First Women Fighter Pilot of Maharashtra : ANTARA MEHTA

As a girl or a woman, what are our career choices? Or what suggestions do you give to the girls in your family or friends when they are thinking about choosing a career? There are many answers – Doctor, Engineer, Teacher, Designer, etc. Hence, very few of us get on the less-traveled path, paths that have been seen as masculine jobs until now. Antara Mehta, a girl from Nagpur, Maharashtra decided to walk this less-traveled path and now she is the first women fighter jet pilot from Maharashtra and only tenth in India.

A national-level basketball player, Antara Mehta completed her engineering from Ramdev Baba College of Engineering and Management. She was determined in the pursuit of her dreams and had to give her the Selection Service Board (SSB) interview three times before she could go to Airforce Training Academy.

Now, Antara was a part of the passing out parade of Air Force training Academy in Dundigal, Hyderabad, which took place on Saturday. She is also the only women officer chosen for a fighter stream from her batch.

When asked about how she got through the interview and training, Antara says, “I learned from my earlier mistakes and I kept three things in my mind – to go in this course with a fresh mind, a blank slate; to adhere every advice and trust completely, and to give it my best shot and just be myself.”