Amazon Engineer Trades $650k Salary for Military Service

Shardendu Tiwari, a 27-year-old from Lucknow, is set to be commissioned into the Indian Army's Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Gaya. The second-generation soldier has left behind an annual salary package of around INR 46 lakh as a cloud engineer at Amazon.

Tiwari, who holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Information Technology and a Master's in Computer Science and Information Security from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, appeared for Army selection eight times before successfully clearing the process through the technical entry route.

He was drawn to the armed forces due to the opportunities they offer for adventure and field service. During his rigorous training regimen at OTA Gaya, Tiwari's performance and leadership abilities led to his appointment as Senior Under Officer (SUO), a prestigious position.