Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, April 29
In a rare instance, two twin brothers have been undergoing pre-commission training together at the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, and one of them bagged the top honours on becoming an officer on Saturday.
While Ajay Singh Gill passed out today to become a Lieutenant, his brother Arjun Singh Gill will pass out six months later. They hail from Pathankot in Punjab and after a tough childhood, emerged with flying colours.
Ajay Singh Gill was awarded the sword of honour and the gold medal for standing first in the order of merit in his course that passed out today. He has been commissioned into the Infantry’s Kumaon Regiment.
During those testing times their mother, who was working in Military Engineer Service, sustained the family. “Our childhood was full of challenges, trials and tribulations. I still cannot forget the nights which we as a family spent without a roof over our heads,” Ajay wrote in an in-house academy journal.
While their father kept shifting from place to place in search of a job, their mother was determined to send them to school and worked day and night to pay their school fees. At the age of 15, Ajay took up a part time job as a delivery boy with a pizza chain and started earning his school fees and helping his parents with household expenditure.
His teenage years have been quite different as compared to his course mates and other friends in school, as most of the time he was helping his father loading and unloading stuff on a pickup that he had purchased on load after quite a bit of struggle. There were days when he had to accompany my father on long tours.
According to Ajay, his father wanted that he and his brother don the olive green. He also wanted to re-establish his business in order to regain their lost status in society.
“My father’s dream for us and my mother’s encouragement and support continued to push and motivate me and my brother and we worked hard and always strived for excellence,” Ajay wrote.
“It was a dream come true when I joined the OTA and my brother followed suit in the next course. I am looking forward to becoming a professionally competent and respected officer of our great Indian Army, for which I shall leave no stone unturned,” he added.
The passing out parade was reviewed by General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, Chief of Army Staff, Bangladesh Army. A total of 186 cadets, including 28 from Bhutan, making up the Short Service Commission — 115 and Commission Short Service Commission (Women) – 29 courses, passed out from the OTA today.
The passing out parade also opened a new chapter for Indian women officers when for the first time, five women cadets got commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery, a combat arm. A total of 36 Indian women became officers today.