Training is tough and especially when you are training to don the uniform, it is even tougher. Sensing that training sometimes slightly dampens the spirit by making young recruits homesick, the drill ustaad of 10th Battalion of the Telangana State Special Protection Force, invented a rather unique way to get daily physical drills conducted. Mohammad Rafi, an assistant sub-inspector, who has made the Bollywood song 'Dhal gaya din, ho gayi shaam' a part of their marching drill, went viral for his drill over the social media.
A video of Rafi, who can be seen not only teaching drill to the recruits, also marches along with them while singing Mohd Rafi's song, with much josh and aplomb. The coincidence is that drill ustaad Rafi was singing legendary singer Mohd Rafi's song. They do not only share the same name but similar spirit too.
The video was posted by Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Anil Kumar on Twitter and it instantly got 1,700 likes and was re-tweeted hundreds of times.
'Video reflects the spirit of young recruits'
Anil Kumar when contacted by International Business Times, India, stated, "Basically, it's a very unique way of getting training conducted. The recruits were doing the drill perfectly. The credit entirely goes to the drill instructor. The pace and the rhythm of the drill were perfect. As of now, there are about 16,000 to 17,000 young recruits under training at various training institutes in Telangana. This particular video is from the Special Police Force and I shared it because it reflects the spirit of these young recruits under training and their drill instructor."
On the other hand, the 41-year-old Rafi was quoted as saying that he always tries to bring the recruits out of their homesickness and physical duress.
He added that since 2007, he has come across various shortcomings. He had started training recruits in 2007 and he states that their day begins at 4:30 am and ends at 8 pm. He sometimes sings patriotic numbers to uplift the josh among recruits.
Rafi joined the force as a constable in 1998 and was promoted to head constable in 2006 and assistant sub-inspector in 2018.
He said that his grandfather was a policeman during the British Raj and his father was also a civil constable.
