SEA IN A NEW LIGHT

How Commander Prerna Deosthalee became the first woman to be appointed commanding officer of an Indian naval ship

- POOJA BIRAIA JAISWAL

For the first time in history, the Indian Navy appointed a woman as the commanding officer of an Indian naval ship. On Navy Day on December 4, Commander Prerna Deosthalee assumed command of the Goa-based warship INS Trinkat, a fast attack craft of the Indian Navy, named after Trinkat island in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. A post-graduate in psychology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Deosthalee joined the Indian Navy in 2009, led by “a sense of adventure and an urge to do something different, something for the larger good”. Since her growing-up years in Mumbai, she was fascinated with naval, aircraft and helicopter operations. When her younger brother joined the Navy, she, too, was motivated to do so.

Today, she is married to a naval officer and has a three-year-old daughter. “My family’s encouragement and its lineage encouraged me to join the Indian Navy and live my dream,” she says. “Belief in oneself is the only quality required; the Navy trains you well for everything else. We have an ocean of opportunities which enables both professional and personal growth for officers and sailors.”