Jogging, gyming, dieting bear fruit for Army aspirant

When 24-year-old Sunia Rajput earned the first rank in the prestigious Women Officer Technical Entry of the Indian Army, little did she know that she would have to shed some kilos to live her dream of wearing olive greens to serve the motherland.

Sunia's passion for the Indian Army and fascination for the uniform was such that she reduced eight kilos in 36 days, eight days before the deadline, just to make it into the services.

Come April, Sunia's dreams will get wings when her formal training as a woman officer (technical) In the Indian Army will finally begin.

"My grandfather was in the army. My father retired as Subedar, and my three uncles are colonels in the army, one of them is serving. My cousins are in the army. And I too wanted to be in the army because I had a fascination for the uniform since childhood. When I completed my BTech, the first thing I did was to apply in the Army", Sunia told DNA.

Hailing from the remote Barakh village in Reasi district of Jammu, Sunia completed her schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya No-1, Udhampur and later went on to pursue BTech in Civil Engineering from Rajasthan.

Later she applied for Short Service Commission Women (Technical) course and cleared the interview at Services Selection Board, Allahabad in November 2017 in her first attempt. She was adjudged the merit-list topper for the entry into the Indian Army.

Life, however, had other things in store for her. After clearing all hurdles, she was declared overweight by eight kilograms for the job. Sunia, however, did not give up and fought hard to reduce her weight before the time limit of 42 days.

"I was on a proper diet. I had a diet chart and went to the gym for two hours every morning. I was jogging thrice a day. I did not sleep much. I did all the physical tasks to reduce my weight in record time", she said

For Sunia, her family has been a pillar of support and that is why she could achieve what she yearned for, all her life. In fact, Sunia's father enrolled her in a school in Udhampur, far off from her home and village, just to provide her with a better education.

"I feel so blessed that I achieved what I wanted to in my life. I can't express how glad I am to serve my country. I wanted to take the legacy of family forward. The Army is very attractive, royal and adventurous", she said.

Sunia's training will start from April 2018 and will last until March 2019 at the Officer Training Academy (OTA), Chennai. After completing her training she will be designated as Lieutenant in the Engineering Corps of the Indian Army.