‘Cabin Cupboard’ and Five S.

Have a place for everything and have everything in its place – I learned this quite early in life.

Coming as a boarder from a Jesuit run school, it was not such a cultural shock when I joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) in the middle of my teens. I reached there carrying the only black steel trunk I was allowed with contents according to a printed list received along with the call letter.  The pleasant shock was each of us cadets was given a separate independent room called cabin. Keeping the inter services nature of NDA, cabins were in squadrons and squadrons formed part of battalions. Oh! At last a room of my own – we were in dormitories at the school. However the joy of moving into the cabin would be brief as I was to soon learn.

In the cabin there was a cot aligned to a far corner with stands for fixing a mosquito net. In the corner across from the cot was a study table with a chair in front. The study table had a top drawer and a bottom cupboard on one side. As you entered the cabin, immediately on the left was the dresser, the rear aligned with the wall and a mirror fixed on top and to the rear. The dresser had drawers and a wardrobe for hanging clothes. From the corner adjacent to the wardrobe, two racks, one a foot and the other about five feet from the ground and each three feet in length were fixed to the wall perpendicular to the entrance. The entry from the corridor was the exit also.

Every cabin was similar and every cadet – that is how we were known in the NDA - was moving into his cabin with exactly similar belongings. In addition at the NDA we were issued with similar kit and clothing.

The rules were set.

Everything we ‘owned’ while in NDA had a place and at all times we were to ensure that everything was in its place! The black trunk went under the bed with the civies (private clothes) and all other private things not required to be used in NDA during the term, locked and to be opened only for mid term holidays or the term break.

After these items were sorted out into the trunk, the daily use items were laid out in places earmarked for them; on the dresser, place for items of personal hygiene was on the right near corner, cosmetics on the left near corner and so on. The kit bag had a corner near the racks; shoes were placed on the bottom rack and field equipments on the upper rack. These items, when not in use, were never to be seen anywhere other than in their designated places.

The folds in the blankets, the set up of the field kits, the exact location of the toothpaste et al were standardized and we were supposed to always remember them.

It was imperative that the cabin be always maintained without a speck of dust literally. Inspections termed ‘cabin cupboard’ (short for ‘cabin cupboard inspection’) were carried out periodically. Nevertheless anybody could walk into the cabin anytime, put a finger anywhere. Hell waited for you if some dust was dug out.

The cabin door was to be left open whenever I was in it. The window and the venation blinds were to be closed whenever I left the cabin. The french windows were to be open only during study time.

Soon the whole set up became part of the routine and to this day we ‘cadets’ feel that there was no better home than our cabins at the NDA.

We moved on and decades later I left the Army and took up a second career as an entrepreneur in the industry.  There I was introduced to something called Five S. They said that about three decades or so ago, some westerners researched the secret for consistent excellent quality of Japanese products in the market. It seems they came across a unique concept followed in Japanese manufacturing processes. The Five S concept was explained to me as follows:

-       SEIRI –          Organisation/Sort out

-       SEITON –      Orderliness/Systemize

-       SEISO –        The Cleaning/Shining

-       SEIKETSU – Standardise

-       SHITSUKE -  Sustain/Discipline

I was also given loads of presentations and literature on the subject. Statistics of ‘before’ and ‘after’ in many multinationals were cited. I was told that if I were to succeed this was the only way.

The National Defence Academy along with its cabins was commissioned on 07 December 1954. Since then all cadets while in NDA and ever after have lived life Five Star.