Tag: Officers Training Academy

Regrets.

The idea for this blog’s topic came when I was listening to one of my all time favourite songs by Frank Sinatra, “My way”. Part of the lyrics goes thus:

Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
I saw it through, without exemption
I planned each chartered course
Each careful step along the by-way
And more, much more than this
I did it, my way.

Unlike Old Blue Eyes, I have had many regrets but, like him, I did what I had to do and saw through all of them without exception.

In all honesty though, I can’t say that I planned each  chartered course, each careful step along the by-ways. In most cases the seeing through was just giving the regret enough time.

I list some of the regrets that I still am wistful about in the order that they happened.

  1. My inability to join the Indian Navy due to my myopia.
  2. Breaking up with my first lady love due to religious differences.
  3. Inability to join the Indian Army during the Emergency Commission Scheme despite having been selected, due to pressure from my family not to.
  4. Not serving the entire employment period till retirement with an organisation where I had worked for 26 years, due to differences of opinion on policies and my personal commitments.
  5. Not being able to complete a contract with another employer due to family constraints.
  6. These were the major regrets that I had but, like all of us, I have had many more small ones which did not bother me too much.

For those who would like to hear Old Blue Eyes, it gives me great pleasure to include this video.

This is my take on this week’s Friday 3 On 1 blog posts where Sanjana, Shackman and I write on the same topic. Today’s topic has been suggested by me. Please do go over to the other two blogs to see what they have to say on the same topic. Thank you.

Passing Out.

In a recent exchange of messages in our Senior Citizens group, two long lost classmates from our National Defence Academy tried to place each other by asking when each had passed out. They obviously meant this kind of passing out where the ritual of throwing a cadet is normal. This is from one of our Officers’ Training Academies.

It is also quite common to ask fellow alumni in our Business School Alumni meeting to ask each other as to when one passed out.

If I am around and I get a word in, I inevitably ask “how and when did you revive?”

For me, this is what is meant by passing out:
My mind keeps asking why people cannot use the word graduating instead of passing out. I think that it is more appropriate. What do you, my dear reader, think?