The unknown of the sea is often frightening – vast waters and a lot left to the imagination. For a lot of us, this is a deterrent to even stepping on a boat, let alone travelling thousands of kilometres by sea. Creating history, however, is a group of nine Indian Army officers that sailed 2000 kilometres in the high seas of the Bay of Bengal over seven days.
Major Mukta Shree Gautam led the team that sailed a round trip of Chennai to Visakhapatnam. They sailed a German-origin, Class A yacht which is barely 150 square feet in size, and houses all the amenities you could need for a voyage in just that small a space. The women belong to different arms of the Army, but were brought together because of their love for adventure. In fact, not all of them were even familiar with sailing before the expedition.
“We learnt that women make an amazing team. It was the most cherished memory. We learnt how to keep calm, manage at high sea, implement the learnings when conditions are unfavourable. How we cooperated and implemented our learnings kept the team’s morale high.”
— Major Mukta Shree Gautam, Expedition Captain (via WION)
In addition to creating history, the Indian Army aims to motivate and encourage young girls to consider the Indian defence forces as a career choice and to also look at adventure sports like sailing as a viable option.
These powerhouse women are indicative of the reality that preparation, determination, and fearlessness can go a long way, and the completion of this expedition proves to the younger generation that it is all possible.
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