‘Sent her to a govt school, never questioned her choices’: IAF officer Shaliza Dhami’s proud parents

Call it a coincidence, but the feat wouldn’t have come on a better day than on the eve of International Women’s Day, and since Tuesday evening, the couple has been busy answering unending congratulatory calls at their residence in Punjab’s Ludhiana.

“I am not getting the right words to describe the feeling right now. We are just so proud of her. What has made it even more special is the occasion of Women’s Day. I am hopeful that she will inspire thousands of other women to achieve what they want to,” says teary-eyed Harkesh, 66, while speaking to The Indian Express at their residence in Laxmi Nagar.

Group Captain Dhami, 41, will be the first woman officer in the IAF to command a missile squadron in the Western sector. (PTI)

“Except for the fact that we never stopped her from doing anything and never interfered in her choices, we have no other contribution. It is all her hard work and dedication,” Harkesh, a native of Sarabha village in Ludhiana and a retired Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd (PSPCL) employee, says.

For the world, Shaliza might be the senior IAF officer who has created history, but for her parents, she is still their little daughter whom they fondly call Babbal. “We do not call her often. We understand she keeps busy. I had sent her a congratulatory message on WhatsApp after we got the news yesterday. The reply is still awaited,” says the officer’s elated mother.

Struggling to control his tears, Harkesh recalls when it was time to send Shaliza to a school, everyone suggested he should opt for a high-end convent school but he decided against it. “I owned a cycle at that time. The kids who study in a convent school, their parents come to drop them off in swanky cars. I decided that my children will study in the school where children of common men like me study. Had I admitted her to a convent, she might have had an inferiority complex. So, we admitted her to a government school. And look where she has reached today,” he says.

Shaliza Dhami had started her journey at Government High School, PAU, from where she cleared Class 10. She then took admission to Khalsa College for Women (KCW), Ghumar Mandi, for her Class 12 and graduated in non-medical sciences subjects from the same institution.

Parents of IAF Group Captain Shaliza Dhami, the first woman officer to head frontline unit, at their residence in Ludhiana. (Express Photo: Divya Goyal)

According to Dev Kumari, 66, this is where the turning point came in her daughter’s life.

“What made all the difference was her decision to join the Air Wing of the National Cadet Corps (NCC). Her mentor P P Singh, who was from IAF, motivated her to give it a try and there was no looking back. NCC played a pivotal role in her life and decision to join IAF. We never stopped her from attending NCC camps which were held at different locations. She used to enjoy and learn so much in her NCC camps,” says Kumari, who retired from the Water Supply and Sanitation Department.

Shaliza—commissioned in IAF in 2003 as a helicopter pilot—has also been a hockey player, a painter and a dancer. She is married to IAF Wing Commander Vineet Joshi, who hails from Uttarakhand. The couple has two sons.

“We never forced our daughter to marry. It was her decision at the time when she wanted it and with the man of her choice. We have never interfered in her life,” says Harkesh.

Her brother Sarvsureshth Dhami is a defence studies professor at a university in Imphal, Manipur.

Harkesh says his only message to parents across the country is that they should give wings to their daughters to fly. “Never force them to get married. Never impose your decisions on them. Never make career choices for them, let them do what they want to,” he says.

“My father was a teacher and we come from a very humble background. In those days, we could never ever think of sitting in an aeroplane. It was beyond our reach. Today our daughter has touched the skies but she’s not going to stop here… There’s a lot more she will achieve in coming times because we know how hardworking and dedicated she is.”