At OTA, golden double for officer family

It turned out to be a Golden Saturday for the family of Joginder Singh Badotra, a retired Colonel, from Himachal Pradesh.  Their son Himanshu Badotra (24) was selected as the best all round cadet and was honoured with the President’s Sword of Honour during the passing out parade of the 287 young officers who successfully completed their 49 week gruesome training in the

Officers Training Academy, Chennai.  What made the day unique for the Badotras was that their daughter Niharika, a bio-informatics graduate, too passed out with Himanshu on Saturday, making it a golden double for the family.

Himanshu, a graduate in basic sciences, has will join the 11 Sikh regiment at Ganganagar in Rajasthan. “He will be the Golden Boy of the OTA since this year we are celebrating our Golden Jubilee year,” said a senior OTA faculty member.
Parents of all the 287 candidates were present at the OTA on Saturday to witness the passing out parade where they were commissioned as officers. This year saw 89 women candidates  joining different wings of the army.

The Batras are not the only family who have  sent their children to the armed forces. Prateek Sharma (25), a zoology graduate of Ghaziabad, is a third generation officer. “My father Vijay Kumar Sharma retired as a Major. My elder brother Sourabh is a serving as a Major,” said a beaming Prateek after the pipping  ceremony when his father decorated him with the two-stars which made him a Lieutenant.