SSB Interview | Gaurav Singh - 4 AFSB Recommended

Hello everyone. I am Gaurav Singh. Basically, I am from Auraiya district in UP but currently living in New Delhi. I have done my B.Tech in EE from KNIT Sultanpur ( 2015 pass out ). To join forces was always my childhood dream. But after 12^th I was crazy for the IIT so didn’t even applied for NDA. I feel it was the biggest mistake of my life. But fortunately, that childhood dream got wings during my college days where I again started thinking to appear in SSB. Recently I got recommended from 4 AFSB Varanasi for AFCAT 1 2018 Entry {AE(L), ADM, LGS}. Overall it was my 9^th attempt. First attempt was in 2016 at AFSB Dehradun where I got conference out. After that, I went to Gandhinagar, Allahabad, Bhopal, Varanasi for AFCAT and CDS entries where I got conference out 4 times and screened out 4 times.

Recently I had my SSB on 20^th August at AFSB Varanasi. I reached on 18^th at one of my friends in IIT BHU. Next day I went to wrote AFCAT 2 2018. Finally, on 20^th morning, I reached at Varanasi Cantt station. There was a huge gathering as usual. 172 candidates reported in which 74 got screened in. For screening, in my opinion apart from OIR and GD, the narration is the key part. Do bold, crisp and confident narration within the given time. After screening, I got chest no. 65. There were 10 candidates in my group. After some documents verification and 2 hours break, there were psychological tests from 6 to 9 PM. I wrote simple stories in TAT. Some related to current events like Kerala flood, the insurgency in J&K. I did 59 WAT and 54 SRTs. In WAT, try to write small sentences because they don’t even give 15 seconds to write it. In SRTs, although quality matters more than quantity but tries to write as much as possible. The reason is you would present more content to showcase your OLQs to a psychologist. SD was previously prepared so I wrote it within 10 minutes and gave extra time to correct incomplete words in WAT. Next day I had nothing to do. No interview No GT. I enjoyed the sports facilities available there like TT, Billiards, Pool, Volleyball. I used to enjoy every game although only Cricket is my cup of tea. But SSB is the only place where u got the chance to learn new games free of cost 😂. Next day I had my interview with one serious Sardar ji. He didn’t ask any rapid fire questions. My interview was totally one to one question answer. He started the interview by asking me at which number I played in my college cricket team and why I didn’t play at number 1 as an opener. He argued with me on this for about 6-7 minutes. Then he asked normal family Friends teachers related questions where u should answer by having PIQ and SD in back of your mind. Later he asked Various questions of GK related to South China Sea, North South Korea, Indian Airforce, it’s participation in various Wars and operations, questions related to President of India and his hometown & education etc. I answered many of them and where I didn’t know answers, I said Sorry sir, I don’t know. Never try to guess random answers. It gives very negative impact. Always be specific.

On day 4, we had our GT first round. I gave various points in GD. Always be polite and calm in GD. Don’t try to dominate group. In GPE, it was all chaos. I wrote solution in a priority wise. In PGT whole group performed well. It was my first SSB where my group reached till finish line of last obstacle. I gave many workable ideas during PGT. Try to use every helping material. Every structure has 2-3 ways to cross it. Try to find those solutions. In HGT, only I gave an idea to cross obstacle and group accepted that idea. The lecture was normal. Always be highly active during snake race. GTO always have eyes on every Candidate.

On day 5, initially we had remaining GT. In command task, he asked me to stand on a structure inside a circle and to find solutions to come out of circle. He increased difficulty level but I gave solutions every time quickly. I did 9 individual obstacle and also gave idea in FGT. After GT, most of the group members were saying that I performed very good in GT. But I was not confident of recommendation because my interview didn’t go very well. Even I performed better in my earlier interviews in other SSBs.

During conference, I waited for around 20 minutes outside conference hall. After 20 minutes, 4-5 officers came out and went here and there for washroom etc. I was shocked as I felt that since last 20 minutes they were taking break and now they will start discussing about me. Anyway, bell rings. I went inside. Board President asked me about the place Hauz Khas in Delhi where I used to live. He asked why it is famous. Which monument is famous. First idea came in my mind about Hauz Khas village (Night Club and Pub area 😂😂) but I told him about some Delhi Sultanate era. After that he asked me to leave. My conference hardly went for 40 seconds.

Finally, DSO came to announce results. He started by telling stories of Abdul kalam, Amitabh bacchan of their SSB failure. I was bored of listening these stories again and again in every SSB. It always gives feeling of rejection 😁. Finally, he announced results. Chest no. 42, chest no. 45 and last but not the least chest no. 65. Friends, it was the moment which I can’t express here in words. I was on seven heaven. Everybody was clapping. My group mates were cheering. I was rechecking my chest number to reassure that It is not mistake 😂. Finally, DSO congratulated us and left. Later, in 2-3 hours documentation finished. And then I left for IIT BHU again but this time IAF officer’s Gypsy dropped me at station 😎

Friends after my first rejection at 1 AFSB Dehradun, I faced a number of failures. Rejection from Gandhinagar, from Allahabad. Sometimes also got screened out. But I never loose hope because I knew that I can do it. I overcome my shortcomings. I Wrote my full interview on paper and find mistakes. I did practice for SeSelf-description did practice to write it within given time so that I don’t face the problem of time in real time scenario. I practiced story writing which is key part of psychological tests. Apart from these, prepare current affairs of different varieties like defence issues, economic issues, environmental issues etc which helped me in GD and interview part. Before going to SSB, do some running daily so that you can perform better in individual obstacles. It shows your physical stamina. Never left obstacles with height in Airforce entry. Never left any obstacle in between. Always complete it. Be active and give ideas in whole GT- part. The key to perform good in GT is to giving workable ideas continuously.

On 10^th September I had my medical at AFCME Delhi in which I got declared medically fit. It was a wonderful stay at Camero Officer’s mess. Enjoyed a lot with new friends. I want to thank my family and parents who always supported me. I also want to thank many friends including Flt Cadet Manas Ranjan, Capt Harshit, GC Rajveer, Chetan, Amit Lambu, Mahima, Saurabh, Anish, Abhishek who always motivated and supported me during this journey.

Thank you. Jai Hind.