Manish was recommended through the CDS IMA 161 entry from 31 SSB Jalandhar in his fifth SSB attempt.
He completed his schooling from Science School, Nagrota, Jammu & Kashmir, and pursued his graduation from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, through distance education. He comes from an Army background, as his father is a retired Army personnel who served in the Ordnance Corps and retired at the rank of Naib Subedar. His mother is a homemaker, and his younger sister is currently preparing for NEET.
Manish’s motivation to join the Armed Forces initially came from his parents, who had always envisioned their child joining the Army. They sent him to Science School, where, over almost seven years, the disciplined environment and the school’s motto, “One Name, One Goal, NDA,” made the Armed Forces his own dream as well.
Manish discovered R2R through Instagram and came across Shashank Sir’s lectures. He felt that the approach resonated with him and eventually decided to join R2R. He had previously been recommended in his first attempt through the NDA entry, but was medically rejected due to his eyesight. This resulted in a gap of almost five years, during which he lost touch with the SSB process.
According to Manish, R2R helped him through small but significant improvements across different aspects of SSB. The focus on attitude and aptitude in GTO, understanding group dynamics, and the idea of being the glue of the group and balancing the group helped him become more confident in his approach. The psychological guidance also reinforced his belief in being natural rather than trying to manufacture responses.
What made his fifth attempt different was that he entered the SSB without biases or preconceived notions. Having already appeared for four attempts, he understood the process, but he did not over-prepare or enter the SSB with a fixed idea of how he was supposed to behave. He remained mentally present, listened carefully to the instructions, and focused on responding naturally to whatever was happening.
Another major factor was his ability to trust his natural self. He realised that his natural approach was already moving in the right direction and that he did not need to change himself artificially. He focused on expressing himself better and being authentic throughout the process.
His biggest challenge was GTO, particularly expressing himself confidently in a group. However, he realised that this difficulty stemmed from his own insecurities. During this attempt, he was able to gain control over those insecurities and became one of the stronger performers in his group. He credits his ability to remain hyper-focused on the process rather than his insecurities, along with his willingness to trust himself and not fear failure, for helping him perform consistently.
Manish’s journey involved several setbacks. After his initial NDA recommendation and subsequent medical rejection, he had to start again after a long break. He failed to clear two CDS attempts, later cleared CDS, AFCAT and CGCAT, but faced setbacks at the SSB stage, including being screened out. He then worked on improving his screening performance and eventually began getting screened in consistently. After facing two conference-outs, he continued addressing his shortcomings one step at a time and ultimately earned his recommendation in his fifth attempt.
His message to aspirants is to believe that they will eventually achieve what they want, focus on one step at a time, and keep improving. According to him, one unsuccessful attempt does not define the journey; what matters is continuing to work on oneself and trusting that with consistent improvement, the recommendation will eventually come.
