Contrary to concocted stories:

Cherished memories of Future Leaders' Camp at Minneriya

by Nithya GUNAWARDENA

It was the day prior to the Vesak Poya. The entire surroundings were in a festive mood, getting ready for the Sambuddhatwa Jayanthi. The sun was bright, the cool breeze carrying the fragrance of jasmine flowers. Visharada Nanda Malini's "Budhdhanu Bawena' song was aired on the radio. My sister and I were in the garden fixing tissue papers on the Vesak lanterns which we turned out.

Then we heard the cling of the bell of the old push cycle of our postman interrupted Nanda Malini's song, disturbing concentrations. I rose reluctantly to pick up the letter.

It was for me. I quickly opened it and read it. The words "Leadership training program", "Minneriya Infantry Training Centre", "Three weeks (away from home)" I kept reading...Everything changed within seconds. I felt a huge lump in my throat. I've never been away from home for so long. What on earth is this program about? How will I do it without my mother? Will I pull through with this new pattern in my life? Could I face this challenge? All these unanswered questions gradually dawned on me I had to face it. All the efforts of my 13 years of schooling will be in vain. I wiped off the tears which ran down my cheeks.

Of course I needed the certificate urgently. I must go for it.

May 12. My suitcase neatly packed with the long list of items required, seemed to look at me as if to " Are you ready?" I was having mixed feelings about the entire thing. My parents drove me to Minneriya. After three hours of trave.

I was there in front of a massive black iron gate at the entrance to the Minneriya Infantry Training Camp (ITC).

Soldiers dressed in smart uniforms were there at every turn.

There were several girls of my age, some with their faces expressionless.

A smile was hard to find. Some kept their lips tight and others with mortal fear written all over their faces, as if they were about to be take to the slaughter house.

I registered and was given a chit which read "A 1 platoon." Then I joined a group of girls carrying similar chits. We were led to a place called "the Billet." At that point my parents had to say good bye to me.

I feel as I was all alone in this world.

Learn to 'bear it', my head warned me, screamed. Some girls started crying. I heard some whisper "Is this a punishment given to us for entering the University? "I wish I had failed," "Is this a military training? How are we to endure this?" These words kept echoing in my ears. I felt dizzy. "Stay strong," my head said it again and again.

We were shown to our bunks by a lady private who appeared to be only a few years older than us. They were friendly and were trying their best to make us comfortable.

A culprit lady, who appeared to be the head of our billet, was busy trying maintain to keep everything in order.

We arranged our belongings, changed clothes for the night, had meals and went to sleep.

Day has gone, a tiny triumphant voice rang in my head but soon it was drowned by a reminder "21 days more."

The following day, we got dressed in our "uniform", a white t-shirt with the banner "Future Leaders" printed on the left corner and on the track bottom.

I was sealed in a packed auditorium listening to speeches of distinguished people in the education sector.

They were trying their best to make us realise the benefits of the programme.

They said that this was a programme to achieve strong mind against bad influence in the universities. They added that the whole thing is quite new to Sri Lanka but similar courses were being conducted in foreign countries for university entrants to build up personalities, improve their skills and to bring out the leadership qualities in them.

The aim of the programme is to form a foundation for a successful, talented degree holder who will be in high demand and value from the competitive world that we live in today. "Sounds good. Give them a chance," a voice in my head said. I agreed.

On the same day around 4 pm we were taken to a huge open area.

It was a beautiful place, with trees spread out as if to protect us from the blazing sun.

It was the 300m-shooting range. A military officer, shouted with the command "steady".

All of us stood motionless when an officer with a grand personality clad in a uniform with several medals got down from the jeep.

He reminded me of war heroes in epic stories. He looked stern and strict. Curious eyes followed every step of his.

He walked up to the podium and addressed us.

I couldn't believe my ears when he started speaking. He spoke like a father who was trying to console his daughters. His soothing words swept away all our fears and doubts. "Don't take this as military training. You are here to learn many things which will help you to become great leaders. Have fun as much as possible during your stay. We will do our best to keep you all happy". Now, smiles appeared all over on each and every face. He was our commandant.

