40 years on, four military officer friends reunite at Sainik School alumni meet
Lieutenant General Vijay B Nair, Major General Vinod T Mathew, Major General Hari B Pillai, and Air Vice Marshal K V Surendran Nair — batchmates from the class of 1985 — were the guests of honour at the gathering. Another former student, Air Marshal Balakrishnan Manikantan, was the chief guest of the event. During their visit, the officers also inaugurated a 150 KW solar power plant on the school campus.
'About 14 students from our batch joined the armed forces,' said M A Anil Kumar, another 1985 alumnus and former regional manager of the Kerala State Co-operative Agricultural Rural Development Bank. 'During their talk, they recalled how visits from serving officers during school days deeply inspired them to join the forces,' he added.
Lieutenant General Vijay Nair, a native of Palakkad, now leads the Indian Army's Northern Command based in Udhampur. A key figure in Operation Sindoor, he has commanded anti-terrorist operations in Kashmir and served in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. He also headed the UN Multinational Force in Congo. Major General Vinod Mathew, from Thodupuzha, is the General Officer Commanding of the Karnataka-Kerala Sub-Area. He led rescue operations during the Chooralmala-Mundakai landslide in Wayanad and has fought insurgencies in Assam and Manipur. He has served in UN missions in both Congo and Sudan.
Major General Hari Pillai, from Kundara, currently serves as Additional Director General of the Bengaluru Regional Recruitment Zone. With years of experience in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir and the North-East, he also served with the UN in Congo.
Air Vice Marshal Surendran Nair, from Thrissur, is among the country's top fighter pilots. He has flown MiG-21s, MiG-29s, and Sukhoi-30s and currently serves as Chief Instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.
The alumni meet saw students from various walks of life -- doctors, engineers, bureaucrats, pilots, and UN officials -- return to the campus. What truly captured the spirit of the occasion was the story of these four classmates, who grew up dreaming together and went on to serve the nation.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Meet Kadambini Ganguly: The woman who rewrote the rules of Indian medicine
Born in a Brahmo family in Chandsi, in Bengal's Barisal district (now in Bangladesh) on July 18, 1861 Kadambini Basu along with Chandramukhi Basu, became the first female graduates in India, from Bethune College in Kolkata. Not only that, she was the first female doctor in South Asia to get three bachelor's degrees in medicine! Let's look back at the greatness of this inflexible woman. Dating back to a time when women were confined within abodes, expected to remain invisible, unheard, and unquestioning, Kadambini Ganguly's voice reverberated through the male-dominated corridors of medical college. The doors of Calcutta Medical College had echoed with a thousand footsteps, but never once those of a woman, until Ganguly knocked, not with hesitation, but with resolve. Yes, it is a story that not only swells our chests with pride, but also upholds a legacy worth cherishing. The same eyes that had once seen shuttered schoolrooms, male-only lecture halls, and a society terrified by the simple sight of a woman carrying books, those very eyes now led a battle India had never before witnessed. No garlands. No applause. Just a quiet resolve. She did not come to be welcomed. She came to rewrite the rules in ink and scalpels, where women were never meant to leave a mark. A childhood lit by rebellion Born on 18 July 1861 in Bhagalpur, Bengal Presidency, now Bihar, Kadambini Basu entered the world as a contradiction. She belonged to the Kulin Kayastha caste, a socially elevated group that paradoxically resisted female education. But her father, Braja Kishore Basu, who had a different lens for society, became the cornerstone of a history in making. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This Could Be the Best Time to Trade Gold in 5 Years IC Markets Learn More Undo In a world where educating girls was considered blasphemous, he initiated the first women's organization in India, the Bhagalpur Mahila Samiti, when his daughter was just two. In 1878, she shattered a glass ceiling and inscribed her name into the annals of history: Kadambini Ganguly became the first woman to pass the University of Calcutta's entrance examination. By 1883, alongside Chandramukhi Basu, she graduated from Bethune College, becoming one of the first two female graduates in India. But for Kadambini, education was never the destination; it was only the beginning. Her path did not end with a degree; it pressed forward, with firm determination, toward a profession the world insisted was not meant for women: Medicine. Did success feel like a celebration? Alas, no. It felt like isolation. She had to outthink, outwork, and outlast everyone around her, not because she wanted to prove herself better, but only to prove that she was 'equal.' A doctor against the odds Her decision to pursue medicine was not only courageous but unthinkable at that time. She was among the few Indian women to seek higher education, and she did so in a world brimming, and reeking, of patriarchy. As she stepped into the medical college, a different battle began altogether. She was ostracised, mocked, and pushed aside for being a female. The professors never knew how to talk to a female student. Females, if present at all, were just bodies to be examined, not the ones doing the examining. She passed her exams in 1888 and was appointed assistant physician at the Lady Dufferin Hospital in Calcutta, a rare post for an Indian woman. Yet even within those walls, her skin and gender placed her beneath her European counterparts. When she was denied