Ashok Mehlan's daughter Sheetal is among the first batch of girls to graduate from NDA.
Ashok Mehlan had chosen his attire carefully for what was easily the biggest day for his family.
Wearing a crisp white shirt and beige pants, he made it a point to put on sunglasses.
The sunglasses were not as much to shield him from the glare of the bright morning sun; but to hide the constant welling of tears in his proud eyes.
His 21-year-old daughter Sheetal was among the first batch of 17 girls to graduate along with 300 male cadets from the National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla, Pune.
Accompanied by his wife and son Tejas, he had travelled to NDA to see her at the grand passing out parade last week.
When the family met cadet Sheetal after the parade under the majestic Sudan Block, the building at the heart of the academy, tears of unbridles joy flowed out under Mr Mehlan's sunglasses.
"I was overwhelmed. My daughter along with 16 other daughters was celebrating her success. I hugged my child and the tears just flowed," says the resident of Sonipat in Haryana who runs a small business.
"Our dreams have come true."
That morning at the parade, the Mehlans had kept their eyes peeled on the marching columns trying to spot their daughter, but it was impossible to distinguish one cadet from the other because of the sameness of uniform and haircuts.
"My wife finally spotted her just as she crossed us. I was able to get a fleeting look. It felt so good," says Mr Mehlan whose wife's maternal grandfather was the only soldier in the family.
"My daughter will be the first army officer from our family. She has brought the family great honour."
Hailing from a state that sends a great number of personnel and officers in the armed forces, the maximum number of girl cadets in the NDA is also from Haryana.
The first batch of girls joined NDA in August 2022. Since then five more batches have joined. In a reply to the Rajya Sabha in March 2025, the minister of state for defence stated that 32 of the 121 girls cadets in the academy hailed from Haryana.
Mr Mehlan says his daughter began preparing for entrance test the moment she heard of the Supreme Court's decision to open the NDA for girls in a landmark ruling in 2021.
Women armed forces officers have been inducted through the Officers Training Academy in Chennai since 1992. However, the OTA takes in candidates who have completed graduation and trainees undergo a year-long course.
To be eligible for the NDA entrance exam, candidates need a Class 12 pass certificate. Training at NDA is for three years. The first batch of girls entered NDA in August 2022.
Sheetal cleared the NDA written examination at a centre in Chandigarh and appeared for the Service Selection Board interview in Prayagraj.
The SSB is a tough interview process conducted over 5 days.
She passed that too, but encountered an obstacle in the medical fitness test. Passing the test is mandatory for entry into defence training academies.
Overweight by 7 to 8 kgs, the military hospital gave her 40 days to shed the extra kilos and report back.
From that moment Sheetal set course on a mission to overcome that hurdle. She cut down on food, ran, swam and went to the gym every day.
Forty days later when she went back to the Base hospital in Delhi, she had dropped 9 kgs instead of the required 8.
"When she told me 'Papa, I have cleared', we partied there and then in the hospital canteen. She ate to her heart's content," says Mr Mehlan giving a sense of the hard work behind a cadet's journey.
"She had jazba [passion] for the armed forces and was determined to make it."
Finally when the joining letter arrived, she accessed it on her phone after swimming classes. Her mother was with her and they both came to Mr Mehlan's office to break the news.
"Then we were finally sure that she was going to the academy."
Three days later, he dropped her at NDA.
Three months later when she came home for a holiday by the NDA special train that dropped her at Delhi railway station, the family was taken aback with her remarkable transformation.
"Her long hair had been cut short and she followed such a structured discipline. Her way of talking, walking and the way she conducted herself had completely changed."
At the end of three years, she has undergone a sea change, he says.
"We are also learning from her. She is an epitome of courtesy and officer-like qualities and a fine example for her brother," says Mr Mehlan.
Cadet Sheetal Malhan will join the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun in July for another year's training. Next year, she will pass out of IMA and be commissioned into the Indian Army as an officer.
"She is our pride," says her father who cannot wait to see his daughter in her officer's uniform.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff
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