By Tripada Bharati
‘Dream big and have the will power to achieve it, you will definitely succeed’ says Mohana Singh who is one among the trio to be the first batch of women fighter pilots. The Air Force chief Arup Raha announced recently that these three girls, Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi, are likely to be inducted into the IAF fighter stream. They are to undergo advanced stage training at Air force Academy at Hakimpet, Hyderabad. Clearing this stage would pave their way to create history by becoming first women fighter pilots of India.
Come this June 18 and these three flight cadets will become India’s first women fighter pilots. Let me rephrase the term as just ‘fighter pilots’ according to the Air chief marshal Arup Raha, who prefers to call them as fighter pilots rather than women pilots. All three girls are exhilarant at the prospect of becoming first women fighter pilots. One of the three is the daughter of an Air warrior while the other two are from civilian background.
In a much welcomed decision, Defence ministry said that women will be allowed in combat roles flying fighter planes for the first time beginning with Air force. However, the clarification soon followed with a caveat that the approval of women into the fighter stream of IAF is only on an experimental basis for the period of five years. It has been for some time women have been demanding their induction into combat roles. The current decision, though on experimental basis, is certainly a major boost for women all across the country who have aspired to become fighter pilots.
Certainly, inspiration for millions of Indian women, these three chosen Air Fighter women sound jubilant, courageous and confident. Here is the interview of three future women pilots.
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