Swastish Pandey Recommended from SSB Bhopal for NDA July 2020

To be the reason of happiness for every one close and dear to you always feels special but along with happiness when you give them pride & honor then that kind of satisfaction and feeling is beyond words. Hi, I am Swastish Pandey from Amethi, UP, this success story interview experience was new to me but somehow I knew that one day this will definitely happen in my life and finally the day has arrived and I am going to share my entire journey. The moment my name was announced at the SSB centre my world completely changed not because I am going to be the next officer in the Indian Army because now I am going to give my parents much more deserving and proud life they deserve. 

Great at dealing with uncertainty and good at minimizing risk, my victory will set a platform for every youth stepping out after 12th standard. The threat every Indian citizen is facing today (COVID 19) could not fear me to achieve my NDA dream as the motivation and passion infused within me was high and untouchable. Success is important but due to COVID when things were not in favour I remained calm, composed and focused completely on my aim, the direct hit simply showed everyone that when obstacles arise change your direction to reach your goal but do not change your decision to get there like. The final win with 97% ISC board exam and NDA SSB recommendation from 20 SSB Board Bhopal made me the reason of happiness and joy to everyone.

64 Reported 18 Screened In 4 Recommended at NDA -144 Batch where I nailed to my victory throne and made it clear that a difficult time can be more readily endured if we retain the conviction that our existence holds a purpose – a cause to pursue, a dream to fulfill, and a goal to achieve. The admirer of my life is father, Kaushlendra Pandey, a Government Primary School teacher who never let me stop and think about devastating circumstances around any day. I grew up in an educational atmosphere that tracked me to score 97% in Intermediate standard from City Montessori School and made me convenient & flexible to all the circumstances in my life. 

Ambitious and high-spirited life since school days while performing in the school 5 times at Republic day parade with the Gorkha regiment Bagpipe band at the police line gives me more excitement, fighting spirit and infected me with an immense patriotism and eagerness to join Indian Army. Perfect mix of studies and aim for defence under uncle & cousin from Punjab regiment greatly put an influential impact on my mind.

The journey for NDA written and SSB preparation started with NDA Foundation Batch at Centurion Defence Academy, one of the leading defence institute in North India. The whole CDA learning experience was a treat for any learner who wanted sure success under expert guidance and motivation from the living legends of the Indian Forces, CDA is the best place for living and achieving your dream. Premier coaching known for its tremendous results and mentor guidance gave him the urge to conquer his passion. Making it a perfect victory I achieved it for everyone close and for the nation, I am dreaming to join one day i.e. the 12th battalion of Para Special Forces, The dirty dozens.

With CDA I started preparation for NDA written exam focusing together on board exams as well as NDA exam at the same time. I strategized to dominate Maths, English, Physics and Chemistry in written exams. Sincerity and perseverance thrust upon and made it perfect when arrow hit the target at the right place i.e. NDA and 12th Board.

CDA is a brand in defence education, and Sir Shishir Dixit Founder Director of CDA maintains its trademark, I dedicated immensely in SSB preparation from CDA under the experts of Psychology - Air Veteran Shishir Dixit, Interview Expert -Major Nasreen Fatima (Sq Ldr Rtd), GTO Expert - Col Pramod (Retd) and English Expert - Aditya Dubey.

Strong and healthy mind encourages to always be ready and targeted towards SSB grilling tests and questions. On Reporting date 19 July, 2020 several thoughts propelled in my mind but when tasks started nothing could stop me. The best performance I particularly like to mention is that I spoke 9 times in GD, 90+ /100 in OIR, 45/60 SRTs. The most important Psychology tips by Shishir Sir I kept in my mind and tips that I would like to share with every defence aspirant are:
1.100 words ideal in TAT
2. Look up for social problems like pollution, unemployment on google and mould your story around it.
3. Most detailed and realistic hero intro in TAT
4. Action oriented story, as practical as possible.
5. Make the hero first, then make him work under a higher authority.
6. Relate to real life in WAT.
7. Keywords in SRT and dos and don'ts in WAT
8.12th story must be the reincarnation of PIQ and max OLQs.
9. Sir assesses the SD of every candidate himself.
10. Actions as per our age, entry and status will make them practical and acceptable by psychologists.

SSB Interview aims with passion & actions make me ready all the time. SSB preparation from the help of Shishir Sir, I managed almost all pics for TAT which were available online, daily solved OIR, practiced spoken english daily for 2.5 hours before mirror, wrote down answers to all interview CIQ questions and recorded them. Used to listen to it in my free time, did regular reading of newspapers and watched Stand up comedy for exuberance and fun.

The overall SSB experience was fantastic, perfect food, very helpful ground staff, wonderful boys and an honor to be assessed by such senior officers. The 5 days SSB Bhopal centre was memorable and challenging at the same time.

 
SSB day wise:
 

1st day: OIR and PPDT. I did my narration well and spoke 9 times in GD. I gave the final story and prevented the group from washing out. Did 90+ /100 in OIR.
 

Day 2: Psych test. All 11 pics were previously practiced by me and checked by Shishir sir. So I did not have to waste 30 secs of time in exploring the photo. I did all WATs and 45/60 SRT. It was fabulous. The same day I had my interview. Most questions were from Mathematics, 2 from GK, 2 from computer and allied topics. No technical questions. I had learnt the CIQs before going, so I could answer them in order, confidently. Even asked the interviewer 1 question when asked if I wanted to.

Day 3: GTO was the one to initiate GD 1,GD 2, GPE. Spoke 9+ times, both in GD 1 and 2, in GOR, we won and I led the group. In PGT, I was leading, and took all the brilliant candidates to my help. To lead and to try to get the whole group recommended was the strategy. That's why 3/7 were recommended from our group, while 1/7 from the other.
 

DAY 4: I was given the toughest Command task. And was called 3/6 times in command as a subordinate. We got all medium level topics in the lecturette and I chose on Social networking site. Gave the best lecturette, all thanks to daily introduction giving practice on stage at centurion.

Day 5: was told to rate myself and asked about the stay. I gave no suggestions.
3 hrs later, my name was announced and........Swastish Pandey was Recommended.

Feelings after getting selected was outstanding my family is humbled and glad that, I made available the most proper guidance for SSB i.e. Centurion defence academy. An incredible recommendation at the time of a pandemic hit stage provided every reason to be happy and never stop dreaming no matter if the situation is in your favour or not. The best memory I recall of CDA is my superb batch in which mostly many students and friends got recommended i.e. Akash + Adarsh + Rohit+ Priyanka + Hrishik+ Swastish and many others. In this interview I would like to conclude by thanking God for granting the love of my parents, support of the Centurion Team and most importantly NDA batch I landed into. An amazing experience to be cherished with immense pleasure and dignity for the entire life.