SSB – First step towards the ‘SERVICES’

Services Selection Board (SSB) is the interview for the officer’s rank in the defense forces of India. This interview is stretched for five days at a particular SSB center. Thousands of defense aspirants for various officers training academies of different wings, after clearing entrance exam of UPSC level appear for SSB. Out of the thousands only a handful candidates get recommended for the officer rank.

Here are some common traits of every SSB aspirant:

• Day Dreaming starts once interview letter is received. They start presuming themselves as an army officer. Lakshya becomes the favorite movie for all the aspirants of Defense forces. Candidates start seeing themselves as the transformed Hritik Roshan as shown in the movie.

• They act as if they belong to the elite class of citizens. ‘Josh’ as the term named for enthusiasm in NDA is always at a high.
• While boarding a train for the respective SSB center it seemed as if they are going for a duty at forward areas or on a war. Feeling inexpressible.
• After reaching the MCO office all the candidates get together at a place. Repeaters start sharing their experiences and bitching about SSB selection starts. Freshers seem to be listening attentively.

• One can easily separate freshers from the repeaters while loading and unloading of luggage on the army bus. Freshers try to show themselves as the most co-operatives, while repeaters know the entire game, so they silently choose laid back approach.
• After entering the SSB center, every candidate is one step closer to their aim, they start behaving as if they are officers of the Army. Some repeaters, who visited the center before, start gathering the thoughts of their previous visits to the center. And the most commonly candidates are given Chest Numbers, which are their identity throughout the selection procedure.

• Sleeping early and getting up early is part of the routine of all the candidates at the SSB center. Waiting for a long time outside the conference hall or at the GTO grounds before the commencement of the test gives goose bumps and increases nervousness amongst the candidates.
• The repeaters are denoted by the ranks of the defense officers depending upon the number of times they have appeared in the SSB. Greater the number of attempts, higher the rank.
• Recommendation creates divide. Before the day of the final result all of the candidates are on the same level, but as soon as the result is announced, the recommended candidates seemed to get differentiated from the rest of the lot.

• Speculations of the candidates who will probably be selected is the common matter of discussion amongst the candidates.
• ‘The enthusiasm – the Josh’ of the rejected candidates vanishes immediately. And every one starts bitching about the process. Even the opposition could not have criticized the government policies as the rejected candidates criticize the entire SSB process.