Bihar girl to be fighter jet pilot

Patna: Bhawana Kanth (24), native of a Darbhanga village, has done Bihar proud by being one of the first three women in the country set to be fighter jet pilots in Indian Air Force. Along with Avani Chaturvedi and Mohana Singh, Bhawana is currently undergoing training at an air force base in Telangana. They will complete their training and join the force on June 18.
"For Bhawana, it was a childhood dream to be a fighter pilot, something only boys were expected to aspire to be. "But we never made her feel that she needed to think any different just because she is a girl," said her father Tej Narayan Kanth over phone from Mathura in UP on Thursday. He is currently serving as an electrical engineer in Indian Oil Corporation's unit there.
"Bhawana is my eldest daughter and was brought up at Barauni (in Bihar) during my long stint since 1986 at Barauni refinery as an electrical engineer. She did her schooling (class X) with 92.8% marks from Barauni oil refinery's DAV school," Kanth said.
After doing Plus Two from Vidya Mandir, Kota, she joined BMS Engineering College, Bangalore for doing BTech in medical electronics. After completing BTech, she joined the air force on short service commission.
Recalling about her choice, her parents - Tej Narayan and Radha - said she wanted to join NDA but, unfortunately, girls were not allowed. Since her childhood, she was versatile in extra-curricular activities, including swimming, sports and driving skill. She had won several medals also.
"We are not able to talk to her during her training programme because her cellphone is always switched off. She is not supposed to make any contact outside her campus, except for weekends," Bhawana's parents told TOI.
"Marna to sabko hai ek din. Isme darna kya hai," Tej Narayan recalls her daughter telling him during a recent telephonic talk. "The entire Mithilanchal is proud of her rare achievement. It is also a pride moment for my entire family living in a flood- prone village, Baur, in Ghanshyampur block of Darbhanga district," he added.