Konkani girls from Kochi, B’luru say aye to armed forces

Mangaluru: Two beneficiaries of Fund (VKSSF), set up by World Centre a decade ago, have carved a niche for themselves in the armed forces.

While the scholars in the past decade have branched out into various areas, Reshmi Gopinath Bhat and Megha N have opted for the rigours of the armed forces.

Reshmi, daughter of Sobha and Gopinath, employee at Kochi Tirumala Devaswam Temple, graduated from the 94th Aeronautical Engineering Course at Air Force Technical College (Jalahalli, Bengaluru) on May 29. Dr Megha, daughter of E D Narasimha Shenoy and Gomathi Shenoy, Bengaluru, has been selected as assistant medical officer in Border Security Force (BSF). She is currently serving at one of the Covid facilities of BSF.

Reshmi, electronic and communication engineer from Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology (ASIET, Kalady, Kerala), was placed in aerospace domain at TCS for three years. She was the lone woman from among 16 graduates who completed the aeronautical engineering course. The grads have undergone 74-week training which covered 22 weeks at AFA Hyderabad in aeronautical engineering, and field-related skills.

Dr Megha, an MBBS graduate from Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS), served as medical officer at a primary health care centre in Mandya district during her rural service stint. While working there, she applied for the armed forces. Both the girls have been active in the alumni association of the scholarship programme.

Corporate social leader T V Mohandas Pai, who instituted VKSSF, the means-cum-merit scholarship to help talented yet economically backward students across Konkani-speaking communities progress in life, said the example that Reshmi and Megha have set has raised the bar for future crop of VKSSF scholars. “While their community, these scholars have also set out on the path of serving the country in their respective areas,” Pai noted.