Among army’s new officers, sons of postman and carpenter

Some of the gentleman cadets at the passing out parade held here on Saturday were from humble family backgrounds and had to fight many odds to become army officers.

L Surchandra Singh is the son of a carpenter from Manipur, Rangat Singh is the son of a contractual postman in Jammu and Kashmir and Indrajit Chougule is the son of a school teacher from Maharashtra.

Surchandra said: “I worked hard to achieve my dream to join Indian Army. After performing good in studies in my village’s school, I pursued rest of schooling in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in my district.

“Then I joined NDA in Pune and from there IMA. My parents are really proud with my achievement today,” said Surchandra whose father works as a carpenter in Thoubal district of Manipur. He said he was the only man in his village to join army.

Rangat Singh said: “My father is a postman on contractual basis. It was not an easy life for us as he had to feed a family comprising me, my mother and my elder & younger brothers. I did my schooling from government school in my village in Jammu.”

After completing his education, he said he joined Indian Air Force (IAF) as corporal but was not getting that excitement in the job with the IAF.

Singh was present at the event with his family and wife with whom he got married in December, 2017.

“I was not getting that zing in IAF, so decided to give a shot to IMA and got selected. Now, when I am an army officer, I want to live my life to the fullest while serving my country,” said Singh while smiling towards his wife Vaishali.

Chougule, a son of a government school teacher in Kolapur, Maharashtra, too shared a similar story.

He said as a pass out of Sainik School, it was obvious for him to join the army.

“Despite the humble background, my parents always supported me in pursuing my dream and today they are proud of me for which I am grateful,” he said.