AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 159 of 237 26 OTA CHENNAI Maj Gen Murali Gopalakrishnan Genre: Military Institutions A rare occurrence of the MS Branch in posting a South Indian to Chennai landed me in OTA, St Thomas Mount as Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor (DCCI). Lt Gen SS Jog, the boss, a 47 th NDA Course Boxing blazer with a novice’s boxer as his deputy set out on a path of taking OTA to greater heights. The Academy raised by Brig Ram Singh commenced its march on 15 Jan 1963 with 442 cadets of EC 1 (Emergency Course). It has a ‘White House’ where the Commandant and staff were housed. History eludes me on the origin of the word ‘White House’, but certainly it had no similarity to the history of ‘Sudan’ block in NDA. The Sudanese were a friend unlike the USA. Set in about 650 acres, it is a revelation to many Chennaites that such expanse of planned open spaces exists in their city. Many of course are also ignorant of existence of an Academy. The first site of the academy is literally a jamais vu (opposite of déjà vu) for many.