Captain Madhusmita Patnaik, the first Odia lady flight commander, has done a great job recently. I would say, she's a real epitome of women empowerment. The 215 Odias stranded in the UAE, were brought back to their native place Odisha, that too on the occasion of the unique Odia festival of Rajja, which they would not be able to celebrate with their family and friends, had they not been brought back to Odisha.
The coronavirus pandemic robbed them of their jobs and the hassled lot had no means to travel back home from the UAE, with many of them left without a penny in their pockets. Two flights did take off from Sharjah as part of the Vande Bharat mission on May 14 and May 20, but they were left counting days while waiting for their turn.
Now, they will finally get to celebrate Raja festival with their families back home. These 215 distressed Odias and one infant boarded a special chartered flight of Air Arabia from Sharjah and landed in the Odisha capital.
The chartered flight had been arranged to repatriate the stranded Odias in the UAE by the Odia Society in UAE, in addition to those being flown under Vande Bharat mission, in consultation with the Consul General of India to UAE, ministry of external affairs, Governments of India, the UAE and Air Arabia.
Moved by their plight, the Odia Society in UAE made a plea for a chartered flight to be arranged. “After a nod on the availability of a flight by Air Arabia, it took us almost 10 days to get the clearance to fly to Bhubaneswar from the authorities concerned.
What made this trip special is that the flight was flown by Captain Madhusmita Pattnaik, a native of Bhubaneswar who currently stays in Dubai.
Basically, Madhusmita belongs to Berhampur.
Her name was strongly recommended to the airline though she had no immediate flying schedule. She too expressed her keenness to fly her brothers and sisters back home. About 90 per cent of those boarding this flight are distressed workers.
Basically, Madhusmita belongs to Berhampur.
Her name was strongly recommended to the airline though she had no immediate flying schedule. She too expressed her keenness to fly her brothers and sisters back home. About 90 per cent of those boarding this flight are distressed workers.
Basically, Madhusmita belongs to Berhampur. Born in Berhampur, Madhusmita has seen a lot of highs and lows in her life. But with her sincere efforts of riding high on her merit, she has truly touched the sky. From the very beginning, she had a dream to become a pilot. She enrolled herself into the elite Odisha Flying Club. But with a lack of aircraft and instructors, she planned on moving to Texas, the US for pursuing her desire. With her sheer dedication and family's support Madhusmita fought against all odds at a time when aviation industry in India was too disorganized. Despite facing problems in processing her documents and finding a suitable job in India she still didn't lose her determination.
Finally she joined the Air Deccan in 2004 as a co-pilot and since then no looking back. She worked in the Kingfisher Airlines and joined Go-Air as a captain for 5 years before moving to Air Arobia. Now she is a Senior Commander in Air Arobia.
Even after being into a male dominated profession, there is nothing that deters Madhusmita from performing her duty in a bold and fearless manner.
She is truly a pride of not only Berhampur/Bhubaneswar but of whole Odisha.
Hats off to you, dear Madhusmita. You really made us proud. God bless.
Comments
Post a Comment