Chennai: From being news reporter in Deccan Chronicle, Chennai, to becoming lieutenant in the artillery regiment of the Indian army, the journey of Prashanth Vijayakumar has been meticulously planned.
“It is a great responsibility entrusted on us now to lead our troops and guard our borders. I am able to foresee this great responsibility to come up in my life,” he reacts. A jubilant Prashanth says his joy of emerging as an officer groomed by Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai, “is phenomenal. After one year of strenuous training we are wearing ranks. It is a big achievement. OTA is the toughest academy in the world and this makes it even more special. The standards here are higher than in Indian military academy.”
Though he wanted to join the forces in his college days, the opportunity came a year ago when he decided to put down his papers and cleared his papers in October 2015 and got into the OTA. “I will be joining the artillery regiment. I will discharge my job sincerely, uphold the values and ethos of the army and maintain the high standards of the Indian army,” he adds.
An ecstatic A. Geetha Vani, his mother, says that she never expected her son to become an officer in the Indian army. “I think his hobbies, especially trekking, mountaineering, football and karate and interest to serve the nation brought him to the right place. I am very very happy,” she said.
