#ShauryaStories: All about India's first woman IAF combat pilot Gunjan Saxena 'The Kargil Girl'

On January 26, 2021, India will celebrate its 72nd Republic Day. And on this day, as the nation celebrates and honours its bravehearts, how can we not take the opportunity to look back at some inspiring stories of lesser known heroes who created history in their own ways. 

One such hero who broke the glass ceiling and created history to become the first lady pilot to fly in a combat zone is Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena 

Who is Gunjan Saxena? Her role in the Kargil War

Born in 1975, Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena is an Indian Air Force officer and former helicopter pilot. 

A 1999 Kargil War veteran, Gunjan joined the IAF in 1994. She was one of six women who joined the IAF as pilots in 1996.

At 24, she was the only woman to be part of the Kargil War, making her the first woman IAF officer to go to war. Additionally, she is the first of two women along with Flight Lieutenant Srividya Rajan from the IAF to enter a war zone flying Cheetah helicopters.

Her role during the Kargil War included evacuating the wounded, transport supplies and assisting in surveillance such as mapping enemy positions. She was part of an operation that was undertaken that time to evacuate over 900 troops, both injured and deceased, from Kargil. Later, in 2004, her career as a helicopter pilot ended.

 After Kargil, she was honoured with the 'Shaurya Veer' award from a civilian organisation in Uttar Pradesh. 

'Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl' - The Biopic

In a bid to honour Gunjan and bring to the audience a story inspiring in more ways than one, a film was recently made titled 'Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl' with actress Janhvi Kapoor as the protagonist. 

The movie also features Pankaj Tripathi, Angad Bedi, Vineet Kumar Singh and Manav Vij in pivotal roles.

Netflix India describes the premise of the movie as 'Flight Lieutenant Gunjan Saxena makes history in her journey from aspiring aviator to India’s first female combat pilot in the Kargil War.'

The biopic released on the OTT platform on August 15, 2020.