Hello all! I thought I’d jump over our backlog and do a post on the family arriving, and NDA – the National Defence Academy!
Whew hew! After about 24 hours of travel door-to- (hotel) door, my mom, Aunt Robyn and Uncle Tom arrived on Halloween – with a wonderful assortment of candy, stickers, pez dispensers and mac n cheese in tow! Needless to say, a much anticipated event by the girls went up another notch with their treasure trove!
They settled in – courtesy of the JW Marriott in Pune, which is a great hotel — and then we were ready for some action on outings on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday Tom, Robyn and my mom came out to see our place. Cadi and Alex did some rangoli to welcome them :-).
After a few pre-dinner naps were taken (pics have not been authorized for release), we headed to Nachiket and Shilpa’s for dinner.
Dinner was delicious! Bhindi Baaji, Mung dish, Roti, Cucumber-Tomato salad, Mango.
The next day, we headed to the National Defence Academy. We had had to submit paperwork over 3 weeks in advance to get authorization. Authorization came through Saturday afternoon at 2pm after we though authorization wouldn’t come through…
We can see the NDA from our balcony. It is their equivalent of West Point, but a little different in that Army, Navy and Air Force all go there for 3 years. Following that, they have 1 more year of training to become an officer. It was established about 50 years ago.
It is HIGHLY competitive. 450000 take the written exam. 6300 are interviewed. 320 are accepted. For those of you keeping track, that’s 0.3%.
Above are some pics of the grounds.
The Mess Hall was very impressive. They seat and serve all 2100 people on campus during meals, and the meals are timed for 40 mins. It was enormous and impressive. They do meals together for unity/sense of togetherness.
Look left… 
Look right…. 
Bill of Fare
Notice the “Bill of Fare.” They have Tea 3x per day – including 5:30am. The cadets are also organized into 18 squadrons, which groups together army, navy and air force, as well as cadets from all different parts of the country.
They also learn to ride horses there — it’s compulsory for 3 terms, and then optional.
There were over 100 horses. 
I swear they were trained to pose….
After NDA, it was time for some to take a break (it was HOT), but Tom, Robyn, Parag and I went hardcore and toured some of Pune. Despite living here for 2 months, Parag and I hadn’t yet seen the local sites.
Highlights included Aga Khan Palace, which is where Gandhi was imprisoned for 21 months. It was the palace of a religious leader (built 1892, he didn’t live there), and the Brits asked him if they could use it for Gandhi. Must have been an awkward request…. . It’s also where Gandhi’s trusted secretary and wife died (though not related to be imprisoned).
The buildings were also used as a school before the religious leader gave the property to India as a memorial for Gandhi.
We learned about the secret radio broadcasts they (the freedom fighters) had in the early 1940s for an hour a day to support the “Do or Die” message from Gandhi. They had to keep moving every few weeks to avoid detection. (The Brits ultimately caught up with them however, and they were all jailed.)
We also went into a shrine they believe is from the 8th century (nope – no typo), which was carved INTO rock – Pataleshwar. They started with a huge rock mound and carved into it to create the pillars, alters, steps, etc.
(This pic is not mine — my phone/camera was not with me. It was much darker in there!) Amazing how straight and consistent everything was when they were carving with iron-tipped tools by hand.
A final stop was a palace/fort from 1730, from the Maratha empire. Pretty cool.
Well, a real final stop was dinner at the hotel, which was delicious. This is Tom’s dessert plate from the buffet….
And while I’m here, I’ll share Alex’s photos of the cakes they have on display….
yes, a golden touch.
But why sugar free?
Self-explanatory 
A traditional skirt with dandia sticks for dancing 
Alex’s fave
Baking and cake decorating seems to be an up-and-coming thing right now in Pune, with cake shops popping up all over. Parag actually has a cousin (cousin’s wife) who has started a professional bakery business. We’re visiting her later this week! Stay tuned for photos… She likes to do gravity-defying cakes….
Joshi-Staples Family India Adventure! 