CHENNAI: After graduating from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Kushboo Jain did not want to take up her father’s business. The 24-year-old felt a corporate job was not her cup of tea and wanted to return to India. It was then she decided to join the Army. A career shift from a high-paying corporate job to doing vigorous military drills, Kushboo Jain, who passed out from the Officers Training Academy (OTA), has set a high benchmark of success for women in this country.
“I did not want to do the corporate job, but wanted to dedicate myself to the nation. Joining the Army was the best decision of my life,” said Kushboo, who hails from Coimbatore. The story is the same for other women who were among the 183 graduates from the OTA. Working in TCS for three years, Anjali Narayan (26) felt the 9 to 5 job had become monotonous for her. A decision to do something challenging then brought her to the army. Later, it was in Bengaluru, she came to know about the short service commission. She got an all India rank in her fourth attempt.
‘’I have always had this dream to be part of armed forces. I would rather sweat than to be in an AC Room,’’ she said. Anjali said awareness about the military was not high in her hometown Patna. More importantly, it was rare for women to join the army. ‘’Young ladies, it is high time we should be part of the defence force and there is nothing that we cannot do,’’ is her message.
On Saturday, 153 men and 30 women graduated from OTA at St.Thomas Mount here. Addressing reporters after reviewing the parade, Lt.General Satinder Kumar Saini, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, said: ‘’New technologies are disrupting the way we have been fighting. Here, at OTA, we have been continuously reassessing as to how we need to change and modify our tactics and procedures to leverage the new technology to train our young officers so that they can face any kind of challenges in the field,’’ he said.
“New technologies coming in are in the field of cyber warfare. Guidance technology and nano technology are revolutionising the way weapons are designed,’’ he said. Cadets from Bhutan, Seychelles, Maldives, Fiji, and Uganda too graduated from OTA while Saini presented the Sword of Honour and Gold Medal to Academy Under Officer Ravi Kumar, Silver Medal to Battalion Under Officer Abhishek Kumar and the Bronze Medal to Academy Cadet Adjutant Wickremaditya Manker. Army officials and family members of graduates participated in the event.