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On the Double: Drills, Drama, and Dare-Devilry at the Indian Military Academy
The Indian Military Academy – a crucible of sorts where young boys are transformed into officers of merit through discipline, hard work, and a rigorous regime.
A place where life is all about battalions and companies, and where the tactics of warfare are taught. However, in Tanushree Podder’s no-holds-barred look into Academy life – pranks and girls are as important to life as are morning drills and sand model exercises.
A fitting but entirely independent sequel to Boots Belts Berets, her celebrated book about life at the National Defence Academy, On the Double follows the continuing adventures of Pessi, Maachh, Porky, Sandy and Zora as they navigate the obstacle course that is the IMA.
Their love of fun breathes life into their time together, and their friendship and dare-devilry guarantees sleepless nights for their Company Commander.
A charming tale of friendship and coming-of-age, where young boys with lofty dreams stand at the cusp of change, ready to take on their future as sentinels of the nation.
A place where life is all about battalions and companies, and where the tactics of warfare are taught. However, in Tanushree Podder’s no-holds-barred look into Academy life – pranks and girls are as important to life as are morning drills and sand model exercises.
A fitting but entirely independent sequel to Boots Belts Berets, her celebrated book about life at the National Defence Academy, On the Double follows the continuing adventures of Pessi, Maachh, Porky, Sandy and Zora as they navigate the obstacle course that is the IMA.
Their love of fun breathes life into their time together, and their friendship and dare-devilry guarantees sleepless nights for their Company Commander.
A charming tale of friendship and coming-of-age, where young boys with lofty dreams stand at the cusp of change, ready to take on their future as sentinels of the nation.
Audible Audio
First published September 15, 2015
25 people are currently reading
352 people want to read
About the author
Tanushree Podder
62 books58 followersA BRIEF BIO
Born at New Delhi, she worked in the corporate sector for eight long years before Tanushree quit the rat race to wield her pen and found her calling.
A well know travel writer and novelist, she is also known for the hundreds of ‘Middles’ that entertained readers of almost all English dailies in the country for over a decade. Tanushree is passionate about travelling and writing. If the lady is not packing her bags to zip around the world, she is sure to be found tapping the keys of her computer.
Among her bestselling books in non- fiction genre are Death of a Dictator - The Story of
Saddam Hussein, Secrets of Happiness, The Ultimate Food for Body, Mind and Soul, The
Power of Relaxation. The book Smart Memory has also been translated into Tamil and Spanish.
She has published 15 novels till date. Nurjahan’s Daughter, Boots Belts Berets, Escape from Harem, On the Double, Solo in Singapore, I fell in love with a soldier, Cakewalk Murder, No Margin for Error, A Closetful of Skeletons, The Breath of Death, Decoding the Feronia Files, The Teenage Diary of Rani Laxmibai, The Girls in Green, Spooky Stories, An Invitation to Die, are a few novels written by her.
Boots Belts Berets and On the Double - are soon to be adapted into web series.
She lives with her husband in Pune.
Tanushree can be contacted by email via her website at http://www.tanushreepodder.com. on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tpodder
Instagram
@poddertanushree
Twitter
@tanushreepodder
Her travel stories can be found at http://tanushreez.wordpress.com
Born at New Delhi, she worked in the corporate sector for eight long years before Tanushree quit the rat race to wield her pen and found her calling.
A well know travel writer and novelist, she is also known for the hundreds of ‘Middles’ that entertained readers of almost all English dailies in the country for over a decade. Tanushree is passionate about travelling and writing. If the lady is not packing her bags to zip around the world, she is sure to be found tapping the keys of her computer.
Among her bestselling books in non- fiction genre are Death of a Dictator - The Story of
Saddam Hussein, Secrets of Happiness, The Ultimate Food for Body, Mind and Soul, The
Power of Relaxation. The book Smart Memory has also been translated into Tamil and Spanish.
She has published 15 novels till date. Nurjahan’s Daughter, Boots Belts Berets, Escape from Harem, On the Double, Solo in Singapore, I fell in love with a soldier, Cakewalk Murder, No Margin for Error, A Closetful of Skeletons, The Breath of Death, Decoding the Feronia Files, The Teenage Diary of Rani Laxmibai, The Girls in Green, Spooky Stories, An Invitation to Die, are a few novels written by her.
