The Story of a Woman Helicopter Pilot -

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I was a girl with stars in my eyes (quite literally). Every night, as I sat on the veranda of my father’s farmhouse, I watched the stars and even had a special one. I often asked my star to guide my destiny as I wanted to do something different. But how far that star would take me, I did not know it then. My life and that of my sister, Supreet, was very humdrum. We were daughters of a farmer and we lived and went to school in the mofussil town of Rudrapur in Uttaranchal. Doing something special in life for girls was not only unheard of but almost impossible. But the fire burned slowly, yet steadily, inside me. Every day my special star would counsel me to dream big and to relentlessly pursue that dream.

I left for Chandigarh to pursue my collegiate education. I joined a postgraduate course in IT and joined the first batch for M.C.A. at Panjab University, Chandigarh. Years went by and I stood at the threshold of being a post-graduate in informatics but fate had other plans for me.

One day, I saw an advertisement in the newspaper by the Indian Air Force asking for women recruits to train to be pilots. My sister and I filled in the application out of curiosity and to our surprise, we were selected. It was perhaps the most exhilarating moment in our lives. Together, we featured in the Limca Book of World Records as being the first sister duo in the world to fly as a pilot and co-pilot.

The day we graduated with wings, as a pilot, it was a proud moment for us, our parents and my prospective in-laws. It felt like we had our own wings. With the little experience and expertise that we had gained, we were ready to face the male-dominant world but the challenges were many-fold. From sharing the male toilets to proving our worth professionally, to fit into a male-dominated culture where rough language and sexist jokes were a norm. I was quick to realize that the attitude, perceptions, professional competence and preparations can make a huge difference.

My dream posting was Leh – flying in the Siachen Glacier, the highest battlefield in the world. I am proud to say that I am the first lady pilot to have flown in the glacier. I was told that Siachen is where only one type of pilot operates – the brave one. I had to prepare myself to push my self-imposed limits and look beyond.

Flying in Siachen was a challenge where records for human endurance, flying and technical competence are set nearly every day. The area was more beautiful than I could have imagined. As I started flying, I realized that we had to brave temperatures as low as -50º C, strong winds, lack of oxygen and flying in poor weather conditions close to hills. Helicopters at Siachen fly at the edge of their flight envelope where the power margin available is small, if not negligible. Any miscalculation or mishandling of controls could result in a catastrophic accident. The landing on the matchbox-sized helipads had to be precise. The motto of our unit was ‘We do the impossible as a routine, the possible may take a little longer’. This posting for me was a dream come true and I was very fortunate to have experienced and enjoyed every moment of it. I hold the World Record for being the first lady to have operated in Siachen and landed at the highest ALG in the world.

My experience as a helicopter pilot has enabled me to get an education in a very specialised field. I have had to take responsibility far beyond my imagination. I also got the opportunity to do the para jumping course with the Air Force and become a paratrooper.

I have received many awards, the most prominent amongst them has been the ‘Woman Achiever of the Year’ awarded by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare in the year 2007. I was on the cover of India Today and that brought me a lot of name and fame as a representative of the ‘Woman of Tomorrow’. I am told that my picture is in the museum of flying in Texas, USA.

My passion for the empowerment of women has made me the Chief ambassador of the international initiative ‘The Successful Women’ where along with my partner Joanna James, I aim to reach out to women across the world to provide holistic world-class success education to achieve the life and lifestyle they truly desire.