From IIT aspirant to war hero: Shimla’s son wins Vir Chakra

Narveer Singh Thakur and his wife Amarjeet Kaur are perhaps the proudest parents in Shimla these days. Their son, Flight Lieutenant Arshveer Singh Thakur, has been awarded Vir Chakra, the third highest gallantry award, for his heroic deeds during ‘Operation Sindoor’ in May. The 27-year-old officer was part of the Air Force team that hit targets successfully deep inside Pakistan during the skirmish in May.

Hailing from Jubbal in Shimla district, Arshveer was initially not interested in joining the armed forces. “He always dreamt of joining IIT-Delhi. He gave NDA exam just for fun, and was reluctant to go for the Service Selection Board (SSB) interview,” said his father, who had been a top-notch cricket and volleyball player in his young days. His mother, a volleyball coach now, was an international volleyball player.

“We challenged him to clear the SSB interview. He got interested in armed forces after appearing in the interview. He decided to join the Air Force and luckily he made the cut in the merit list,” said Thakur. In hindsight, every Indian would be happy that the strapping 6 feet 2 inch-tall Arshveer chose armed forced over IIT.

While being immensely proud of the accomplishment of their son, the parents also have a small complaint. “Out of curiosity, we wanted to know what happened during the night when they launched the attack. But he didn’t tell us anything,” said Thakur. “But this secrecy is understandable. All he told us was that he and his fellow fighter pilots were only thinking of the targets assigned to them, and how to demolish them,” said Thakur.

With both parents excelling in sports, it would have been easy for Arshveer to follow in their footsteps. “He did play sports like badminton, volleyball, cycling and chess in his childhood, but he was more interested in his studies. So, we decided to let him focus on his studies,” said Thakur, adding that his school played a big role in grooming him to become disciplined and dedicated fighter pilot.