OTA alumnus Lt Bhavana Kasturi to lead all-men contingent on R-Day

The lady officer will be leading the Indian Army Service Corps contingent which is participating after a gap of 23 years in the Army Day parade. Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat will take salute on this occasion.

Lt Bhavana Kasturi joined the Officers Training Academy in 2015 after clearing the NCC 38 special entry, securing the fourth position in the All India Rank. “When I was studying in Arora College (Hyderabad), I joined NCC and later participated in the Republic Day parade. From that moment I was fascinated with the uniform,” said Kasturi, who joined the Army service in September 2016 via Services Selection Board (SSB).

Her dreams came true in 2016 when she joined the Army Service. After completing Master’s in microbiology, she appeared for the SSB and trained in the Officers’ Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai for 11 months. After training, Kasturi was initially posted in Kargil. On her social media page, she posted, “I think, I am already a role model, especially for young girls. The only thing I want to say is, chase your dreams and don’t give up.”

“Our centre is in Bengaluru and I’m coming from our regimental zone and it’s been six months that we have been practising. Along with me, there are two male officers, who are practising as contingent commanders. This is the first time ever that a lady officer is leading the contingent. The boys are putting in a lot of effort and we have been practising for the past one year,” Lt. Bhavana said.