Boots Belts Berets and On the Double - are soon to be adapted into web series.
She lives with her husband in Pune.
Tanushree can be contacted by email via her website at http://www.tanushreepodder.com. on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/tpodder
@poddertanushree
@tanushreepodder
Her travel stories can be found at http://tanushreez.wordpress.com
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 9, 2024
I Loved It!
The book focuses on the importance of the protagonist's friends in the story. One of the characters, Maachh, plays a vital role as his mischief and bad luck are intertwined into the narrative. The story would be incomplete without Maachh and Porky's pranks due to their optimistic and reckless personalities. The plot revolves around NDA cadets who continue their advanced training at different academies based on their career choices. The book is filled with humorous accounts and memorable characters, set in the 1970s and taking place in the Indian Military Academy. The story tells that the cadets strive to find fun moments despite rigorous training. Although ragging is forbidden in the story, the author has created a commandant who dislikes it due to personal experiences. The academy retains its ethos, training, and attitude, with young cadets entering with enthusiasm, patriotism, and a resilient mindset. They undergo similar experiences, overcome hardships, and find ways to distract themselves and cope with their instincts.
This book consists of 37 chapters, each featuring a different story about the IMA Gentleman Cadets (GCs) journey. It is an engaging read that depicts the making of Army Officers and immerses the reader into the 1970s era, including experiences like waiting in line at STD booths and waiting for posts to arrive.
The book was engaging from start to finish with no boring parts. The author's writing style was enjoyable, and the book was well-researched and informative.
The book focuses on the importance of the protagonist's friends in the story. One of the characters, Maachh, plays a vital role as his mischief and bad luck are intertwined into the narrative. The story would be incomplete without Maachh and Porky's pranks due to their optimistic and reckless personalities. The plot revolves around NDA cadets who continue their advanced training at different academies based on their career choices. The book is filled with humorous accounts and memorable characters, set in the 1970s and taking place in the Indian Military Academy. The story tells that the cadets strive to find fun moments despite rigorous training. Although ragging is forbidden in the story, the author has created a commandant who dislikes it due to personal experiences. The academy retains its ethos, training, and attitude, with young cadets entering with enthusiasm, patriotism, and a resilient mindset. They undergo similar experiences, overcome hardships, and find ways to distract themselves and cope with their instincts.
This book consists of 37 chapters, each featuring a different story about the IMA Gentleman Cadets (GCs) journey. It is an engaging read that depicts the making of Army Officers and immerses the reader into the 1970s era, including experiences like waiting in line at STD booths and waiting for posts to arrive.
The book was engaging from start to finish with no boring parts. The author's writing style was enjoyable, and the book was well-researched and informative.
April 23, 2021
The dream to be lived :)
June 1, 2020
Didn't live upto the mark , but a must for all defence aspirants. Be it men or women , it gives you a clear insights of the GCs mind at the IMA dehradun and what it takes to be an indian army officer . Only after reading this book I introspect myself and now into the journey to IMA.
September 4, 2020
I didn’t wanted the book to finish.
The book has everything. Even I got emotional during the last pages of the book. The author has done a fabulous job writing this masterpiece.
First, Boots Belts Berets and now On The Double, both books will teach you lessons for a lifetime.
The book has everything. Even I got emotional during the last pages of the book. The author has done a fabulous job writing this masterpiece.
First, Boots Belts Berets and now On The Double, both books will teach you lessons for a lifetime.
October 12, 2017
The drama from NDA continues to IMA, and it’s fun to see how the brotherhood keeps strengthing, and the masti done, there naughtiness has no boundaries
June 7, 2020
Felt repetitive after reading Boots, Belts & Beret.
September 11, 2023
I read this book with a very high expectation however, it disappointed me. The IMA is not only about 4 chaps doing fun all the time and then go on to become an officer. They have sweated their blood and sweat, which was missing in the book. The terrific nights and the nightmares that they want to quit, the existential crisis and how do they overcome it was missing. The most beautiful time of the passing out year is the Ball Night, which was again missing.
April 18, 2020
Good
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2024
I loved it, more obsessed with the military life.
abandoned
January 30, 2022Good voice acting if you listen to it, it's a story about India's military academy. I got halfway through listening, but I just don't find Military Academies compelling stories anymore--and apparently Indian Academies are just like America's.
