LUCKNOW: Diligence and determination help realise all dreams, believes Sania Mirza, the daughter of a TV mechanic from Mirzapur, as she has cracked the prestigious NDA exam and will join the Academy in Khadakwasla in Pune on December 27.
She will be the country’s first Muslim woman and the state’s first IAF pilot.
Hailing from the Jasovar Village in Mirzapur, a backward district of eastern UP and known for its carpets, Sania always dreamt of becoming a fighter pilot in Indian Air Force. She cracked the NDA exam by securing the 149th rank.
“There are only two seats reserved for women in the fighter pilot category. I had attempted earlier also but failed. This was my second attempt and I managed to qualify for it this time,” says Sania with a glint of pride blended with happiness in her eyes.
In the National Defence Academy 2022 examination, there were a total of 400 seats of which 19 seats were reserved for women. Of those 19, two seats were reserved for fighter pilots.
Sania, who considers India’s first woman fighter pilot Flight Lieutenant Avni Chaturvedi of Madhya Pradesh as her role model, has many feathers to her cap.
She studied from primary to Class 10 at Pandit Chintamani Dubey Inter College in the village itself. After that, she attended the Guru Nanak Girls Inter College in Mirzapur city and became the district topper in the 12th UP Board. On April 10, she appeared for the NDA exam.
“I was very much inspired by Flight Lieutenant Avani Chaturvedi and decided to join NDA. I hope the younger generation will someday get inspired by me as well,” says Sania.
Strongly believing that language can never be a barrier on the way to success, Sania, a student of Hindi medium, said that firm determination paved her way to success. “Students having received education in Hindi medium are also capable of following their dreams with success,” she asserts.
Not only her parents, Shahid Ali Mirza and Tabassum Mirza, but the entire village is taking pride in her success. “Sania, after completion of her training successfully at Khadakwala, would be another fighter pilot serving the nation,” says the proud father Shahid Ali.
Soon, the mother, Tabassum Mirza pitches in saying, “Our daughter has made us and the entire village proud. She has pursued her dream with conviction and is an inspiration for every girl in the village to follow their dreams.”
However, Sania has credited her success to her parents and to the Centurion Defence Academy where she learned the trick to crack NDA.
Women have been making a mark and the sky has been the limit for them in the defence sector. Flight Lieutenant Avani Chaturvedi is the country’s first woman combat pilot along with Mohana Singh Jitarwal, and Bhawana Kanth. On the other, Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh, commissioned in 2017, made the country proud as the first Rafale woman fighter pilot.
