Mother. Officer. Both: The Women of the Indian Armed Forces Who Refused to Choose

There are glass ceilings, and then there are the ones nobody acknowledges—until someone breaks through them completely. Surgeon Vice Admiral Punita Arora, PVSM, SM, VSM did exactly that.

In 2004, she became the first woman Lieutenant General in the Indian Armed Forces, and later the first woman Vice Admiral of the Indian Navy. A distinguished medical officer and former Commandant of the Armed Forces Medical College, she spent decades serving in military hospitals and emergency units across the country. During the 2002 Kaluchak terror attack, she led critical medical operations under immense pressure. Through it all, she also raised two children, proving that leadership, service, and motherhood could coexist with extraordinary strength.

Lieutenant Jyoti Nainwal’s story is one of grief transformed into courage. After losing her husband, Naik Deepak Nainwal, in a counter-terror operation in Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, she chose not to let tragedy define her future. A homemaker and mother of two young children, she decided to wear the same uniform her husband once proudly served in.

In 2021, she was commissioned into the Indian Army after training at the Officers Training Academy, Chennai. Balancing motherhood with rigorous military training was never easy, but she persevered with remarkable determination. Today, Lt Nainwal stands as a symbol of resilience—showing her children, and the nation, what strength truly looks like.

For Sapper Shanti Tigga, motherhood was never a limitation—it became her strength. A mother of two from West Bengal, she joined the Territorial Army at 35, an age when most people believe physical endurance begins to fade. Instead, she stunned her instructors by outperforming many younger male recruits during training.

Known for completing long-distance runs and obstacle courses with exceptional speed, she soon earned recognition as one of the fittest soldiers in her batch. Shanti Tigga’s journey challenged stereotypes about age, gender, and motherhood, proving that courage and resilience do not belong to any one stage of life.

Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, PHS, proves that compassion and courage can wear the same uniform. In 2002, she became the first woman officer in the Indian Air Force to be promoted to the rank of Air Marshal. A specialist in aviation medicine, she played a crucial role in research related to high-altitude physiology and pilot health, contributing significantly to military medical science in India.

Beyond her groundbreaking career, she also embraced motherhood while navigating the demands of service life alongside her husband, who was also an Air Force officer. Through decades of dedication, Air Marshal Bandopadhyay showed that women in uniform could lead with both exceptional professionalism and deep humanity.

Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, VSM, has become one of the most recognisable faces of modern military leadership in India. An officer from the Corps of Signals, she made history in 2016 as the first woman officer to lead an Indian Army contingent at a multinational military exercise. In 2025, she once again inspired the nation by co-leading the official briefing on Operation Sindoor, representing the Indian Armed Forces with remarkable composure and authority.

Beyond the uniform, she is also a mother to two children, Sameer and Hanima, balancing military service alongside family life with resilience. She has often reflected the discipline, strength, and emotional endurance required to lead both at home and in service to the nation.

Major Priya Semwal’s journey in the Indian Army began with personal loss, but it soon became a story of extraordinary resilience. After losing her husband, Havildar Amit Sharma, in a counter-insurgency operation in Kashmir in 2006, she chose to honour his memory by joining the Army herself. A young mother at the time, she raised her daughter while undergoing rigorous military training and building her career in uniform.

Over the years, she went on to become one of the Indian Army’s accomplished women officers, even completing the demanding Ironman triathlon—an achievement that reflected her physical and mental strength. Through grief, motherhood, and service, Major Semwal proved that courage is sometimes born from heartbreak and carried forward with determination every single day.

Captain Yashika Hatwal Tyagi never believed motherhood and military service had to exist separately. One of the first women officers from the Army’s logistics wing to serve in high-altitude areas like Leh and Kargil, she made history during the 1999 Kargil War.

While posted in Ladakh, she continued her duties even during her second trimester of pregnancy, ensuring essential supplies reached soldiers deployed in extreme conditions. At the same time, she was raising her young son while her husband served on the front lines. In a battlefield dominated by uncertainty and sacrifice, Captain Tyagi proved that courage is not always loud—sometimes, it quietly carries both a nation’s responsibility and a mother’s love together.

These, and countless other women of the Indian Armed Forces, did more than wear a uniform—they redefined what strength looks like. They stood in operating rooms, command centres, training grounds, and conflict zones while also fulfilling the responsibilities of motherhood.

For them, service was never limited to the nation alone. It extended into their homes, their children, and the lives they nurtured alongside their duty to the country. They carried ranks on their shoulders and love in their hearts, refusing to believe that one identity had to come at the cost of the other.

This Mother’s Day, we honour all extraordinary women of the Indian Armed Forces—not just for breaking barriers, but for proving that courage and compassion can march side by side.

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