Gunjan Saxena (Kargil Girl) Age, Biography, Family, Fact, Movie & Photo
Gunjan Saxena is a female Indian Air Force Pilot from Delhi, India. She is known for the first Indian women to fly in the war zone during the Kargil War in 1999 along with her fellow lieutenant Srividya Rajan. Though initiation of the women in the battalion started in 2016, Gunjan and Rajan became the first ever women IAF officers to fly in a combat zone during the war. Moreover, Young beautiful actress Jahnvi Kapoor has played the role of pilot Gunjan Saxena’s role in her biopic film. Know more about Gunjan Saxena’s wiki, biography, movie, husband, family, biopic, career, awards, photos & much more.
Gunjan Saxena Wiki
Lets take a quick information from the given table of wikipedia.
| Real Name: | Gunjan Saxena |
| Famous name: | Kargil Girl |
| Profession: | An Indian Air Force Personnel |
| Known for: | Being one of the first women IAF officer to Fly in combat zone |
| Gender: | Female |
| Date of Birth: | Year 1975 |
| Age: | 44 year old (in 2019) |
| Birthplace: | Not Known |
| Hair Colour: | Black |
| Eye Colour: | Black |
| Zodiac Sign: | Not Known |
| Hobbies: | Reading, Exploring New Places |
| Family: | Father: An Army Officer Mother: Name Not Known Sister: |
| Husband: | An Indian Air Force Mi-17 Helicopter Pilot |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Children: | Daughter; Pragya |
| Boyfriend/affair: | Not Known |
| Cast: | Not Known |
| Address: | Jamnagar, Gujrat, India |
| Religion: | Hinduism |
| Nationality: | Indian |
| Favorite Food: | Basket Chat, Kulfi Falooda |
Also read this, Jhanvi Kapoor
Biography
Gunjan Saxena is 44 years old (as in 2019) Indian Air Force officer. She belongs to an army background family as her father and brother are also army officers. Gunjan did graduation from the University of Delhi, India. During the graduation, She joined Safdarjung Flying Club in Delhi to learn basics of flying.
did graduation from the University of Delhi, India. During the graduation, She joined Safdarjung Flying Club in Delhi to learn basics of flying.
As Gunjan Saxena was from army related family background, she decided to join Indian Army after graduation. Moreover, Gunjan said in one of her interview, She got to see the cockpit at the age of five when she was accompanied by her cousin who was an Indian Airline Pilot. At that time she decided to fly.
Gunjan Saxena got an opportunity to appear in the very first women’s batch of Indian Air Force trainee pilot. After training, Gunjan cleared an SSB examination and joined IAF as a pilot. Moreover, In 1994, she got an opportunity to be selected into the first batch of women IAF trainee pilots which consisted of 25 other women members.
Family & Husband
Gunjan Saxena was born in 1975 and 44 years old as in 2019. She was born into a family of Army officers. Her father and brother both worked for the Indian Army. Gunjan Saxena is married to an IAF officer who is also a pilot and mostly flies Indian Air Force Mi-17 Helicopter. The couple together has a daughter named Pragya born in 2004.
Career
In 1994, Gunjan Saxena joined the Indian Air Force along with 25 other women trainees. According she said, her first posting was in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir (Himachal Pradesh). She got chance to serve the country in 1999 along with her fellow lieutenant Srividhya Rajan. It was the exact time of Kargil War broke out between India and Pakistan. Indian Army’s two major operations which led to the triumph during the Kargil war were Operation Vijay and Operation Safed Sagar. During the time, Gunjan Saxena was associated with the tasks involving medical evacuation, surveillance of Pakistani positions in the war zone, and provision of supplies.
Initially, women not allowed to fly in the war zone where mental stress and physical stress were at an extreme value. But, when the Kargil war broke out, and the Indian army was in desperate need of all its pilot to perform their duties in order to attain victory against Pakistan. Hence, the situations took extreme change and the women pilots called on to perform their duties. Hence, in June 1999, Gunjan docked into the Kargil, representing an Indian Air Force flight officer.
Gunjan and her fellow lieutenant Srividya Rajan had to involved evacuating causalities and carry out an aerial observation. Gunjan Saxena air-dropped crucial equipment to army units at the points in Dras and Batalik sectors. In one of her interviews, she mentioned the picking up the dead and wounded from the mountain edges. At that place, flying a chopper requires an excessive skill, was her assignment. She often had to complete her task with Pakistan gunfire and missiles targeted towards her helicopter. Evacuating the injured soldiers and saving the lives motivated her the most.
Awards
Gunjan Saxena was the first woman to receive the Shaurya Chakra Award for the magnificent determination and courage during the Kargil War.
Some interesting facts about Gunjan Saxena
- Gunjan became very famous as the Kargil Girl across the country.
- While performing her duties in the Kargil war as the flight officer, Gunjan’s helicopter was fired upon by the Pakistani troops where she had a narrow escape.
- Around 500 Indian army officer, soldier, and jawans were killed during the Kargil War.
- Currently, Gunjan Saxena is a homemaker residing at Jamnagar in Gujrat.
- In 2019, a Bollywood biopic on Gunjan Saxena produced by actress Jahnvi Kapoor. Movie’s name is ‘Kargil Girl‘ and other stars are Pankaj Tripathi and Angad Bedi.
- After seven years of her service in the Indian Military, Gunjan Saxena’s tenure as a Chopper Pilot ended in July 2004.