We went back to our billet. Girls were smiling at each other - the base of new friendships. Questions like "What's your name?","From where are you?", "For which university have you been selected?," were flying all over inside our billet. I too tried to blend with the girls. It took me no more than two or three days to get to know each and everyone in our platoon. There were girls from down south as well as the hill country; there were daughters of doctors and farmers; there were girls with mobile phones and girls without. Some were experts in Newton's laws, some knew each and every finding of Senarath Paranawithana and others were masters in finance. Some girls wore tiny tops and mini skirts while others wore long frocks with flowers printed all over. There were people from different walks of life. Paying no heed to all these differences, we all became the best of friends. One small family. Sisters of one mother - Sri Lanka.

23rd of May: We were taken on a camp tour and after that a course briefing was by our Commanding Officer. We had to wake up at 4.30 hrs, arrange our beds , clean our billet, get dressed and line up at 5.40 hrs for physical training, 7.00 hrs breakfast time. At eight we should be on the ground ready for drill. At 10.00 hrs we had to head for lectures. 13.00 hrs lunch time. After that we were to follow lectures and take part in evening activities. 16.00 to 18.00 game time. 19.00 hrs dinner and at 22.15 hrs we had to turn off the lights. Phew!!What a tight schedule!! "Watch yourself girl. You can't go about taking it easy as if you were at home. You'll have to hurry up. If not you will mess up ", the voice in my head bellowed.

There were 625 girls in our camp. They were divided into five companies namely Alpha, Beta, Charlie, Delta and Echo. Each company was divided into five platoons. Each platoon was branched into three sections. A platoon leader and section leaders were appointed. Every student was given an opportunity to become the duty student in charge of the platoon. It was the task of the duty student to wake up the rest of the students on time, inspect whether the billet and its surroundings were clean every morning, to line up the students and take them to the mess, ground and lecture arenas, look into the girls' problems and many more. This was a huge responsibility for a 20-year-old but this role trained us how to act as a leader, how to make others pay attention to us and follow us and how to manage responsibilities without neglecting at least a teeny-weeny duty.

At first I woke up at the wakeup call because at home my mother used to wake me up but later on I got used to waking up on my own. Then we had to arrange our bed even without a trace of any bump in the bed sheet, the way the Army officers taught us. We had to keep our footwear in a specific order according to the usage. We had to keep our slippers, sneakers, sandals from left to right. Then we have to sweep both the interior and the exterior of our billet. We had to do this every morning. The voice in my head said "At home you will sleep past 7.00 and did nothing of these".

We had physical training from 6.00 to 7.00 in the morning. We had to sing the national anthem sharp at 6.00 and after that we were taken by the physical training instructors along the Minneriya tank bund. We were instructed to run. Sometimes with our hands forward or at times with our hands raised. We jogged. We took either long strides or short steps. We did various exercises near the tank. Sit ups, sit and reach, board jumps were some of them. At the end of the physical training period I felt tired but physically fit and energetic. Not only physically but also mentally I became healthier. At the beginning some parts of my body especially my arms and legs yelled, "Our muscles are stretched too much. They hurt". But after a few days we learnt not to complain. Eventually I realized that physical training was a good start to a healthy and a bright day. It was like fuel to gear our internal organs and the mind to run the entire day methodically and productively.

The drill period was tough especially because we had to endure and allow ourselves to get baked under the scorching sun and also powdered with the dust. We had to stay in line in an order. Also we had to grasp quickly what we were taught. If not we would be slow in reaching to the commands. We had to pay attention to the commands very carefully. Obey and respond to them at once. The platoon had to work in unison to keep in line with the parade. So if one fails to learn a new move, others had to help her out quickly. The drill was a task of mere five letters but later I realized that we learnt lot of things out of it. Discipline, following commands, co-operation and concentration-ability was built into us day by day.

