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Col Sapna Rana Indian Army
Journey of Col Sapna Rana started from a small village in Himachal Pradesh, but now she leads a battalion in the Indian Army. Her story teaches us how determination and strength can lead to great success.
Colonel Sapna Rana’s path was not laid out for her from the start. Growing up in a village where the daily chores included tending to cattle and walking extensive distances just to save money on transportation, Rana’s early life was marked by simplicity and hardship. Despite these challenges, she nurtured a dream that seemed distant from her reality. Her initial aspiration was to prepare for the Civil Services, a goal that led her to pursue an MBA from Himachal Pradesh University. However, destiny had a different plan, and midway through her preparations, she took a chance on the Combined Defence Services exam.
Sapna’s mother Krishna Thakur, a homemaker, says with pride: “Of my three children, two sons and a daughter, she was the most driven — good at studies, and unrelenting.” “We’re from a small village, and never even imagined that our daughter could settle down beyond our village or the panchayat at most,” she adds. “But after Sapna did her 10th, she insisted that she would go to Solan for higher studies with her brothers.”
Luckily for Sapna, her father — a schoolteacher — and mother granted her wish, and she moved to Solan, living in a suburb, Saprun. “There she used to cook food and walk back part of the way from college to save money,” says Krishna. “When at the village, she would do all the chores women used to do back then — chop cattle-feed, milk the buffalo, stack a pile of chapatis, and much more. From there to becoming a Commanding Officer (CO) in the Army — we couldn’t have asked for more!” Col Sapna relives the days her dreams got wings. “After graduating from Government College in Solan, I got admission at the Himachal Pradesh University for an MBA degree in Shimla. I started preparing for the Civil Services but midway, I appeared for the Combined Defence Services exam and was selected for training at the Officers’ Training Academy in Chennai.”
After clearing the Service Selection Board, she joined the Officers Training Academy in Chennai in 2003 and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Indian Army in 2004. The 41-year-old officer, currently commanding an Army Service Corps (ASC) battalion in the Northeast, is married to an Army officer and the couple have a daughter.
Have they broken any jail.
Such a very inspiration story
My daughter also want to join defence and preparing for it
Very motivational journey,,god bless you dear,
Surely it’s a matter of pride as girl students are coming up. But at this moment, I want to mention, if we truly encourage girls in defence services it is our duty to ensure the admission of enthusiastic girl children in our sainik and military schools. The number of girl candidates admitted for these schools are meagre compared to boys. Myself mother of a girl, is much sad of this approach as my daughter craves for admission in these sort of schools and
tried hard, but belonging to general category has been a curse for her. In this regard, attention of authorities are needed if we want nation loving cadets for the service.
This is so inspirational & motivational for Indian girls. If Col Sapna Rana can attain the rank of Colonel or Commanding Officer, others too can. There is change in scenario but I note that girls have built up a self imposed obstacle in front of them. SSBs have a measuring rod with themselves and if an aspirant comes upto that point he is invariably selected. These are Selection Boards and not rejection boards.