Avani Chaturvedi: India’s pride
Avani Chaturvedi, an Indian pilot, has recently marked her name in history by becoming the first woman in the country to fly a solo fighter jet. She achieved this honour by flying a MiG-21 in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Avani is a small-town girl from the district of Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. She was born on 27th of October 1993 and began her education from Deoband in Madhya Pradesh. In contrast to most young ladies of her age, Avani often wanted to play with planes and choppers since she was a child. Avani Chaturvedi finished her B.tech from Banasthali University, Rajasthan. After completing her graduation in 2014, she started pursuing the AFCAT (1) Exam 2014.
Avani Chaturvedi had a great enthusiasm to join the Indian Air Force because of her older brother, who is an Indian Army Officer. In June 2020, she has made India proud along with Mohana Singh of Rajasthan and Bhawana Kanth of Bihar. The trio became the first women officers of Indian Air Force to fly a fighter jet. With this brave act, they have included the name of the country in the list of nations with women pilots flying fighter jets. The Defense Minister, Manohar Parrikar has officially appointed them after the effective fulfilment of their drill.
Being the first to break stereotypes, they were the centre of attraction at the parade after their faultless endeavour. They will be pursuing their Stage III coaching at Bidar in bordering Karnataka in the following year. After completing this training, they will get the chance to fly contender planes like the Sukhoi and Tejas. The three will start further practice on high-tech jet trainer Hawks. It will take an extra 145 hours on the Hawks for around 12 months before they would get into the cockpit of a supersonic jet.
The trio warriors
The two other women who created history along with Avani Chaturvedi are Mohana Singh of Rajasthan and Bhawana Kanth of Bihar. Ms Mohana Singh comes from the city of Jhunjhunu and has a granddad who was a Flight Gunner in the Aviation Research Center. Her father was also a Warrant Officer in the IAF. She is completely eager to proceed with the family tradition of working in the air force. Ms Bhawana Kanth, who hails from Darbhanga in Bihar, is the child of an official in the Indian Oil Corporation. She had always longed for flying planes from her youth days and decided on the fighter stream after her Stage I experience. All of their families consider it a massive achievement that their daughters joined the IAF.
During the talks with various media channels, the trio said that it was a dream come true to fly fighter jets. They had been holding on and working hard to achieve this goal for a long time. They also said that without family backing and consistent inspiration, they could not have achieved it. Concerning the trial, they said it was equivalent to how it is for men. The difficulties and obstacles of the coaching plan are also the same. These women are constantly putting in their 100 per cent. As of now, they are under coaching at Hyderabad Air Force Academy alongside. Avani Chaturvedi has only been through one year of training at the institute.
Avani Chaturvedi: family and personal life
The father of Avani Chaturvedi, Dinkar Chaturvedi, is presently working as an Executive Engineer in the Water Resource Department. Her brother is currently an Indian Army Officer. The maternal uncle of Avani Chaturvedi, Premprakash Sharma was also a Colonel in the Indian Army. Her mom Savita is a homemaker and is excited to see her little girl making the country proud. She still recalls Avani’s teenage days, when she had sought to become like Astronaut Kalpana Chawla. Savita is yet to deal with the fact that her little Bulbul (Avani) is presently flying contender planes.
Her family is proud about their little girl turning into a lady fighter stream pilot soon. They are glad that Avani has accomplished what she always longed for. Meanwhile, her mother anxiously anticipates for Sundays when she could converse with her little girl who is residing at the institute. Avani Chaturvedi shares her flight encounters as she converses with her mother over the phone on Sundays.
