Who is Athira Suresh? The NIT Calicut graduate leaves a thriving career at Bengaluru’s ExxonMobil to join the Indian Army | Today’s news
NIT Calicut graduate Athira Suresh is in the limelight as she joined the Indian Army on September 5 after completing her training at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Gaya. She left her thriving career at multinational energy firm ExxonMobil in Bengaluru as a Project Controls Engineer to pursue a somewhat unconventional dream.
Athira Suresh, who hails from Kerala’s Kozhikode, was inducted into the Indian Army as a second lieutenant during the 29th parade of the academy. At the same time, 252 other officer cadets, 218 men and 34 women, completed the Short Service Commission (Technical) course and received their stars. On that day, a simultaneous parade was held at OTA Chennai during which a total of 595 new officers, including 64 women, were commissioned.
Tracing Athira Suresh’s military roots
Athira Suresh received her bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the National Institute of Technology Calicut after clearing the prestigious national exam IIT-JEE. She comes from a military family and her decision was influenced by family tradition. Her father Naik Suresh joined the Railway Protection Force after leaving the Corps of Signals. Both her maternal and paternal grandfathers, Gangadharan Nayar and the late Velayudhan Nayar, served as part of the Indian Army. However, her mother Suma has chosen a career as a teacher and her brother Harichand is studying engineering.
Education and higher education
She completed her schooling at Dayapuram Residential School and, as a woman with military roots, joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC) during her college years. From 2021 to 2023, she was part of the NCC Kozhikode Naval Unit, according to her LinkedIn profile. At NITC, she was part of the Literacy and Debate Club and also served as vice captain of the track and field team. In her last ear she became Deputy Sports Secretary.
“Athira pursued B.Tech. in Civil Engineering from NIT Calicut from 2020 to 2024. During her tenure at NITC, she was an active member of Naval NCC, NITC, as part of the KL-20 batch. She also served as the Vice-Captain of the Athletics Sports Team from 2023-2024,” said the NIT post on Link 2024.
Her experience also includes time spent interning at Larson and Toubro and HiLite Builders. Although Athira’s specific unit and postings have not yet been announced, she is expected to serve in the Army’s technical branch as a civil engineering graduate in charge of technical record.
