Capt Amarinder hosts NDA batchmates for reunion after 58 yrs

CHANDIGARH: In a reunion which revived ties that go back nearly 58 years, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday night hosted his batchmates from the National Defence Academy (NDA) for a rare dinner.

Amarinder’s 57 batchmates from NDA Khadakwasla near Pune came together to recall shared memories and experiences of their days of training for the defence services and the years gone by. The reunion also gave the men an opportunity to catch up with each other’s lives since they last met, as they went on a spree of discovery about their years post their service stints, according to an official release.

The CM said that joining the army and serving the country was the only life he had dreamt and fantasised about. Nearly six decades seemed to disappear as they talked animatedly about those days of stringent tests followed by some tough training, before they could don their uniforms. Amarinder distinctly remembered the moment when, in July 1959, he joined the George (now Delta) Squadron at the NDA, located on the banks of the serene Lake Khadakwasla.

His batchmates remembered Amarinder as a distinguished cadet, who captained the riding and polo team at the NDA, according to the release.

On the occasion, Captain Amarinder released a book “Tryst with Perfidy”, authored written by Lt Gen Kamal Davar, former chief of Defence Intelligence Agency.

Among those who joined the get-together were Lt Gen GS Sihota, Lt Gen BM Kapur, Lt Gen Natarajan, Lt Gen Kamal Dawar, Air Vice Marshal Sisodia, Maj Gen MS Parmar, Lt Gen Prakash Suri, Lt Gen Naryain Chatterjee, Commodore Nath and Maj Gen Gurjeet Singh Randhawa.