The Curse of the Gymnastics Club

Every cadet who has ever survived a military academy knows one universal truth:

We all hate physicals.
With passion.
With conviction.
With a level of sincerity we never show in drill.

So in our first term at the Officers Training School — now called OTA — we grabbed every possible chance to escape anything remotely resembling physical torture. And the best legal escape route the academy offered came disguised under an innocent name: Club Activities.

Clubs were our weekly oxygen cylinders.
There was Dramatics, Riding, Photography, Rowing, Sailing…
But two clubs stood above all others — Rowing and Sailing.

Why?

Because they offered the most precious privilege in cadet life in the first term, before passing the ” Drill Test” :
A chance to go outside the academy gates without a pass.

So when I was allotted the Sailing Club, I felt like I had cleared the UPSC exam all over again. Sailing meant freedom — one afternoon a week to breathe normal air, see normal people, and feel vaguely human again.

The first week was brilliant.
We visited a naval sailing facility, explored a ship, and even pretended we understood nautical terms. Some cadets picked up imported cigarettes from the merchant ship we visited!
And for a brief moment, under that open sky, it felt like the gods had finally smiled upon us first-termers.

But Fate — especially academy Fate — has a wicked sense of humour.

We were an October course, which meant one thing the Directing Staff conveniently “forgot” to mention during allotment:

South-East Monsoon.
Rain.
Wind.
Rough waters.
In short, no sailing.

The very next week, the “opportunity” vanished.
And before we could even finish cursing the weather, the Academy HQ issued a new order:

All cadets of the Sailing Club shall report to…Gymnastics Club.

I still remember the silence that followed.

It felt like someone had declared that we were being posted to Siachen.
In winter.
Without snow clothing.

Gymnastics Club!
The one place that made PT sessions look like picnics!

And to make matters worse, the club was run by none other than Maj Vikram Singh, our tough PT Officer. A legend in OTA. A man carved out of granite. The kind of instructor who could make even the fittest cadet question his career choices.

We were already getting ragda under him in the morning.
And now… this.
Gymnastics with Maj Vikram Singh himself. And the guys who had the bad fortune of being allotted the Gymnastics club were having sadistic pleasure looking at us!

If this isn’t called fate, I don’t know what is.

While other clubs were creating artists, riders, and rowers…
We were being sculpted into unwilling acrobats, contortionists, and human pretzels.

Every session brightened our understanding of anatomy —
Specifically, which muscles could ache in ways we never thought biologically possible?

Looking back, it’s hilarious.
At that time… not so much.

But such is academy life.
You join expecting discipline, drill, and physicals.
You don’t expect destiny to personally rearrange your club allotment just to teach you humility — and a few gymnastics routines you never asked for.

In the grand tradition of Drill Square Diaries, this remains one of those unforgettable stories:

How a bunch of hopeful first-term cadets, dreaming of sailing on calm waters, ended up somersaulting their way through the monsoon —
under the watchful eyes of the toughest PT Officer OTA ever produced.

If that isn’t the Army’s sense of humour, I don’t know what is.

Glossary

• Drill test – The first test a cadet undergoes in the academy. Passing this test allows him to get a pass to go outside the campus on Sundays.
• Ragda – Intense Physical activity

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