Late Wg Cdr Vijayalakshmi Ramanan, first woman IAF officer & a doctor always ‘prepared for an emergency’ - a tribute
Vijayalakshmi Ramanan retired from IAF as Wing Commander in 1979. The 96-year-old passed away in Bengaluru on 18 October. By Special Arrangement Wing Commander (retd) Vijayalakshmi Ramanan, the first woman officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF), had more than one ‘first’ to her credit. She was not only the first woman to wear saree as uniform, she also designed the uniform. Wing Commander (retd) Ramanan passed away on Sunday (18 October) at the age of 96 in Bengaluru. Her ashes were immersed in the Cauvery river near Srirangapatna Tuesday by her family. S.V.L. Narayan, her son-in-law, told that Ramanan had developed health complications in the past 10 days and was shifted to the IAF’s Command Hospital. “She passed away peacefully Sunday night. She was very active till the very end. Days before she passed away, Ramanan had even given a handwritten note to her doctor,” Narayan said. Born on 27 February 1924 , Ramanan did her MBBS from the Madras Medical College in 1943 and was named the b...