I had the privilege of a successful ejection from a Kiran HJT-16 fighter trainer aircraft on 04 Nov 1996 during a routine training sortie. It was my first sector solo and after an instrument failure, I lost all communication with the air traffic control and was locally lost. When I was close to 40lbs fuel and still far away from the airfield, I decided to eject. I got into the right posture and jettisoned the canopy. That strong blast of air is still so clear in my memory. After the canopy was gone, I had no doubt in my mind about pulling the ejection handle. I had no spinal compression injuries which had often been the stories associated with previous ejections. Twenty years ago, i had written a letter of gratitude to the Martin-Baker team for saving my life and helping me pursue my dream of flying and I am sure many more will be writing to you in the coming years thanking you for the wonderful contribution you have made to the aircraft ejection systems. With this ejection, I became the first Asian woman to have ejected successfully and the fifth worldwide female Ejectee.

I successfully completed a memorable tenure with the Indian Air Force and now I am pursuing my love for flying after joining commercial aviation. I am now a Senior Captain in a leading airline in India flying the Airbus A320 for Indigo Airlines.