Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi has been to her home in Ghaziabad just once in the last two years, ever since she joined the Indian Navy.
When they heard of her achievement of being one of the first women to operate from flight decks of warships and stay on board the vessels, her parents Pravesh and Manjula Tyagi were elated.
“It is a moment of pride for all of us. We could not attend the ceremony on Monday due to the pandemic. But, all of us at home are eagerly waiting for her to arrive home as we have been able to meet her only once ever since she joined the Navy. But, of course, service comes first,” said Pravesh.
Sub Lieutenant Kumudini joined as ‘Observers’ (Airborne Tacticians) in the helicopter stream, along with Sub Lieutenant Riti Singh. They are the only women are among the 17 officers who were awarded “wings” on graduating at a ceremony held at INS Garuda, Kochi on Monday. They were trained for a variety of roles, including navigation, flying procedures, tactics employed in air warfare, anti-submarine warfare and airborne avionics systems.
The family is native of Kharkhauda in Meerut and shifted to Ghaziabad in 1983. Kumudini, her parents said, completed her schooling from St Paul’s Academy and later from Ch. Chhabil Dass Public School in Ghaziabad. She then joined ABES engineering college in Ghaziabad where she achieved a BTech in computer science.
{{/usCountry}}The family is native of Kharkhauda in Meerut and shifted to Ghaziabad in 1983. Kumudini, her parents said, completed her schooling from St Paul’s Academy and later from Ch. Chhabil Dass Public School in Ghaziabad. She then joined ABES engineering college in Ghaziabad where she achieved a BTech in computer science.
{{/usCountry}}In 2018, she She is the first from her family to join the military.
“She did not join the company which selected her as part of the college placement and neither did she attend other interviews. During her schooling and college, she had deep interest in the defence forces. We never stopped her from pursuing her dreams and she has shown us that she achieved what she aimed for,” said Pravesh.
Her grandmother, Rajesh Kumari, said that she was overjoyed with her achievement.
“I am feeling jubilant and she has made us all proud,” she said.
The living room of the Tyagi house has photographs of her in uniform and her mother, Manjula, who was eager to speak about her feats while undergoing training before she got commissioned.
“She was a driven child and she put in about 10-12 hours each day into her studies. She would run across the residential block for hours with earphones on. Her determination got her selected in the third attempt,” she said.
Tyagi’s brother Apoorv had also cleared the written examination of the combined defence services.
“He is aiming to join the Indian Army. Even as we know about the situations developing at our borders nowadays, we don’t mind our daughter going in for a combat role. It is part of her job and I know she will be ready for it,” said Parvesh.
With their induction, warships will no longer be no-go zone for women naval aviators. Earlier, entry of women was restricted to the fixed wing aircraft that took off and landed ashore.
“She has made us all proud and has also made name for the city. The Ghaziabad district administration will be eager to felicitate her whenever she comes back home from her duty. Her achievement is also a big motivation for other youngsters who wish to join defence forces,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate of Ghaziabad.