Onika Maheshwari/New Delhi

Shershah, the 2018 Hindi movie based on the Kargil war on martyr Vikram Batra was the inspiration for Sania Mirza, a television mechanic’s daughter from a town in Uttar Pradesh, to work hard for getting selected into the National Defence Academy with her eyes and mind set on becoming a fighter pilot.

Sania Mirza, a resident of a small village of Jasovarin Mirzapur district, has secured the second position in the flying wing with 149th rank in the NDA exam. There are only two seats in the flying category and therefore Sania stands a good chance to become India’s first Muslim woman fighter pilot in due course. There are only 19 posts reserved for women in NDA.

Sania Mirza said she wants to become a fighter pilot for which she would have to clear several examinations during her four-year graduation in the NDA, Dehradun.

Speaking to Awaz-the Voice, Sania Mirza said a Fauji (Military person) can be born anywhere. She says that getting into the NDA fills one’s heart with a feeling of patriotism and this emotion is not linked to one’s caste, religion, or gender. “It is the innate courage to do something for the country that becomes your strength,” she said.

She believes that every person Military person is always determined to serve the country. Sania said that she had prepared for the tough NDA entrance examination by self-learning on digital platforms. Without waiting for any guidance or support she immersed herself in her studies to prepare for the NDA examination.

Sania Mirza’s dream is to become a fighter pilot because she says she loves challenges. However, her dream can come true only after she had cleared special courses for becoming one. The Indian Air Force has wished Sania Mirza the best of luck and cleared the media hype on her becoming the first Muslim woman pilot since it is subject to many factors.

Sania also said she decided to become a fighter pilot after knowing about Flight Lieutenant Avni Chaturvedi the first woman to fly the MIG in the Indian Air Force. “The fact of Avani Chaturvedi becoming the first Indian woman pilot to fly MiG-21 is part of the Air Force’s history,” she said.

Sania Mirza says her parents and siblings supported her in her effort to realize her dream.

She realized that after 2015, there has been no enrollment of girls as fighter pilots. She felt that women should go ahead and join this profession, somewhere if no women came forward in this field for so many years there is some problem.”

Soon Sania read that after the order of the Supreme Court in September 2021, there was a change in the registration limit of girls in the NDA examination, and registration of girls started and enrollment for the course to become fighter pilots started.

Sania Mirza’s experience is learning for the youth that they must use the internet and social media for realizing their dream and not just for entertainment.

It also shows the determination and clarity of the mind of this young girl. She wrote the NDA entrance examination in 2021 and waited patiently for the result.

Sania has been receiving congratulatory messages from all over the country for her success in the examination. People are praising her determination through their social media posts.

Sania told Awaz-the Voice that the conservative thoughts of society can be eradicated only by knowledge. She believes all girls have full right to study “because when a woman gets educated she becomes teacher for her family.”