PhD offer from IIM, he chose OTA. "Academia saved me once, and I will return to it one day. But I couldn't resist the call to serve," he said, expressing his desire to become a logistician in the Army's supply chain management.Adding to those whose lives were influenced by academia was Officer Cadet Priyanka Nilesh Khot. The wife of the late Naik Nilesh Khot of the Signals Corps, who died in 2022 after 13 years of service, Priyanka took her mother-in-law's support to teach at a village school. "Teaching changed me. It helped me heal and take on new opportunities," she said, with her eyes welling up. Later, discovering the Army's Veer Nari entry scheme for widows of soldiers, she chose to serve in uniform herself. The batch also featured stories of Debnath Pritam Prema, once a slum dweller from Sion, Mumbai, who took up more than 20 odd jobs, from mason to rickshaw driver, before wearing the uniform. Abhishek Sajwan, a former waiter from Dehradun, also marched next to him on the parade ground.Life at OTA is demanding according to cadets currently being trained. "The day starts at 4am and ends at 10pm, with practically no time to rest," said a cadet. "Mornings are for drills, afternoons for academics, evenings for games, and then more drills." The coursework for cadets spans more than 11 months at OTA, covers tactics, field engineering, and military history, alongside a packed schedule of cross-country runs, debates, writing contests, and quiz contests.