Still, the stereotype prevails heavily in the Indian forces, women are found to be in low numbers, as opposed to men in Indian forces. But Dr. Seema Rao is one such person to have broken these stereotypes by becoming India’s first and only woman commando trainer. She specializes in close quarter battle (CQB) and has trained various armed forces for 20 years now and is popular as ‘India’s Wonder Woman’.
Early Life
Her father, Professor Ramakant Sinari, was a freedom fighter and she was inspired by him, she was also ambitious to serve her country. She became a certified doctor and also pursued an MBA in crisis management, she married Dr. Deepak Rao and learned martial arts from her husband.
Dr. Seema Rao received the black belt in taekwondo at the age of 20 and she was a trainer of Jeet Kune Do under Richard Bustillo. She is the highest ranked instructor in Jeet Kone Do and one of five female trainers in the world in JKD. The lady is an expert of yachtsmanship, mountaineering, scuba diving, and skydiving. She has also received HMI medallist in rock climbing and was a finalist of Mrs. India World pageant. She currently lives in Mumbai.
Career
She conducted various training programmes in unarmed and armed combat and shooting for the police, armed police, state police, para-military, armed forces, Special Forces and National Security Guard’s Black Cats Commandos. Dr. Seema Rao and her husband created the DARE (Defence against Rape and Eve teasing) programme for women to deal with offenses like sexual harassment, stalking and rape.
Apart she displayed her creativity by directing, writing, editing, her movie titled Hathapayi and she also produced the music and lent her voice for the movie soundtrack. The movie is unreleased but has won the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival Jury award for 2015. She has also authored multiple books on combat training.
Received Three Army Chief Citations
She has spent the last 20 years training, over 20,000 soldiers of India’s elite armed forces in close quarter battle (CQB), without any compensation. Also, she has received three Army Chief Citations, a US President’s Volunteer Service Award and a World Peace Diplomat Award for her continuous and expert service. Her ability and her physical and mental strength, has opened the way for more women to enter the male-dominated military.
Rao is an ace shooter and can shoot an apple off your head with an AK-47 at 75 yards. Rao Reflex Shooting Method developed by the couple is used by the Indian military. It is used to shoot quickly and accurately without spending time taking aim. She can shoot five rounds from a 9mm pistol in under two minutes at a target.
Seema Rao has written many books on her training programs and her books have found a place in the libraries of the Indian armed forces and the US’s Federal Bureau of Investigation. In 2011, Deepak Rao her husband was made Honorary Major of the Territorial Army. But still, there is no provision for women to get ranked in the so she missed the honor but she has no regrets.
How it all started
She was a shy and bullied girl in school and was hell-bent on transforming her weakness into a strength. To come out from her shell she used martial arts. Rao was trained by her husband for years. Once the couple got into an ugly scuffle with rag pickers at Girgaum Chowpatty in south Mumbai and she used all her training to settle the fight and after that fight, she was transformed into a new person.
Sacrifices
Rao’s path was not easy. In fact, it was tough for both the couple to train the forces without any compensation. But the biggest sacrifice for the couple was to forgo having a child but later she did adopt her girl.
Because of the age she now takes up fewer assignments but shares her story with youth to inspire them and especially to inspire the women who think they are week and incompetitive.
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