Called ‘fauji’ at 3 by Prez Kalam, Harmanmeet becomes officer at 22, joins father’s regiment | Dehradun News

Dehradun: Nineteen years ago, during the Indian Military Academy’s (IMA) passing out parade (PoP), then-President APJ Abdul Kalam bent down and held the hands of a bright-eyed three-year-old boy standing beside his father. “Ye fauji ka haath hai” (These are the hands of a soldier), he told the child. On Saturday, those words came full circle on the same parade ground as the little boy, now a strapping young man, got commissioned into the Indian Army.Lieutenant Harmanmeet Singh’s commissioning marked the continuation of a family tradition that stretches back to the early years of independent India. He is the fourth generation from his family to don the olive green, following a legacy that began with his great-grandfather, late Subedar Partap Singh, who joined the Army in 1948, when the newly-independent nation was still shaping its armed forces. He was followed by Harmanmeet’s grandfather, late Sepoy Daljeet Singh, and his grand-uncles — late Major Bhagwant Singh and Col Ujagar Singh (retd).The 22-year-old Kanpur native was awarded the Silver Medal at the Cadets Training Wing (CTW) of the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE) under the technical entry scheme (46th course). He will serve with the 6 Maratha Light Infantry, the regiment commanded by his father, Colonel Harmeet Singh.For Col Harmeet, the moment carried a rare symmetry. He had himself graduated from IMA on Dec 9, 2000 — almost exactly 25 years before his son marched out of the same gates. The Army, he said, had always been part of Harmanmeet’s everyday world. Watching his father in uniform as a child, Harmanmeet insisted on a miniature Army outfit with matching insignias and badges. “It became his favourite attire. Even as a three-year-old in kindergarten, he told his teacher he wanted to be a GC (Gentleman Cadet). With God’s grace and his hard work, he finally became a soldier today,” Col Harmeet said.Between 2005 and 2007, Col Harmeet served as an instructor at IMA. It was during this period, in Dec 2006, that President Kalam visited the academy as the reviewing officer for the PoP, the same parade at which he shook young Harmanmeet’s tiny hands. Looking back now, Col Harmeet said the child’s hand had “finally, truly become a fauji’s.”Academically gifted, Harmanmeet topped both Class 10 and Class 12. Though his father briefly suggested he consider IIT — a path no one in the family had taken — Harmanmeet remained resolute about the Army. “He trained at the Officers Training Academy in Gaya under the technical entry scheme, spent three years at CTW at the Military Headquarters of War (Mhow) near Indore, and reported to IMA in Nov for the final phase of his training,” said Col Harmeet. Harmanmeet’s mother, Harveen Reen — whom Col Harmeet fondly calls the pillar of strength for the father-son duo — said there could be no greater pride than seeing her husband and son serve the country together. “His grandfather’s brother, who came to IMA to witness him don the two stars on his shoulders, was even more proud,” she added. For Lt Harmanmeet, the journey felt both inevitable and overwhelming. “I couldn’t dream of anything else after seeing my father in uniform and witnessing several PoPs at IMA when he was an instructor here. Today, I finally realised my dream,” he said.