senior positions simply because she was Indian, she wrote a public letter to the press. With scalpel in hand, she was peeling off every layer of patriarchy. Frustrated by this institutional discrimination, she set her sights abroad. A trailblazer in the West In 1893, she traveled alone to the United Kingdom to advance her medical training. In that particular year, she earned three prestigious qualifcations: the Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP) in Edinburgh, the Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons (LRCS) in Glasgow, and the Graduate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons (GFPS) in Dublin. Equipped with accolades, she made her way back to India and established her private practice, specialising in gynecology and women's health. Patients from across social strata, including the Nepalese royal family, sought her care. She treated ailments cloaked in silence, subjects Indian society refused to name. The fight for equality But Kadambini's commitment to healing was not restricted to medicine alone. She was a fervent reformer, she was active in the Brahmo Samaj, working to abolish child marriage, the dowry system, and the marginalisation of widows. She joined the Bengal Ladies' Association, championing girls' education and women's spiritual and intellectual growth. When the British contemplated raising the age of consent for girls from 10 to 12, Kadambini's counsel was sought. Her voice helped shape the Age of Consent Act of 1891—an early legislative strike against child marriage. She also investigated the brutal conditions faced by women workers in the coal mines of Bihar and Orissa, serving on a committee that documented their suffering. These were not symbolic gestures; her activism had teeth and consequence. A living legacy Her legacy is not only glorified in textbooks alone. It dwells in the first girl in a village who dares to challenge patriarchal norms and picks up a biology book. It is in every woman doctor who walks into a hospital and is not called a miracle, but a colleague. It breathes in the hearts of women who carry dreams heavier than the burdens society places on their shoulders. It flickers in the eyes of every girl who chooses courage over silence, and belief over fear. Kadambini Ganguly is not just a name we remember; she is a feeling we carry. A whisper in moments of doubts. A fire in moments of resolve. She did not want to be honoured. She wanted to be echoed. And in every girl who dares, she is. Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
Mint
an hour ago
- Mint
MiG 21 fighter jets to retire after 62 years of service, Tejas Mk1A to takeover
The Defence officials said on Tuesday, July 22, said that the Indian Air Force will be phasing out its MiG 21 fighter jet aircraft by September 2025 after 62 years of service. They also said that they will be replaced with the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mark 1A. The squadrons operating the MiG 21 plane are currently in Rajasthan's Nal Air Force base. A defence official said, 'Indian Air Force to phase out the MiG-21 fighter jet by September this year. The squadrons operating the aircraft are currently in Nal air base in Rajasthan. The LCA Mark 1A aircraft would be replacing the MiG-21s in the IAF.' In October 2023, Number 4 Squadron, known as "Oorials" of the IAF based at Air Force Station Uttarlai (Barmer), Rajasthan, decommissioned their MiG 21 and Su-30 MKI, marking a watershed moment in the history of the squadron, which had been operating the MiG-21 since 1966. Earlier in July 2025, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) were handed over the first set of wing assemblies for Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk1A, produced by Larsen & Toubro, according to an official statement from the Ministry of Defence. Secretary (Defence Production) Sanjeev Kumar attended the event virtually as General Manager (LCA Tejas Division) M Abdul Salam received the assemblies on behalf of HAL from Precision Manufacturing & Systems Complex unit of L&T.
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
The Legacy Of MiG-21, In Indian Air Force Service Since 1963
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has decided to retire the remaining squadrons of the Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter jets in September. They are being replaced with the single-engine Mk-1A. Top Points On MiG-21 Jets: MiG-21s, known as the workhorse of the Air Force for several decades, entered service in 1963 on a trial basis, a year after India bought them from the Soviet Union. The supersonic fighter jets were India's first combat aircraft of non-Western origin. They went on to become the asset of the IAF from 1970 to the mid-2000s, till the Su-30MKIs were pressed into action. MiG-21s could operate in all weather and carry a wide variety of air-to-ground munitions in an attack role. They also played a major role during the 1971 war with Pakistan, dropping about 500 kg bombs on the Pakistani air bases. The war, which started on December 3 and ended with the Pakistani armed forces surrendering 13 days later, leading to the creation of Bangladesh, also saw the first-ever encounter between the MiG-21 and Pakistan's F-104A, with India dominating the skies. MiG-21s remained an "immense asset" for over a quarter century, the Indian Air Force has written on its website. "The quantity vs quality dilemma inevitably faced by most of the world's air forces as a consequence of spiralling costs was mitigated for the IAF by the large-scale availability of the MiG-21, which type will surely go down as one of aviation history's all-time classics," it has said. The legacy of MiG-21, however, has been marred by several accidents in the recent past. India, which produced more than 600 MiG-21s, will replace them with single-engine Tejas Mk-1A jets.
