Finding a life beyond the National Defence Academy

For thirty long years, two men at the National Defence Academy (NDA)  one a buggy driver and the other a bookbinder  have seen hundreds of fresh cadets metamorphose into officers par excellence before their eyes.

Hence, when Bapu Ghatge (60), the buggy driver; and Vasant Bapate (60), the bookbinder; walked away into the sunset following their retirement recently, it was the interaction with the cadets that they cherished the most.

Ghatge, who began as a waiter in the cadets’ mess says, “In the equitation centre where I worked with horses, I have seen so many young cadets take their baby steps in horse riding. I distinctly remember seeing our officer in charge, Major Kishan Yadav, an ace rider; take his first steps in front of us.”

Likewise, Bapate cherishes the eight days that he spent last year to put together two large albums for the Hunter squadron.

“Cadets mean the world to us. Hence, I enjoyed putting together the albums. I fixed brass corners to each album and covered them with a combination of leather and rexin. The pages were laminated. The present service chiefs, who belong to the same squadron, liked the albums very much,” Bapate said.

Bapate recently made a new visitors’ book for the commandant’s office, complete with a cloth and rexin cover and brass corners.

“The NDA commandant, Lt Gen Jatinder Singh, also liked it very much. It made my day,” Bapate said.

Bapate, who is polio afflicted, has never let his physical condition come in the way of his work.
Bapate, who used to travel by bus for many years, was given a scooter by the NDA about ten years ago.

“I am indebted to the academy for the kindness shown to me. The scooter helped me commute easily from my home in Kothrud to the academy,” Bapate said.

Bapate, who has painstakingly bound hundreds of cadet programme calendars and dossiers over the decades, besides the multiple flags used during the passing out parades, said, “Binding is an art. Yeh kala hoti hai. You need to be an all-rounder and need to pick up all the nuances associated with the art.”

On the other hand, for Ghatge, the ritual of picking up the NDA commandant from his residence and driving him to his office every Monday morning was a very pleasant activity.

“This routine kept me on my toes. It made me cross-check the buggy and the horses every weekend,” Ghatge said.

Ghatge, who has ferried dignitaries such as APJ Abdul Kalam, Pratibha Patil and Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the passing out parades at the NDA, still treasures the time he spent with singer Asha Bhosle.

“I drove Ashaji around the NDA campus in the buggy for half-an-hour. It was a very memorable experience. She posed for a picture with me and conversed with me in Marathi, making me feel at home.”

Seated in his modest Uttamnagar home a few days ago, even as raindrops went pitter-patter on the roof above, Ghatge said rather emotionally, “Both Bapate and I will miss the NDA. The NDA was our life. But life must go on.”