SOURCE: REPUBLIC TV
Breaking the glass ceilings by becoming the first woman pilot to join the Indian Naval operations, Sub Lieutenant Shivangi on Sunday arrived at Republic TV studios donning her white naval uniform for the celebration of the 71st Republic Day. “This country’s diversity makes me proud as an Indian. It’s diverse and yet there is immense support from all corners, we are all so united,” she said while speaking to Republic Media Network’s Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.
Hailing from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, Sub Lieutenant Shivangi dreamt of becoming a pilot at a tender age of 10. At 10, when a minister arrived at her grandfather’s town for a rally in a helicopter, she was enthralled to see the fluttering of the helicopter. Later in the fourth year of her M.Tech, a Naval presentation by a Navy team for University entry Scheme solidified her idea and she applied for the pilot entry in the Indian Navy.
“Fortunately, the navy had started Pilot entry at that time and so my childhood dream came to be true. I always wanted to be a pilot. I never knew I will be the first one.”Shivangi completed her schooling from DAV Public school, Muzzafarpur. She was inducted into Indian Navy as SSC (Pilot) as part of 27 NOC course in Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala and got formally commissioned by Vice Admiral AK Chawla, in June last year. The Navy’s Aviation branch has had women officers operating as air traffic control officers and as ‘observers’ in the aircraft who are responsible for communication and weapons. The Navy with the induction of Shivangi had its first woman pilot trained by Navy to make first cockpit entry on December 2.
“If you dream of doing something go forward, luck only favours those who work hard, be focussed,” Shivangi said with a smile.
Sub Lt Shivangi’s first solo flight
Expressing her euphoria during her first solo flight, Shivangi said: “I was at the lineup, I was a bit nervous. I had questions, maybe there will be an emergency or anything. I will be able to handle it or not. As soon as I got the permission to take-off, I started the engine. At that moment, I heard the noise of the engine, I took off, above the runway, in the sky. I was scared, nervous, excited. I’ll never be able to describe that feeling.”
When asked about her feeling of how she felt as a first woman to fly the solo aircraft, The Sub Lt quoted her Captain and said: “My Captain told me that a plane does not know you are a woman or a man.”On December 2 last year, in what was a proud moment for the country, she became the first woman pilot to join the Naval operations in the Indian Navy in Kochi. However, she said that with the feat comes a huge responsibility. “I understand that this happiness comes with a lot of responsibility,” she said. Speaking about her father who is a school teacher and her mother who is a house-wife, she said: “I will not be able to express their feeling but they were teary-eyed during the ceremony. They were proud of me, said the Sub Lt who flies Dornier aircraft for sea surveillance.
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