These Officer Cadets Leave Well-Paid Jobs To Join Indian Army

Jobs in the corporate sector may be lucrative but youngsters are slowly getting more attracted to the Indian army, leaving lucrative employment in law, engineering and even research.

Nurturing a dream to join the Army as an officer, Patil, the first commissioned officer from Jalai village in Jalgaon in Maharastra, is content with the job. “Even Abdul Kalam tried to get into the army; he failed and I succeeded,” he says with a smile.

Although this is a short service commission, the former scientist who specialised in armament research had made up his mind to opt for a permanent commission.

Even Hyderabad based Nikita could have landed in a lucrative job in the corporate sector. The girl from a humble family lived on scholarships alone after seeing her parents struggle.

“I lessened the burden of my dad and got into Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology through scholarship,” says Nikita. She had numerous offers but the charm of the armed forces motivated her to apply for the Officers Training Academy.

“My dream is to take care of my father as I saw him struggle throughout his life. I don’t want to get married. I want to care for my parents,” she says, eagerly awaiting the September 10 Passing out Parade, which her parents would attend.

For S Kannan, who did engineering from Rajalakshmi Engineering College in Chennai, joining the army was a career with a difference. “I had three job offers but I want something different in life,” reasons Kannan, a resident of Ponamallee. According to him awareness on careers in the defence is very low in Tamil Nadu.

“I had three job offers but I want something different in life,”

This time there have been more cadets from Tamil Nadu unlike the past year. Earlier, there were only six to seven cadets but this year there are 13, said an officer with OTA.

Lokesh Pant, who had completed law from Christ University, Bangalore, and a runner-up in Moot Court competition in St Thomas University in Miami, Florida, United States, preferred the army as he wanted to use his professional skills to serve the nation.

source: newindianexpress