Major Rishabh Singh Sambyal (Retd.), best known as the former Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the President Droupadi Murmu but has also been declared as “national crush” by social media, recently gave a glimpse of what it takes to become a Special Forces operative.
Sambyal took premature retirement from the Indian Army recently, after having served as the Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the President Droupadi Murmu. In a podcast, he described the Balidan Badge as a symbol of sacrifice. “You have to give your blood, your sweat, and your sleepless nights to earn this… . When you enter the tank after being deprived of water for over a day, the first thing you naturally do is drink water-even though tank water with diving equipment isn’t drinkable.
“For roughly 90 days, you are put into a completely cut-off world under controlled stressful situations to assess your capabilities… For 90 days, it is rigorous training, sleepless nights, tasks, and missions,” Sambyal said in the podcast.
Originally from Samba, Jammu, he became a viral sensation and was dubbed the internet’s “national crush” due to his composed demeanor, sharp appearance, and visible dedication while shielding and assisting the President during official events. It is a symbol that you have given balidan [sacrifice] of your soul – you have given what it takes to be the best towards the organisation and towards this cause,” he said in the podcast with Raj Shamani. “Basically, they don’t let you sleep during these 90 days-you hardly sleep in your classes when you’re about to doze off…,” he said, adding that a candidate is pushed to human limits to see whether the individual breaks or not. “The stress phase lasts for 72 hours with no rest, no food, and no water…During these 72 hours, the level of difficulty increases every minute-carrying logs on shoulders, carrying a 30 kg backpack with weapons, and walking continuously without water,” Sambyal said He further said: “After a certain time, you reach the diving tank where underwater diving is taught… Sharing more on the deployment of Special Forces, the former ADC to President of India said, “When terrorists hide or situation goes out of hand where regular infantry isn’t specially trained or equipped for that exact environment, Special Forces are called in by commanders.”
