𝑱𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒏 – 𝑽𝑼38𝑫𝑺 – 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑨𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒖𝒓 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂

Jordan – VU38DS – the Youngest Amateur Radio Licensee from India

Last week, the second week of October 2026, while I was at Shillong, in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya State, India, I received a text message from an amateur radio friend in the neighboring state of Assam.

The cryptic message read, “Jordan has got his license.”

Jordan is a 12-year-old from Shillong who had appeared a week or so earlier for the amateur radio license test conducted by the Government of India.

My joy knew no bounds! Another ham in Shillong! And that too, a 12-year-old!

When I got my license way back in 1986, I was the first ham (amateur radio operator) from the state of Meghalaya, and I remained the sole hobbyist for almost a decade before the next license was issued in the state. Till Jordan got his license, there were only three hams in the state, excluding transient hams from other states whose employment had brought them to Shillong.

My lucky streak continued that day. A little after mid-day I received a text message from Jordan’s father, an engineer with the Government of Meghalaya, asking if Jordan could visit me the same evening. I joyfully replied, “Yes! Nothing would bring me greater joy!”

So, later the same afternoon, when darkness was falling, Jordan arrived with his father, Mr. Jefferson Lyndem. After a few rounds of congratulations and getting to know each other, I brought Jordan and his father to my makeshift amateur radio station. Asked if he would like to make his first on-the-air contact, Jordan said he would watch me do it. So, I fired up my Yaesu FT-5000MP rig and had a short QSO (conversation) with Prof. Hajong – VU3NYV, from the same town of Shillong, and the third license holder from Meghalaya.

Quite frankly, Jordan amazed me. Here was a child, a 6^th grade student, small of stature, but with an inquisitive and observant outlook, a true prodigy, who had done what others decades older had failed to do, or worse, had not even heard about.

The surprises did not end there. In two days, I got another message from the same friend in Assam, informing me that Jordan’s achievement had found its rightful place in the India Book of Records.

What is even more admirable is that Jordan is from Meghalaya, a small state in the far North-Eastern of India, still rural and old-worldly, a far cry from the bustling, teeming mega-cities of India like Mumbai, Bangalore, or Kolkata.

Jordan is a true giant-slayer! He beat them all! No mean achievement this.

I also applaud his progressive parents, Mr. Jefferson Lyndem and Mrs. Eva Moranda Pyngrope, for having nurtured Jordan and given him the freedom to achieve heights that others do not even dream about. I look forward to Jordan balancing his hobby with his studies and winning many more laurels in both.

As a small token of my appreciation, I presented Jordan with a copy of my book The Chicken Who Flew to Canada!  which is the story of Ken the chicken with a very high level of achievement motivation who learned flying from his friend Helen, the Canada goose, and flew all the way to Canada from Greenbelt, Maryland.

Ken has met his match in Jordan Nangsanbha Pyngrope VU38DS.

73 (best wishes in ham radio jargon) from me, Abie – VU2ABE