Rebel Girls Dads & Daughters: 25 Tales of Teamwork and Fun

Rebel Girls Dads & Daughters: 25 Tales of Teamwork and Fun — page 7
8 ANANYA AND SANJAY SHARMA AIR FORCE PILOTS Once there was a girl who followed her dreams to the skies Ananya knew she wanted to be a fighter pilot from the time she was very little Growing up on military bases Ananya saw pilots going to work every morning Her dad Sanjay was one of them Whenever she heard a fighter jet whiz past overhead Ananya would stop whatever she was doing and smile She closed her eyes imagining her father soaring through the sky Every evening when Sanjay got home Ananya would quiz him about all the flights he took that day But there was something that confused Ananya As a child I would often ask my father why there were no women fighter pilots Ananya says Sanjay always told her not to feel discouraged and to believe in herself Don't worry You will be one he would say Sanjay was right When Ananya grew up she joined the military Every day she trained and studied to be a pilot Her father's faith in her abilities helped her keep going even on the days when she thought about quitting Then when Ananya was 24 years old the day came for her and her father to fly their planes in the same formation through the sky They became the first father-daughter team in the Indian Air Force to fly their planes together On that fateful day Sanjay thought back to the little girl who gazed up at the clouds hoping to fly her own plane He realized that helping his daughter achieve her dream was one of his greatest accomplishments That was the biggest day of my life he said ANANYA BORN 1998 SANJAY BIRTHDATE UNKNOWN INDIA