The National Cadet Corps (NCC) of Women’s Christian College is known for its strong, fiery spirit and hardwork. The cadets of WCC NCC Coy engaged in three camps in September and October. The NCC Army Wing held an inter-group firing competition for all its groups in Tamil Nadu and the cadets of Air Wing took part in the Inter Group Competition (IGC) of the Republic Day Camp (RDC).
CUO Yamini B from III BCom Honours, represented Madras ‘A’ Group in Inter-Group Firing competition which was held from September 1-9, at Puducherry Headquarters. Yamini was one among eight cadets selected for the Firing Camp, with cadets from 28 colleges from Madras A Group. A total of 96 cadets participated from Tamil Nadu. The day started with two hours of physical exercise, followed by lecture classes, firing training sessions and physical exercises again. This was the camp routine for nine days. “Though it was really tiring everyday, we also enjoyed a lot interacting with friends from other parts of Tamil Nadu”, says Yamini, who secured 7th position in the firing competition.
Camp 2 - Republic Day Camp (RDC)
Three cadets from WCC NCC Coy, FC Pooja Shivani, FC Aditi Tejas and FC Shalini Joan were dispatched from the Air Wing for RDC selection. All three cadets qualified the selections and got into pre-IGC. In the selection for IGC, FC Pooja Shivani got selected in the Best Cadet category by qualifying in written exam, shooting competition, cultural extempore and group discussion. Best Cadets were called for theory classes, extempore and group discussion and Rajpath Cadets were called for drill. They were given 0.22 rifles to practice for Republic Day Parade at Rajpath.
For Flight Cadet Pooja Shivani, from III BSc Mathematics, training began in her unit (1 TN Air Sqn). “Even though my training was hectic in Tambaram AFS, the new atmosphere gave me more josh to pursue it. I saw many IAF Aircrafts nearby which is always a far-cry for a normal college student,” describes Pooja. After 10 days of training at the unit level, she was called to attend selections in Loyola College for the Madras ‘B’ group. After completing her written exam and drill, she had her extempore, in which she spoke about the Impact of CAA, and also attended a Group Discussion. After a week of rigorous training in Loyola, the final level selections began for the Madras ‘B’ contingent of 50 cadets.
On 3 October, the top 50 cadets reached Idayapatti, Madurai. There were around 350 cadets from different parts of Tamil Nadu, competing in various streams and Pooja competed for Best Cadet. A day in the camp typically began at 4 am, with PT sessions at 5:30 am, followed by a drill at 8.15 am extending till 12.30 pm with two 5-minute water breaks in between. And at 1.30 pm lunch break would start, extending till 4.25 pm, for personal work and rest. But for Best Cadets (BC) there was no break after lunch; they had to rush to the auditorium either for cultural or firing practice, for extempore competitions or group discussions. In the evening drill practice started at 4:30 pm and extended till 7.00 pm, followed by dinner at 7.30 pm; and then a roll call parade at 8.00 pm, and another drill training till 9.30 pm. Lights off was at 9.50 pm, but for BC it was study-time after 10.
"Adding more spice to my training, on Day Three when I was practising for culturals, my ankle was twisted," Pooja says. With fever the next day and severe pain, she underwent the third and fourth day’s training without making any excuses, "because I knew that if I missed this opportunity, my waiting for one year would all be in vain." On day six, drill and firing selection took place. Written exams were conducted on day seven followed by cultural selection and extempore. A personal interview, group discussions and extempore covered day eight.
Among 350 cadets, around 145 cadets got selected on day nine. Pooja and another co-cadet were the Masters of Ceremony, and the day ended with speeches by officers and a movie in the evening. The ten-day camp ended on October 12. "This camp taught me a lot", says Pooja. She was able to discover a new self, capable of facing many things, and realising that she was “unstoppable in working towards a goal."
LC Sneha N of III English attended a nine-day camp from 27 November to 6 December 2021. The camp took place in the college campus of SRM, Kattankulathur. Cadets from different colleges participated. The Navy camp was titled, "CATAC-CUM BOAT PULLING REGATTA CAMP", with cadets from 1TN Navel unit and 4TN Navel unit participating with enthusiasm.
On Navy Day, December 4, 2021, the cadets participated in the boat pulling contest. The camp also included cultural events on account of Martyr's Day on November 30. Lalith Kumar, the Commanding Officer of 4TN Naval unit directed the entire camp.
"It was raining the first three to four days, so they took lessons and we had to train our juniors," Sneha said, "There were also ship-modelling classes where we used wooden tools to make miniature ships."
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