These cadets, from the Karnataka and Goa directorate of the NCC, placed eighth in the All India Thal Sainik Camp.

Bengaluru :

The energy was high among the 40 teenagers who represented Karnataka and Goa at the national Thal Sainik Camp in Delhi. The camp was held for 90 days.

These cadets, from the Karnataka and Goa directorate of the NCC, placed eighth in the All India Thal Sainik Camp. While some of these girls took up the rigorous 90-odd day training just for their of the NCC, others saw it as their breakthrough in to the Defence.”
I want to join the Army. We got to experience a lot in these 90 days, but the biggest takeaway was the discipline and personality grooming we were exposed to. There were times we had to wake up at 3:30 am to prepare for the line area competition,” said Aishwarya, a student of Mount Carmel College, Benglauru.

Maansi A Dixith, who won a silver medal in public speaking, judging distances and field signals, said, “More than 500 students were screened before the directorate picked us. A constant reminder of this kept me afloat. Most of my friends did not make it.”

For Sgt Soudamini Behera, who won a silver for shooting, wearing a uniform was a way to honour her father.

“Seeing my father, a railway employee, in uniform made me aspire to wear one too. With a passion for adventure, I pushed myself to hold a heavy rifle. Every moment was ‘now or never’ at the camp,” she said.

Students were not affected by the academic lag of three months, and were confident of completing their lessons with additional classes. Deputy Director General NCC Lalith Kumar assured support.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Pearl Maria D’Souza / Express News Service / September 30th, 2019