Republic Day fete at Rajpath: A dream come true

This Republic Day holds very special and proud moments to cherish for the contingent of contingent from the NCC AP and Telangana Directorate, for it won the prestigious Champions Trophy at the Republic Day celebrations-2021 after a gap of as many as 12 years.

The contingent also won the coveted Best Directorate, Best Marching Contingent and the Best Commander of the Contingent and the Best Commander (Prime Minister's Rally) awards at the prestigious Republic Day celebrations. The cadets brought laurels to the two Telugu States and were felicitated along with the senior officers of the Directorate by Governor Dr Tamilsai Soundararajan.

Every cadet of NCC longs for and strives very hard for a chance to take part in the Republic Day parade, in the presence of President, PM, three Service chiefs etc.

Senior under officer, Lingamgari Trisha, along with senior under officer V Nagaraju, received the banner of Championship from the PM during the R-Day fete in New Delhi. They say it was a very proud moment in their lives. "It was difficult for us as we could sense a tough competition, because there are seventeen directorates all over India. Seventeen directorates vied with one another. There were many events including all India best cadet, PM rally competitions, Rajpath competitions. We took part in every event and gave our best," said Thrisha.

Trisha, 18, shares her journey of NCC thus: "It all began during my school days. I started my NCC and earned A and B certificates, and now I am appearing for C certificate." She recalls she got rejected for A certificate and B certificate in school. Despite that she stood undeterred. "I never lost faith and I have been trying and am goal-oriented. The major motivation was from my parents, my teachers and friends." In our contingent they constantly reminded us that whenever one goes through tough times, recalling 'jitna ragda, utna tagda' would keep one move ahead, and I did." She said.

On January 26, she was placed in Rajpath contingent . She says, "it was an absolute proud moment to march in front of our Prime Minister, Defence Minister, and all the chief of Army, Navy and Air Force among others." Later, January 28, in the presence of PM, they took part in a PM rally. She stood in front in the guide file. "We always waited for this moment. We stood there remembering all our hard work for 2-3 months. A smooth sea never made a sailor. Each one of us in our contingent worked like special 26 during the pandemic."

As many as 16 boys and 10 girls represented the directorate and among the girls, based on performance of drill, command, strength and power, Trisha was chosen along with Nagaraju. "Everyone was doing their best, but we outshone all the other directorates because our contingent people were meeting all the criteria," she added. Due to the pandemic there were only three events, as against 26. Many activities including cultural activities, line area, NIP didn't take place.

Nagaraju joined NCC in degree because of my friend and and Lt Dr P Sateesh Kumar, who encouraged me to join. "By and large everyone's efforts have made us accomplish this and it was not a single person's work. A whole army has been behind this victory. "Throughout the journey, my sir guided me, made me learn how to properly march. We put in immense hard work day and night. It was a proud moment to represent our states," he says.