For years, he cooked and served food to the army officers in the officers’ messes, but on Saturday tears of joy flowed from the eyes of G S Bisht when his son Rajendra Singh Bisht, donning olive green of army with epaulets of an officer, saluted him.

The happiness of the family belonging to remote Pachisi Kapaddi village in Almora district doubled when the bright GC was conferred with  the prestigious Sword of Honour for being the best all -round cadet among the GCs of passing out course.

A beaming father of the young officer, who at present serves as a civilian staff in Kumaon Regimental Centre at Ranikhet said that he always dreamt that one day his son would don the uniform of an officer and it was a dream come true for him. The entire family of Bisht was present on the occasion. A proud Nandi Devi, the grandmother of the officer, said that Rajendra would be the first officer in the army from the area they hail.

The elder brother of the officer, Kamal Singh Bisht, a mechanical engineer by profession, was also present on the occasion. He said that Rajendra always excelled in studies.

The recipient of the Sword of Honour has done his schooling from Kendriya Vidhyalayas of Bareilly in UP and Ranikhet in Uttarakhand. The boy showed his calibre when he was selected for Sainik School, Ghorakhal. Incidentally, Rajendra was adjudged  the best cadet during his stint at the National Defence Academy (NDA), Kharakwasla.