Encircling Captain Manoj Pandey's statue and saluting him with 50 push ups.

Throwing their caps in the air and stamping a tin shed with their thick-soled army boots.

It was the end of their course and the end of term for the rest of the Academy. The graduating cadets had to return their white uniforms before leaving, and the Academy, which was packed with people, wore an almost deserted look less than two hours after the parade.

One special train had been organised for the cadets to take them on their journey home.

Cadet Vishal Meghani, a Pune resident, was already missing the NDA a few hours after finishing his course. In the run-up to the parade, there was no time to think -- there was a lot of excitement, but now the void had already struck.

"I'll miss NDA. I think I'll go there in the next five, six days," he said over the phone.

Battalion Cadet Captain Bhawani Singh from Haryana, winner of the President's Gold Medal, turned out to be most elusive and in the greatest hurry. No amount of searching by the media and public relations staff at the Academy resulted in any success in locating this winner.

Perhaps Bhawani Singh just couldn't wait to get home.

Also read: Officers and Gentlemen