A week after setting foot in the cool confines of Wellington, I found myself in the company of ten of my colleagues in the syndicate room for the first time awaiting to dazzle the DS with our IKT(Initial Knowledge Test). Before we could hungrily pounce on the IKT Q paper, the DS tried to soothe our nerves by telling us to not take the IKT too seriously. It was more of a formality than anything. After all, the student officers comprised the cream of the army. Isn’t it?
At the auspicious minute, I began my attempt. I skipped the first page which mostly comprised of Qs related to facts & figures. I was never good at remembering the width of a VSL or the span of a BLT.
I was pretty certain that I could score in the subsequent sections. What followed was wave after wave of Qs that I wasn’t very sure about. MES, Stn matters, other arms, and the list went on. Before I could switch into panic mode, I remembered what the DS told us with regards to the importance of the IKT. I then relaxed and proceeded to tick the answers of all the Qs. As a result, I had finished the paper in a flat 20 minutes. I put down my pen & surveyed the room. I saw concentrated faces thinking & ticking away on the paper. I wondered why these people were getting so ‘senti’ about something as insignificant as the IKT. Be that as it may, I sat back & relaxed. Well not exactly relaxed as I was mentally going through some of the pending household chores like recharging of Tata Sky, alteration to my wedding suit to get it to ‘staff college std’s etc..etc..
My reverie was rudely interrupted by the DS who took away my answer sheet to go over my answers. I smiled smugly as I watched him settle into his chair & go over my answers. After a while he looked up & smiled at me. I returned the smile & thought about the number of brownie points I’d scored even before the preliminary introductions had taken place within the syndicate. The DS asked me whether I’d like to carry on & I replied in the affirmative. I packed up my briefcase (the brand new ‘DSSC ‘type), looked all around the room & moved out of the room. I utilised the 30 minute head start to ransack the new stock in the CSD before the others made a beeline for it. Having accomplished all my tasks, I headed home for a homely lunch & a well-deserved siesta.
The IKT was forgotten in the busy schedule of the course. That was until one day while sipping a cup of black coffee at Chanakya, I overhead someone discussing the ‘weak list’. I sauntered over to get a better understanding of things. A course mate of mine was sharing his grief over the fact that he was slotted in the weak student list. Apparently, the performance in IKT had been used as a tool by the college authorities to slot a few unfortunate offrs into this embarrassing list. I expressed my condolences to this course mate of mine & also admonished him for failing to clear a minor hurdle such as IKT.
Life went on usually for the next couple of days. I was enjoying the satisfaction of sleeping at 9 o’clock on a Saturday morning when I noted my phone ringing incessantly. I then proceeded to do what was the most natural thing under the circumstances; ignore! The phone did not stop buzzing. Finally, I picked it up to check what the urgency was. It was my ‘weak’ course mate asking me to rush to the syn room without wasting time. I listened to him in complete surprise & made him repeat the instructions twice to fully comprehend that his message was indeed meant for me. He hung up on me but not before warning me that the DS was waiting for me with open arms!
I do not remember how quickly I reached. I may have set a new college record for the time taken from Gurkha Hill to D Div parking for all I know. But I do remember the warm welcome that I received on entering the folds of the ‘weak gang’. I was subjected to a barrage of the DS observations on the past performances of my ‘fauzi career’ & the fact that we were the unwanted cream of the 73rd staff course. We were broken up after two hours of quality ‘weak classes’ and directed to present ourselves at 0900 every Saturday morning. In no time we gained fame as the ‘elite lot’ of the division. The next Saturday while I was ambling over to the classes on a sunny morning, I crossed a group of ladies who upon seeing me dressed up in the college formals, muttered amongst them. I did catch the words ‘weak classes’ in their muted sentences. Life went on. I later found out that a fresh weak list after the RE-1 would relieve our current batch.
I resolved to do well in RE-1. Of course I did well. But my definition of ‘did well ’was at complete odds with that of the Trg Team. And thus I graduated to being the most experienced member of the ‘weak list-2’. Eyebrows were raised; some colleagues felt that there must be some clerical error. But I remained firmly in the Saturday morning group. I had achieved what no one else in the 73rd course had. I had figured twice successively in the list. I had traversed a journey from ‘weak to weaker’ in a matter of weeks.
Presently I am awaiting the results of RE-2. I have full faith in the sys. Bring on the Weak List-3! Cheers!
Update: Today I had my SI counselling. Glad to inform you all that the weak list has been done away with. No more ignominy!
Sripada Sriram
L/No 554
