Haryana girl to lead Indian Navy in Republic Day parade

GURGAON: A 27-year-old woman officer from Haryana will be at the head of the Navy team that marches before US President Barack Obama at the Rajpath during the Republic Day parade on Monday, reflecting the strides women have taken in the Indian armed forces though combat roles remain off limits for them.

Sandhya Chauhan, a lieutenant commander, will lead the Navy's 147-member mixed contingent of sailors and three officers while her course mate, Lt Commander Priya Jeyakumar, will lead the first all-women marching contingent of the Navy at the Republic Day parade.

Sandhya, a farmer's daughter, is originally from Rewari, though her family shifted to Gurgaon for a few years. Her elder brother, Major Digvijay Singh Chauhan, is in the Army. Sandhya's family has now shifted back to Rewari but her in-laws are in Gurgaon. Her husband is also a naval officer.

The young officer told TOI on Sunday that she was proud to have been given the opportunity to lead the Navy's marching contingent before two heads of state and is fully prepared. "After gruelling practice for nearly two months, I don't have any apprehensions," she said. "There are hundreds of officers in the Navy who are senior to me but the forces tend to choose only those (for the Republic Day parade) who have good marching skills," she added.

Sandhya completed her BSc degree from Ahir college (affiliated to Maharishi Dayanand University) in Rewari before joining the Navy in 2010. She is currently posted as an observer for Dornier 228 aircraft at the INS base in Vishakhapatnam and has completed nearly 1,000 hours of flying, she said. This, she added, has catapulted her into 'Category B' even as her peers are in the 'C' or 'D' categories. "The higher grading is accorded to the officers who clear more written and flying exams," she said.

"I had a clear vision of becoming a defence officer. I studied science during my graduation to be able to apply for the Air Force and Navy. Distinction marks in BSc helped me reach the service selection boards directly. I was one of the three officers selected out of 350 candidates called for the interview," she said.

The training schedule for Republic Day kicked off on December 1 at the INS base in Chilika, Odisha. "We were made to march 20-25 km daily to prepare for the 15km march on January 26," she said. As a short service commission officer, she has nine years left in the services after which she is keen to take up a government job. "Some get into commercial flying but I will avoid that," she said.