A “Grand Musical Evening” followed by Cocktails and Dinner was held at the Santosh Gupta Hall, National Defence Academy on Saturday, 13th September 2025 from 1930 to 2230 hrs. Vice Admiral Gurcharan Singh, AVSM NM, Commandant NDA graced the evening as the Chief Guest, while Rear Admiral V Ganpathy, NM, Commandant MILIT as well as Cmde S Parthiban, Commanding Officer INS Shivaji – both of whom had recently taken over their respective appointments – were Guests of Honour. Special mementos and floral tributes were presented to the guests and their ladies.

The event was kicked off by the MC Cmde S Ramaswamy, Secretary NFPC – himself a talented singer. The audience of more than a hundred were treated to a spellbinding number of popular Hindi song renditions through Karaoke by NFPC members and their ladies, showcasing the inhouse talent that exists within the veterans community. The Commandants NDA and MILIT also pitched in with equally enthralling performances, while many in the audience let down their hair and livened up the dance floor. Other prominent singers included Lt Cdr Balwant Singh (the oldest member at 88), Mrs Indira Balachandran and Cmde Arun Kumar, who sang the evergreen oldie ‘Strangers in the Night’.

The occasion was also used to hand over Captain’s stripes by Commandant NDA to a number of veterans for whom the promotion from Commander to Captain under the AVSC Scheme had not been notified while they were in service, but which had been made retrospectively following a Court order and notified by Naval Headquarters a few months ago. The occasion was also used to celebrate the birthdays of Mrs Rohini Subhedar and Capt Tushar Dahiya by a cake-cutting which added a personal touch to the evening.

The musical performances were followed by a dinner that was both sumptuous and scrumptious, while the tipsy pudding dessert brought back many fond memories to NDA Alumni, for whom it had seemed like ambrosia during their cadet days.

The musical evening was universally acknowledged as a grand success with many in the audience expressing their wish for more such activities.

Some photos of the event may be viewed here.