Marginal Hoshiarpur farmer's daughter bags 13th rank in NDA

In the quiet village of Chotala, 30 km from Hoshiarpur, a dream long nurtured under the dim light of determination has finally come true. Sehjaldeep Kaur, daughter of a marginal farmer, has secured 13th rank in the National Defence Academy (NDA) merit list -- becoming the pride of her village and a symbol of hope for countless rural girls.

Earlier, she cleared the NDA written exam all on her own -- through self-study and without any coaching.

The journey of Sehjaldeep, now training at Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI) for Girls, Mohali, began at a small private school in Nainowal. In class XII, she scored 97.8 per cent from PM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya, Gajjan, Bhunga -- ranking among the top 1.5 per cent of KV students nationwide and topping in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

She came to know about NDA through the mobile phone while she was in class XII and wanted to join the Navy. She was fascinated by ships and the naval adventures narrated to her by a cousin who is in the Navy. Her preparation wasn’t easy. “She used to study late into the night,” her father Jagdev Singh, a class XII-pass farmer with just three acres of land, shared. “I would scold her and ask her to sleep by 11 pm. I was worried she might fall ill.” Her mother Parwinder Kaur added, “She would pretend to sleep and then quietly get up and study till dawn.”

Sehjal attempted the NDA exam for the first time in September 2024 when she was in class XII but couldn't clear it.

Undeterred, she tried again and in April 2025, she had cleared both the NDA written exam and the entrance exam for AFPI.

Before facing the Services Selection Board (SSB) interview in Bhopal in July, she stayed at AFPI for 12-14 days, receiving constant guidance from officers even while travelling by train. After the interview, she returned to AFPI and continued her training till the merit list came out on October 10. She topped the interview with 570 marks — the highest among all selected boys and girls.

When Sehjaldeep received the news, she could barely speak through her tears. In a trembling voice, she made a video call to her parents. “She was crying and was trying to say something, but we didn’t understand,” recalls her father. “I thought she had passed some exam like before as she used to do in junior school. I didn’t know what NDA meant.”

Her mother said that when Sehjal called to tell them about making it to the NDA, she was equally puzzled. “She said she had passed, but I couldn’t understand as she was crying. Later, her friends told us what it really meant.”

“She will be the first commissioned officer from our village,” said advocate Gurvir Singh Chotala, a relative. “She has made not just her family, but all of Hoshiarpur and Punjab proud.”

Sehjaldeep is expected to report to NDA, Khadakwasla, in December — ready to set sail towards a future she carved with grit, books and a dream born in a humble home.