Whenever.
I think of NDA (National Defence Academy), it is always with a mixed feeling. On one hand, it is
truly a Cradle for Leadership where an unsure youngster is slowly
and surely turned into a confident young man. On the other hand
one also gets to see some mindless rituals and extreme sadism which
pass for training, particularly when practised on unsuspecting
teenagers, ironically by other teenagers. If an alumnus says that he
enjoyed his first term there, either he is a consanguineous liar or
a die hard masochist.
Be
that as it may, every first termer looked forward to an escape route
. There were lucky ones who were part of some Squadron sports team
and at least for the duration of that sport event , they got a
respite from day to day 'ragada.' . Everyone needed a break to
maintain a semblance of sanity. For my own mental stability , what
came to the rescue was my 'dental instability'. It is this dental
escapade that I am writing about.
I
had , and still have a really crooked set of teeth. At NDA, at the
very first visit to the Hospital for a routine check up,a dental
surgeon from Pune happened to be there. This surgeon was absolutely
fascinated by my teeth; well formed ,strong but set in two distinct
rows. He must have loved cosmetic dental surgery, and couldn't
resist having a shot at putting them all in one line.
He
patiently explained to me that he could align all my teeth in a
perfect row and that there would be no gaps whatsoever; it would be
like a perfect set of pearls ! Of course , he told me, it would
require pulling out three good teeth, to make way for the unruly ones.
The full import of his proposal did not hit me then, and all I registered
was that 'I would get a chance to get away from the academy and seek
refuge in the hospital , at regular intervals.
So
the treatment started. At the Academy, the highest priority was
accorded to a call from the medical authorities , and the 2” x 4“
chit bearing the date on which I had to report to Command Military
Dental Centre , (CMDC for short) was my passport to a well earned
break. On the appointed day, I told my course-mates, that I was 'proceeding to CMDC' and
reported to the Military Hospital after breakfast. From there a bus took
us to the military Hospitals at Pune and Kirkee. A first termer could sleep anywhere, any
time and I slept in the bus and later in the CMDC waiting room. There
were times I got to meet my dentist and there were times , he was too
busy to meet me and in either case I got my next date. At least on one occasion, no one noticed me in the Waiting
room till it was time to leave and I was simply given a chit for
the next date.
The
treatment involved , taking x -rays, preparing moulds and all this
took a number of visits, unlike the present times. Three months
passed and it was soon time for the end of term activities. So one
fine day, the dentist realized that my term break would upset his
schedule for treatment and he decided to postpone the actual surgery
to the next term.
The
next term was a different story altogether. I never again went
anywhere near the Dental Centre except for a routine check up by the
GD (general Duty) dentist, who was not interested in any fancy
surgery, and only the smokers among the batch were dished out
'chits' for scaling.
So
ended my cosmetic surgery , even before it started and into the last year of my service, I still love
my crooked set of teeth. The first line of our daily prayer at NDA
went like this ' Oh God, help us to keep ourselves physically fit,
mentally alert and morally straight.... “ My own unsaid prayer
went, “ ...keep me mentally straight and dentally crooked , so that
I may proceed to CMDC, Pune..........
