Tania Shergill (Indian Army)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tania Shergill

• Tania Shergill is an Indian Army Officer who comes from a long line of Indian Army Officers. On 15 January 2020, she became the first woman Parade Adjutant of the Indian Army on “Army Day.” She is also selected to lead an all-male contingent during the 2020 Republic Day Parade.

  

• She is the fourth generation of her family to join the Indian Army. During her early years, she grew up hearing tales about the “Indian Army” from her father and grandfather.

  

• Joining the Indian Army was a very natural choice for her; as she was prepared for it from a very young age.

• Her father was in the “101 Medium Regiment” (Artillery), and her grandfather was in the 14th Armed Regiment (Scinde Horse), armoured corps. After her father’s retirement in 2017, her parents moved to Garhdiwala in Hoshiarpur District, Punjab.

• Her great grandfather was in the Sikh Regiment, and he fought in World War II. He had participated in the Burma campaign, and he was also a Japanese prisoner of war.

• Tania did her schooling from Mumbai. She used to stay with her mother, while her father was posted in Jammu & Kashmir and the Northeast.

• She had applied to the Officers Training Academy (OTA), during the last year of her engineering. In 2017, after completing her training at OTA, she got commissioned into the “Corps of Signals.”

  

• On 15 January 2020, on Army Day, she became the first woman to lead the Army Day parade. She was selected as the “Parade Adjutant,” and she led the parade at the Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment.

  

• The “Parade Adjutant” is the Officer responsible for directing and conducting the parade.

  

• After the Army Day Parade, when she was asked about how she feels to be the first woman to be the parade adjutant, she said-

A fauji is a fauji. There is no male or female, Hindu or Muslim, Punjabi or Marathi. Once you wear the uniform, you are all officers”

• Her parents had come from Hoshiarpur to attend the Army Day parade on 15 January 2020. In an interview, she said-

The feeling of seeing your daughter as an army officer is indescribable. Mostly men become army officers. After 72 years, there is a woman parade adjutant, it is a matter of great pride”

• She will be leading a 146 all-men contingent on 26 January 2020 during the Republic Day Parade. Her contingent will salute the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind on her command.

  

• She is the second woman to lead an all-male contingent at the Republic Day Parade after “Lieutenant Bhavana Kasturi,” who had led the first all-male contingent in 2019.

• On 16 January 2020, Anand Mahindra re-tweeted a video of Tania leading the parade on Army Day. He also wrote that she was incredibly inspirational, and her video of leading the parade should go viral.