February 12, 2017
Yet again, Pessi-Sandy-Zora-Mach-Porky team up and create rumble in the IMA, the apostle of discipline and precision where boys become men. The book goes on to show that even the initials of "gentleman cadet" and the aura of IMA can not deter the "boyishness in boys".
They do everything which you would not expect GCs to do
-scrounging money from friends
-bunking classes
-NDA graduates trying to create up-manship against "direct entry" cadets
-wrangling invitations into un-invited parties
-carrying porn to lecture rooms
-sleeping while standing and with eyes open (a stuff learnt in IMA)
-cutting shortcuts in drills and getting caught by drill ustaads and still not mending the ways
-chasing things in skirts from age 16 to 50 and getting caught and escaping by the breadth of hair
The story is a sequel to the acclaimed book "boots belts and beret" by the author. So those who have read the first part, would die to grab their copy of the sequel.
While the story picks up the characters from BBB but it is not necessary to have read the first part. The first part traces the story of a band of young men in NDA, this book follows their antics in IMA.
All in all a fun read. The character of GC Mitra (mach or machi or fish) is a very entertaining one. I find him as the main protagonist in this book because all the turns and twists in the story have his wrong doing. The highly patriotic Bengali has a mysterious insatiable appetite for chicks, chicken and trouble. The book will make you laugh at his crazy antics.
The writer has done a wonderful job in this book. She does have a flair in flirting with words and that makes it an unputdownable read.
They do everything which you would not expect GCs to do
-scrounging money from friends
-bunking classes
-NDA graduates trying to create up-manship against "direct entry" cadets
-wrangling invitations into un-invited parties
-carrying porn to lecture rooms
-sleeping while standing and with eyes open (a stuff learnt in IMA)
-cutting shortcuts in drills and getting caught by drill ustaads and still not mending the ways
-chasing things in skirts from age 16 to 50 and getting caught and escaping by the breadth of hair
The story is a sequel to the acclaimed book "boots belts and beret" by the author. So those who have read the first part, would die to grab their copy of the sequel.
While the story picks up the characters from BBB but it is not necessary to have read the first part. The first part traces the story of a band of young men in NDA, this book follows their antics in IMA.
All in all a fun read. The character of GC Mitra (mach or machi or fish) is a very entertaining one. I find him as the main protagonist in this book because all the turns and twists in the story have his wrong doing. The highly patriotic Bengali has a mysterious insatiable appetite for chicks, chicken and trouble. The book will make you laugh at his crazy antics.
The writer has done a wonderful job in this book. She does have a flair in flirting with words and that makes it an unputdownable read.
August 17, 2018
A recommended book for Defence Aspirants
It brings out the nostalgia for Ex NDA also.
On the other hand it has got some sense of humor too.
It brings out the nostalgia for Ex NDA also.
On the other hand it has got some sense of humor too.
December 28, 2020
An enjoyable and gratifying sequel to Boots, Belts, and Beret by the acclaimed author. This edition is about the transformation of NDA graduates into "Gentleman cadets" at the IMA, from where they are posted to various divisions of the Indian Army to shoulder the responsibility of protecting the sovereignty of the country. The NDA pass-outs - Pessy, Porky, Mach, Sandy, and Zora team up for the last leg of training at the IMA, where these boys are trained to be men in one of the most indomitable and disciplined organizations in the world. The book is full of fun and frolic, the life of the cadets, and a brief of the various training they undergo at the academy. These famous five are amongst the notorious at the academy indulging in every possible mischievous act like bunking classes, gate crashing into uninvited parties, innovative ways and means of shortcuts to drills or avoiding them on the pretext of illness, getting punished and sometimes narrowly escaping from the prowling eyes of their ustaads, not to mention about the anxious lookout and chasing after girls in skirts with no age bar. While there is no clear protagonist in this book, Manoj Mitra alais Mach or Bong as he is called by friends stands out in the book with his humorous, witty dialogues and his fascination towards chicks, chicken and alcohol. The story is narrated in first person through Pessy. One element that stands out with these friends both at NDA and IMA is the camaraderie that knows no barriers. While this book can be read in isolation from its prequel, it would be wonderful to read both of them. An inspirational book for youngsters aspiring to make it into the elite Indian military services. Hope to read more chronicles about similar training at the airforce and naval academy in near future.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews