The passing out parade of the Indian Military Academy has always been a matter of pride for the country, but this time the parade brought another pride for the country. This is Gaurav Yadav, the younger son of a farmer family who belongs to a village in Rajasthan. Gaurav Yadav was awarded ‘Sword of Honour’ and President’s Gold Medal for the best performance in 143 th courses of IMA, Dehradun. The Yadva family also has an earlier connection with the army as their elder son Vineet is already a part of the army.
Inspiration from brother:
Both the sons of this family , living in Jojor Bas village of Alwar District, had the passion to become soldiers from childhood. Even though Vineet could not pass the entrance examination of the National Defence Academy, he still wore , olive green, the Indian Army uniform. Vineet is Naik in the Indian Army. Not only this , Vineet also played the role as an inspiration and guide for younger brother Gaurav. Gaurav Yadav will now be a part of 1/11 unit of Gorkha Rifles Regiment.
Passionate Gaurav:
Gaurav Yadav, who has achieved the feat of proving himself to be the best among 372 cadets, also has tremendous passion in him. To fulfill his dream of becoming an army officer till the last moment, Gaurav even took the risk of giving up the chance of admission in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). Gaurav had passed the IIT entrance exam but he did not tell his family about this success. Rather he said that he had failed in it and hence took admission in a college of Delhi University. He kept preparing for the exam to join the army. In this preparation, elder brother Vineet Kumar helped Gaurav by guiding him from time to time. Gaurav’s passion to join the army was so strong that he revealed the result of the IIT entrance exam only after passing the NDA exam.
IMA 143 course:
A total of 372 gentleman cadets, including 29 cadets from 12 friendly countries, passed the 143rd course of the Indian Military Academy (IMA 143 course) to be appointed as officers in the armies of their respective countries. They gave a brilliant and impressive performance in the passing out parade. Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff General Shavendra Silva was the chief guest on the occasion.
Addressing the passing out parade, General Shavendra Silva congratulated the cadets on the successful completion of the rigorous training and wished them all the best for all their future endeavours. General Silva said that the spectacular parade reflected the high level of training they had received. He said that we are confident that the passing out Gentleman Cadets will serve their motherland with commitment, devotion and valor.
While the prestigious Sword of Honour and Gold Medal was awarded to Battalion Under Officer Gaurav Yadav, the Silver Medal was awarded to Battalion Under Officer Saurabh Badhani and the Bronze Medal to Battalion Under Officer Alok Singh. With this, the Indian Army got 343 new officers on Saturday.
Cadets from different countries and Indian states:
Out of 29 passing out cadets from 12 friendly countries nine were from Bhutan, four each from Sri Lanka and Maldives, three from Mauritius, two from Nepal and one each from Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
If seen among Indian states, Uttar Pradesh had the highest representation in this course with 68 cadets. After this 42 from Uttarakhand, 34 from Rajasthan, 28 from Maharashtra, 27 from Bihar, 22 from Haryana, 20 from Punjab, 14 from Himachal Pradesh, 10 from Jammu and Kashmir, 9 from Kerala, 9 from West Bengal, 7 from Madhya Pradesh , 5 from Jharkhand, 5 from Odisha, 4 from Andhra Pradesh, 4 from Tamil Nadu, 2 from Delhi, 2 from Gujarat, 2 from Chandigarh, 1 from Arunachal Pradesh, 1 from Assam, 1 from Manipur, 1 from Meghalaya and also 1 from Telangana completed the course.
