P. Ekka with daughter Divya. Picture by Manik Bose

Ranchi, Jan. 28: If you dare to dream, your career takes wing.

Or so it is for Divya Ekka. The 23-year-old Loreto alumnus will be the first tribal girl from the state to fly an aircraft once she completes a two-year training session. She is also the only girl in a group of 28 candidates selected by the state government for its free commercial pilot training programme.

Talking to The Telegraph, Divya said she had always wanted to be an air hostess. “My parents would not allow me to be an air hostess and I could not give up my dream to fly. So, here I am ready to head for the cockpit,” she said.

Currently pursuing a degree in information technology from BIT, Sindri, Divya completed her Plus Two from St Xavier’s School, Doranda. “The year was 2004. I had just completed school when the obsession to fly got the better of me. The test (entrance exam conducted by the government for more than 1,500 SC/ST and OBC candidates) was tough, but I was determined to make it. And now, it’s all very exciting. Two years of training and then I rule the clouds,” the Loreto girl said with a wide grin.

Tribal welfare commissioner Nitin Madan Kulkarni said that they had wanted more girls to undergo the training programme, but not another had Divya’s grit and dedication.

“Several other girls appeared for the examination and faced interviews. But she (Divya) is the only one who has been selected. She will be the first female commercial pilot from the state. She has made us proud,” said a commercial pilot, requesting anonymity.

Divya’s family members are still finding it difficult to believe that she has made it. “It was her long-cherished dream. All credit goes to her. We are yet to come to terms with reality, but the family will support all her future ventures,” said her father, P. Ekka.

The training programme will begin at Spica Aviation Academy, Hyderabad, from the middle of March. Like Divya, all the other candidates selected are ecstatic about the mission ahead. “I am counting days. I am eager to begin training in Hyderabad,” said Dinabandhu Sardar of Seraikela.

More than 1,500 SC, ST and OBC aspirants, including 300 girls, had appeared for the competitive examination. After three rounds of tests, the government drew up a merit list of 28, who will now undergo two years of extensive training at the Hyderabad aviation academy.

The state has already set aside Rs 6.3 crore for training the 28 students. But the trainees will have to adopt two boys from their villages and bear the expenses of their education up to graduation in exchange of the free pilot training.