The Hindu : Taking wing in Dindigal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 21, 2003

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National

Taking wing in Dindigal

By Aniket Alam

Newly-commissioned flying and ground duty officers of the Indian Air Force at the graduation parade at the Dindigal Air Force Academy, Hyderabad, on Saturday. — Photo: Mohammed Yousuf

HYDERABAD DEC. 20. As the sun went up in the sky, columns of bright young men and women marching to the martial tunes of Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja were commissioned into the Indian Air Force at the Air Force Academy at Dindigal near here on Saturday.

Proud parents jostled to catch the moment with their cameras as formations of planes and helicopters flew above. A new generation of officers and their magnificent flying machines glowed in the sun.

As their reviewing officer, the Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. N.C. Vij, reminded them, flying transcends ethnic, religious and regional differences. For up in the sky, there is only the human being surrounded by the elements.

As the parade ended, the newly commissioned flying officers of the IAF took their families around the planes that were on display. Even beaming grandmothers were helped into the cockpits as their confident grand-daughters showed them glimpses of a high-flying life. Two women were commissioned as pilots and 35 into other streams out of a total of 134.

This Academy at Dindigal trains cadets for their first year. After being commissioned as officers, they are sent to other stations for further training in their respective branches.

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