SSB Interviews; Hindered Views

Almost all of us might have seen the advertisement, “Join Indian army, be the master of your destiny, have an adventurous life” etc. The general perception of people is that if it’s armed forces, it’s a synonym of discipline. There is no denial that the Indian Military has stalwarts to the Indian people’s faiths. But the pastures which we feel are green enough; also have many a dry patch.

But what’s wrong with the forces then? The selection procedure for soldier level entries in class four and class three has nothing wrong in it, or at the least that’s out of the writer’s purview, but the gateway of entry for commissioned officers cadre finds itself in a dilapidated stand, definitely not in a good stead. As I myself had experience of giving the SSB interviews twice, I had met many veterans of the SSB interview also. There are many a flak in the selection process of armed forces which appear to be sinking the ship of armed forces.

It is well said that change is the only constant. But after giving the SSB interview, one will demystify his previous notions. The test papers which are given to the interview candidates date back to the time of independence, or god knows if they are even older than that. One can easily figure that out from the condition of them. The papers have now de- chlorinated and have thus have acquired a pale yellow colour, with withering, frail edges.

But one thing can be said for sure, that the Armed forces people love their assets. How is that? Because just at the beginning of the tests, candidates are instructed not to scribble or make stray marks on the paper (because those paper will still be used by some generations, I conjecture). And there might not be a single SSB coaching left in the country which does not have copies of the psychological test papers, which are actually illegal to possess.

Secondly, there are a series of psychological tests, which require on the spot sentence framing, reflecting the inside of a person’s psychology. But the real interviewees already have the sentences fed into their brains through a proper coaching class.

Does that mean I’ll get into armed forces if I am good enough to acknowledge all the tests previously? Well, you’ll almost be there, unless you don’t find a person at the medical check-up who’s a hard nut to crack, often demanding rewards for letting you into the forces. And that’s not all, some of the the belligerent and arrogant fellows from the Army schools or XYZ defence schools will be sure enough to claim there spot, as if in a legacy which actually turns out to be true.

There's also a feature of Pilot aptitude battery tests, in which the  people with high piloting aptitudes and the people with high approaches both get through, since if they don’t have the aptitude, the invigilator is always there to fly them through their difficult times. Thus they make the pilots who’ll fly the Sukhois or the Rafale Dassault in the near future.

Fourthly, they have group tasks, which end up being acting tasks, after a lot many days of coaching. It is really hard to find the friend you made back in the candidates hostel who actually turns out to be an Oscar winning actor, and sails his way out, without remembering your name too! Only the personal interviews have their essence in the full six day drama. Sometimes you get a senior, experienced person of the post of major general, while at other times you will have to satisfy a wing commander, who can turn out to be an asinine, as was in my case, who made me wait for 7.5 hours for an interview, and left just by asking how my lunch was.

Apart from these, the SSB interviews conducted by the Service Selection Boards can be a good all expenses paid trip by government to some interview location. And for the candidates with no backing from the relatives in defence, keep your fingers crossed, join a coaching class and may be that you become the next certified actor by the Board. 

::The first photo is of Robert Lockhardt, the first Army chief of Independent India.