Khaki Drill

 Khaki Drill, KD in short or just KD Shorts, form part of NDA working uniform; incidentally the erstwhile uniform of RSS also comprised Khaki shorts, they have now switched to dark brown trousers in conformity with the times. The Police forces have Khaki uniforms as against the Olive Green for the Army personnel. Khaki was chosen as the preferred colour as each service, Army, Navy, and Air Force have their distinct uniforms, Air Force adorns blue in conformity with the blue sky which is their domain and the Navy is dressed in spotless whites. Four pairs of KD uniforms were issued to the  Cadets on arrival in the campus, but by the time he passes out of the academy he has more than a dozen pairs with him. The uniforms did not multiply on their own nor were required to be stolen but as family heirlooms they were handed down the courses. It was not unusual to find a pair even a decade or more older. Cotton uniforms worn duly starched, had to be discarded after a single session of drill, as we needed a change for the academic sessions which followed, so four pairs just would not have sufficed. The new uniforms were whacked by the seniors, instead the older ones were handed over in lieu. But we were grateful at having received more numbers, it was quantity which mattered not the quality here.

Cotton uniforms were naturally more comfortable, shorts provided natural air conditioning which enabled all the monkey tricks that we  had to indulge in. Some of the antics for the unversed, included apart from sprinting for our lives, to rolling over trying to resemble a huge ball or haunching which would remind the onlookers of gigantic toads with hiccups, or sometimes just trying to be Hercules  by lifting the Hercules cycles over our heads and running around. Then there were times we would be more yogic in our pursuits curtsey our venerable sergeants or corporals, who would help us relax in near shirshasana pose with our legs up, rested on the wall with hands on the floor, some considerate souls who took pity on the hands decided to let the hands rest and let the heads take on the weight in the pose which was euphemistically called "Maharaja" position. Of course there were countless other interesting activities that we were busy with, a complete account will take up many volumes. 

But getting back to the Khaki, it was almost like a ritual that post breakfast the cadets would be lined up in the ground floor lobby where the civilian orderlies would be sitting on their haunches waiting for the cadets. Each cadets would stand in front of the orderly, who would then put his hands through the shorts and pull the shirts down in order to remove any creases in the uniform. For an onlooker, it is quite an intriguing sight as the orderly's hands renew  their acquaintance with the KD shorts everyday without fail. Although the KD Shorts were not the typical sports shorts that you see, these sported flairs like the bell bottom with the width exceeding even the length at times. Initially everyone is a little squirmish in letting a strange pair of hands travelling up the thighs, even if it was meant to just pull the shirt down. The feeling was almost similar to the bathing ritual in the Cadets washrooms, where Cadets discarded their clothes assumed the "digmabar" form for the shower. This seems quite normal, except that there are no shower curtains or partitions, the family jewels are displayed in public except that no one is interested in someone else's as they have their own prized possessions very much in place. 

No wonder ex NDAs are so close to divinity, after all they don't care for their personal belongings, adopt yogic poses , a life dedicated to  for the benefit of the mankind in general!