Two more women ready to fight

Ch Sushil Rao / TNN / Dec 17, 2017, 08:06 IST

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HYDERABAD: War fascinates them. Victory is what they are passionate about. But the road to their dreams was not easy for Pratibha and Shivangi Singh, the two women fighter pilots among the 39 who graduated on Saturday.
Pratibha hails from Rajgarh in Churu district of Rajasthan. Her father was in the army and mother a government teacher. But she had the tough job of convincing them before they allowed her to chart her own course to the skies.
Her decision to become a fighter pilot sprang from when she was in the NCC during her college days.As part of it, she attended the Republic Day camp in Delhi for a month and saw the Indian Air Force in action. Fascinated with the air show, she was hooked for life. "One can fly helicopters or transport planes even in civil, but one gets to fight only in the Air Force. I want to fight for my country if and when the challenge arises," she told STOI.
"The IAF is known for combat. The armed forces were established to fight. As a fighter pilot, I can fight if there is any critical situation for the country," she said. Asked about accidents during flight, she referred to an incident involving another female cadet this year and said, "It was a bad day. Nothing else."

For Shivangi Singh, her career choice was a natural extension of her personality traits. "I always had this combative nature in me. Becoming a fighter pilot was just the right thing for me," said Shivangi, who fails from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh
According to her mother Seema Singh, Shivangi had got a seat in engineering but didn't take it up. "I have always wanted to fly. War interests me. It may be dangerous, but that does not scare me. I will fight for my country," she said.

Shivangi has also been a national-level javelin thrower, winning three gold medals, and has played basketball at the national level.
According to sources, a third woman fighter pilot was to graduate on Saturday, but was injured in a crash while on a sortie in November. Last year, three women had graduated as fighter pilots and are undergoing further training in Bengaluru. Shivangi and Pratibha will also go there.

About the Author

Ch Sushil Rao

Sushil Rao is Editor-Special Reports, at The Times of India, Hyderabad. He began his journalism career at the age of 20 in 1988. He is a gold medalist in journalism from the Department of Communication and Journalism, Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad from where he did his post-graduation from. He has been with The Times of India’s Hyderabad edition since its launch in 2000. He has also done an introductory course in film studies from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and also from the Central University of Kerala equipping himself with the knowledge of filmmaking for film criticism. He has authored four books. In his career spanning 34 years, he has worked for five newspapers and has also done television reporting. He was also a web journalist during internet’s infancy in the mid 1990s in India. He covers defence, politics, diaspora, innovation, administration, the film industry, Hyderabad city and Telangana state, and human interest stories. He is also a podcaster, blogger, does video reporting and makes documentaries.

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