JOIN USEx-NCC cadets meet after 40 years
In 1980, there was a youth exchange programme for NCC Cadets by the government of India and a bunch of cadets in their late teens were selected to represent India on this exchange with Canada. This was the first batch to be sent by India on such a programme.
The concept came from through an organisation called Canada World Youth. The idea was to expose the youth of the nation to different cultures across the world. It was a six-month-long exchange programme, where one stays in Canada for three months, learning about the culture, family set up and work environment. Similarly, a few Canadian youths came to India for the same. There were about 50 participants from both countries.
Fast forward to 40 years, the group recently came together to celebrate their 40th reunion at Ebony in Bengaluru – a few of them are meeting each other for the first time since then. The day was filled with fun, laughter, and many inside jokes but what stood out was their unconditional friendship, as each of them recollected their memories of the past, it felt like it wasn’t too long ago.
Three years back when a few of them met in Canada to rekindle their association, the plan to travel to India was made.
Esther Picard, was one of the selected cadets for the NCC Cadets Youth Exchange Program from Canada in 1980, this was her first visit to India since then.
Talking about India that she experienced 40 years ago, she said, “As part of the exchange program, I was in the group that went to Punjab. Though the country has industrialised a lot, there are still a few things that remain the same and it incites a sense of nostalgia such as the smell of this land and the distant sound of chanting of prayers. This time when I passed through the Red Fort and saw all the garbage, it hit me really hard. I remember this place being such a beautiful and clean place back then. It got really emotional.”
Convincing their parents to allow the kids to visit India was a task back then, said Suzanne. “At a time when there was no internet and mobile phones, our parents were quite sceptical. But after a few discussions, they finally agreed to let us go,” she recalls, adding, “For me, it was more complicated because I am French so I had to learn English. And then, when I came to India, I had another language to understand.”
Peter Sickles who seemed to be in love with the Indian food, was quick enough to say, ‘I still can’t forget the taste of ‘Sarson Ka Saag’ and ‘Naan’’.
“We worked in a farm in the village we stayed during our training in Punjab. As a sort of a thank you, the family whose farm we worked on, would often invite us to dinner. What I remember the most is having mustard greens or ‘saag’. It was so good. There was also a restaurant called ‘Siraj’ where I first tasted ‘naan’. Before visiting India, I never had anything remotely close to this,” he said. “Oh! I remember the samosas and bhajjis we used to have,” pitched in Esther.
“The smell is one thing that we cannot intellectualise, it just stays with us. The smell of India, we can’t forget. That is why the Indian food here is so wonderful, fresh spices, fresh greens and fresh everything else,” says Lisa, another ex-NCC cadet from Canada.
Recalling memories they have treasured, Esther shared how Indian kids, who saw them (some of whom had blond hair) for the first time, followed the Canadians everywhere they went, even washrooms – which eventually became difficult to handle.
“There was a small shrine that was visible from where we stayed, out of curiosity, we finally asked about it on the last day, the response we got wasn’t very pleasing. We were told that it was to honour the Cobra that lived there. I freaked out,” she laughed.
For Lisa, one of the fondest memories was when they went to the theatre to watch Bollywood movies. “After the day’s work, the farmer’s son would take all of us in his tractor. As the movie progresses, the Indian kids would quickly give us the plot points, so we are with them,” said Lisa. “What made this group closer and gave us the bonding time was that there was no television, radio or any social media. We had no option but to talk to each other and we were able to connect very strongly,” she added.
“The youth exchange programme concept that started with a Canada exchange has grown bigger with time, so a few years ago, we thought of contributing to NCC for making us who we are today. Being a member of the youth wing impacts an individual dramatically and changes the way they look at life. Keeping this in mind, we started an association called EXPA (Ex-Participants Association). We conduct training programs for NCC cadets to help them build their personality and also help them develop employability skills. Last year, we trained about 7,000 cadets. We work with different directorates across the country, whenever they have an NCC camp,” said Dhirendra, President EXPA.