We had important lectures like "Sexual harassment". It uncovered a side which some of the girls didn't know at all. We were given the relevant knowledge about how to recognize in advance that you are going to be troubled by this hazard and the punishment for such crimes. We were also taught about giving first aid during crisis situations. We learnt and became aware about lots of areas in life and society which we never had the chance to learn before. Days passed by. One evening we were asked to come for a lecture, where the instructor said "Today you are going to learn how to act during critical situations". We said "OK. Fine" and walked behind him when a private in civics ran toward us yelling "Help", at the top of her voice. We ran behind her. A bus was tooting its horn had rear portion was on fine. A live wire was dangling near the entrance to the bus. A woman soaked in blood was stuck under a tyre. There were women screaming inside the bus too.

"Act quickly. You've only 15 minutes" the instructor screamed. I was horrified and speechless. I knew it was a demonstration but everything was set up perfectly that it was hard to imagine that this could be fake but we quickly got into action. Some stopped an Army jeep which was passing by to carry away the victims to the hospital. Some tried to rescue the woman who was stuck under the tyre. I picked up a long stick and pushed the live wire away from the bus. Others ran into the bus and carried the victims out. After fifteen minutes we heard the command from the instructor "Stop". "Did anyone take any action to put out the fire? Oops! What a big slip up!! Anyway it was a great experience. My pulse rate and the flow of Adrenaline which shot up for fifteen minutes slowly returned to normal.

Some girls sang. They brought in Nirosha Virajini and Latha Mangeshkar amidst us. Some danced. Aishwarya Rai and Shakira appeared in front of us. Some acted in a variety of plays. Malini Fonseka waved back at us. The girls were extremely talented. The Minneriya ITC was a stage for us to discover and bring forth our hidden talents. We had debates. Public speaking and other numerous opportunities to show who we are. Our Commandant, Commanding Officer and other officers did their best to provide opportunities to everyone to present their talents. There were some students who had the chance to present themselves in front of a gathering for the first time in their lives. There were inter-company volley ball and cricket matches. There were talented players. There was a singer, a writer, a dancer, an actor, a debater, an orator an athlete hidden inside each and everyone of us. "Don't stop. You have to keep on improving not only your academic skills but also your inborn talents and skills", the voice in my head said. It was the 6th of June. We were in the 300 range. Our commandant arrived.

"We are taking you on a trip to Polonnaruwa next Wednesday", he said.

"Yay", we shouted with an applause.

"We want to bathe in the lake", we pleaded.

"No, it's too risky. It's hard to keep an eye on all 625 at the same time", he replied and smiled at the disappointed faces.

"Then at least take us on a hike", the girls asked.

"Well that's possible. But I have to get permission from the Chief Monk. There is a temple on top of the hill so we will take you only if you manage to keep silent along the trek".

Girls maintaining silence especially on a trip. No way.

On Wednesday all of us climbed Nagala Kanda platoonwise.

The Buddha statue, the temple, the pond of lotus flowers and the tranquillity of the forest attracted us. We lowered our voices as soon as we started climbing. The sacred place wasn't disturbed by us at all. It wasn't a lecture. It wasn't a demo but we were taught of self-control and discipline.

The camp days came to a close. On the final day there was a small ceremony to give out certificates for us. In the night there was another camp fire and a musical show. "It's sad to leave this wonderful place. Isn't it?", the voice in my head inquired me. I never knew it would be hard to leave this place until the next day. All of us shed tears as we said good bye to each other and our beautiful camp. I never knew in twenty one days bonds could grow so deep and strong. The days I spent at Minneriya ITC gifted me with the best of experiences of my life. I have got used to the scorching sun.

It was no longer frowning at me. 'Hard water' no longer made me thirsty. I got used to stand in the long line in the mess, no matter how hungry I was. I managed to survive with fewer facilities. We were taught to adjust, to adapt to any situation without complaints, to face challenges and overcome them. I was also taught on how to walk with kings but not to lose the common touch, how to work with others with unity and team spirit, how to cope with people with different attitudes, listen to and respect other's views, how to choose good from bad, how to help a person in need.

Though at the beginning it was hard, I adopted myself to tight schedule. I was trained to do my work on my own. I learned to be independent. Military personnel worked day and night to attend to our needs and organise our programs on time.

They set examples of efficiency, discipline and unity. These were the great lessons and disciplines imparted to us. Now I'm back at home. Nothing left but only a pebble I picked up from the 300 range, the cherished memories and the experiences I gained in the camp.