The National Defence Academy (NDA) serves as Pune’s pride when it comes to producing prodigal leaders of the battlefield. NDA is located about 11 Kms from Pune city and is marked with awesome greenery and great views.
To enter into NDA, you need to have an officer from NDA accompany you. However, if you dont have one, you can apply to Commandant and come. Else, you can come and see NDA during one of the bi-annual Passing Out Parade (POP), the coming being on 28th May.
Once you enter NDA, its a different world. Amongst sweating and shouting and training that the 2000+ cadets do, you will notice that the place is serenly quiet and full of wild life. Inside NDA, the most popular spot for sightseeing is the Peacock Bay. Here, the NDA Cadets are trained for Naval excercises. The entire bay area is breathtakingly beautiful and you can just get lost wathching the various birds, animals and fish that flock the area.
From the peacock bay, the next stop is Sudan Block. Sudan Block was the first building that was erected for the NDA. It was constructed with helping grant from the Sudanese Government and hence the name. The entire Sudan block looks like 3 things in an areal view if you go up in a chopper:
The central building looks like a soldier’s helmet.
The left flank looks like a ship’s anchor
And the right flank looks like a plane’s cockpit!!
Sudan block houses the potraits of all the decorated ex-cadets of the academy and is a place of respect.
From Sudan Block, you can just roam around in any direction and be awed! There is Vyas Library which is the biggest library in Asia. Just watching the shelves full of books would get your head into a tailspin!
There is the cadet’s mess with a seating capacity of 3000 cadets at any given time. Again, the size gets you real hard.
There is the parade ground with the flag hoist from INS Vikrant, India’s first Naval AirCraft carrier
When you are tired of roaming around (and I seriously doubt that will happen) you can just go to GOL BAZAR and enjoy a cold drink and a snack.
The best part comes when dusk spreads its arms over the place and you feel like just sitting there and listening to the bird return home. You can go to the wildlife sanctuary and watch the deer and rabit (and occasional fox and leaopard) just stroll around.
And before you can realize, it is time to go since visitors are not allowed to stay after sunset in the academy.
I strongly advice you all to go to NDA and have a look. If peace and nature is your kind of a place to be, you will regret getting out of that NDA Gate.
Happy touring!!
How to get there: Catch an auto for Chandani Chowk or NDA Gate. You can not take the auto inside. In case you have a 2-wheeler, remember to carry a helmet.