On the second day in New Delhi, we went to the capital's museum and got a tour around it. It was interesting to see the 17-18th century artefacts that were placed there. Some of them could make you a millionaire! It was that valuable. We also got to see a horse show performed by the Indian Cadets. They were excellent and they had great skill in handling the horses. The horse show lasted about 20-30 minutes.
Oh yeah. Singapore wasn't the only country there. You see, we were part of the YEP (Youth Exchange Programme). So there were other countries as well such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Maldives, Vietnam, Russia and Nepal. We mingled around with them except the russians (because they didn't know how to speak English). I was really looking forward to the fourth day, as we were going to Agra. Obviously, there is a famous national monument and is one of the 7-wonders-of-the-world. The Taj Mahal. It was really beautiful and I was in awe of it. I was really thankful to finally get to see the Taj Mahal. We also went in to see the tomb of Shah Jahan and his wife. We were not allowed to take any photos inside but I secretly took some, without anyone knowing.
After Agra, we went to Jaipur. Jaipur was the place I hated most as I suffered Diahorrea. It was serious and I had to take some pills to ease off. When we came back to New Delhi, we had to rehearse for the March Past in the PM Rally. We did this for two days, and also did some shopping. The next night was the night where we had dinner with the DG Of the Indian NCC, and the food there was truly scrumptious. That was also the night where I shook hands with the Defence Minister and the Commandant of NCC, LTC Adrian Koh. It was truly a great honor. Moreover, he was very kind and spoke to us pleasantly. On one of the days, we also had a cultural performance in front of all the YEP Cadets, Officers, and the Indian NCC cadets. We were dressed in our ethnic costumes (I wore a baju) and we did a performance on Di Tanjong Katong and Di Mana Dia. The best part was when we were doing the performance on Di mana Dia. When it came to the Chan Mali Chan, Hoi Hoi part, all the Indian NCC cadets and even some of the officers were echoing Hoi Hoi after us. I could swear that Commandant was laughing his guts out. And please don't ask me how they knew the Hoi Hoi part. I too am still trying to figure that out.
On Wednesday of the second week in India, we went to the IRD. Security was very tight as there were suspicions of terrorist attacks. And just for your info, 6 prisoners had escaped from prison just before the parade.The parade was great and we got to see over 30-40 contingents marching past us. They also displayed some of their weapons which were truly huge and remarkable! The whole parade lasted for about 2.5 hours.
We, the YEP cadets, also visited the president's house to have tea. It was a great experience to get to see the place that she lived in. Yes, the president of India is a lady. After that we took part in a march past in the PM's Rally, and we got to see the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, upclose. We had to tilt our heads while marching, and he saluted us in response. Later afterwords, we went to the the place that he lived at and had tea there as well. On the last night, it was sad, as some of us had difficulties in leaving our new found friends behind. We exchanged phone numbers, E-Mail addresses and promised to stay in touch.
So that pretty much raps up the whole trip. There's plenty more, but I'm afraid that I just can't remember the exact details. ALL the cadets that were there were really kind and gentle. They really liked us a lot. Especially the Indian cadets. We had lots of chances to talk to them and they were extremely friendly. The next cadet from bendemeer who goes for this trip, is gonna have a great time. I hope to go there once again.
Here are some pics of the trip:
Yours truly,
YEP Cadet SSG Thinesh John,
Unit Sergeant Major,
Bendemeer NCC.
