An Adventure of pride: Aishwarya Boddapati

Aishwarya Boddapati, a Hyderabad-based Navy Officer addressed the media and shared her experience about a historic voyage ‘Navika Sagar Parikrama’ at a press conference held at the Press Club on Thursday in Hyderabad. She had made our nation proud by being a part of the first All Women’s crew to circumnavigate the globe on an Indian Naval Sailing Vessel “Tarini” on project Navika Sagar Parikrama.

Among the 30 officers who applied for the voyage, six women were selected and Aishwarya was one amongst them. The voyage was around 254 days, where for 199 days the team survived on the sea and the rest of the days they were on the port. 

Team Navika Sagar Parikrama covered this voyage with stops in five legs. They started their voyage from Goa took the first stop at Fremantle, Australia, then Lyttleton, New Zealand, Port Stanley Falkland Islands and finally Cape Town, South Africa and back on the home leg to Goa. 

Aishwarya said, “In the year 2016 six of us became a team we started everything from the beginning because women navy officers were never sent onboard of the voyage and our team was mentored by Captain Donde.”  

“Circumnavigating the globe encompasses certain rules in which the boat must start and finish the voyage at the same port, cross the equator at least twice, cross all the prime meridians to go south of three big capes namely Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn and Cape of Good Hope and the total distance covered by our team must be greater than circumference of earth,” she shared.

Going around the world is a rare feat that has been accomplished by these young, undaunted and awe-inspiring officers in May 2018. Venturing into the unexplored South Oceans, experiencing rough weather conditions, strong winds, high waves splashing and sub-zero temperatures while being self-sufficient and managing maintenance and repairs of the equipment’s on their own when the sea has been a fantastic experience for these spirited officers. 

“One thing I can never forget about what the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told us, he said that Neil Armstrong went as an astronaut and came back as a human being. We experienced such kind of situations and it feels great to share it amongst everyone today,” she added. 

Lt Cdr Aishwarya Boddapati’s courage and determination are praiseworthy. She is an inspiration to everyone who wants to do something radically different.