Captain Divya Ajith Kumar is no ordinary officer. She was the first lady cadet to have ever been awarded the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ as she passed out from OTA Chennai as a commissioned officer in 2010. The Sword of Honour is awarded to the best cadet (overall merit) in the Academy to acknowledge the cadet’s outstanding proficiency in all aspects of the training. Needless to say, it is a challenging task to be worthy of this prestigious honour. However, until 2010, this honour was bestowed only upon the best gentleman cadet at IMA/OTA. It was Captain Divya whose achievement started a revolutionary trend in the Indian Army, and changed things for all future lady officers.
Captain Divya was born to a Tamil family in Chennai, India. She completed her schooling from the same city and then went on to pursue graduation at Stella Maris College, Chennai. Here, she joined the NCC (National Cadet Corps), which gave her inspiration to don the olive green uniform. Divya would administer and organize her college’s annual inter- college NCC festival, Cadostar, with utmost precision and responsibility. Captain Divya possessed officer like qualities from the very beginning, for she began to stand out even in her college NCC batch. Her focus and hard- work did not go unacknowledged. The spirited young Divya was chosen to lead the all- India contingent of NCC Senior Division Girls Wing at the Republic Day Parade in 2008! In fact, she went on to win the title of All India Best Girl Cadet as well as Best Parade Commander. It seemed like Divya had found her calling.
Divya had no defence background; she was the first in her family to aim for the post of a commissioned officer in the Defence Forces. She took the plunge with courage. After graduating from college in 2009, she cleared the CDS (Combined Defence Services) exam and the subsequent SSB. She joined OTA that year itself, and passed out in 2010. It was here, that she was awarded the Sword of Honour as he excelled amongst a total of 244 cadets of her batch which included 63 women. She was only 21 years of age then. Her accomplishments at such a young age are deeply inspiring to say the least.
As a commissioned officer, Captain Divya joined the Army Air Defense Corps (AAD) in September 2010. Five years down the line, she was bestowed with another honour- she was selected to lead the first all women contingent of the Indian Army at the Republic Day Parade in 2015. The dynamic officer proudly led the contingent which consisted of 126 lady officers and 28 lady cadets at the Parade where (then) US President Barack Obama was the chief guest. Clearly, there was no looking back for this extraordinary young officer.
Captain Divya is an all- rounder. She is a versatile and positive lady who actively takes part in various sports such as basketball and discus throw. She is also an accomplished Bharatnatyam dancer and percussionist. We sure are in awe of this talented personality!
Currently, she is an instructor at OTA, Chennai (another coveted post) and believes in motivating women to join the defence forces and serve the nation. It shows how dedicated, humble, and determined she is towards her duty as an officer, as she wishes to work for her organization and its betterment. She keeps visiting various schools and colleges to give pep- talks to girls/women and inspire them to choose a career in the Armed Forces.
She says:
“Things are changing fast. The role and strength of women in the Army is increasing… and more women are joining the forces every year. They are now in combat support roles as well. Maybe in 10 years, we will be on the border… I want more young women, especially from Tamil Nadu, to join the Indian Army”
Just as she is helping women realize their dreams of becoming officers, we hope Captain Divya’s vision and dreams soon become a reality too. All the best, Captain!
