#WomeninArmy #IndianArmy #AnjanaBhaduria #InspiringIndians #AtoZChallenge
My father was in the Air Force, so I had grown up with great respect for the armed forces and for the cause of serving the nation.
The first woman to win a gold medal in the Indian Army
"When I got the call from the
Army, after the interview, my brother point-blank refused to let me join the
service!. "He was worried about sending a woman all the way from
Chandigarh to Chennai for the training...
"I remember taking my mother
aside and telling her to convince my brother before I run away from the
house!"
Gold medalist Anjana Bhaduria, from
the first batch of women cadets takes us through her career journey and tells
us what it feels like to be a woman in the armed forces in India.
When she was young, the charm of
putting on a uniform, of being a class-one gazetted officer, of getting
commissioned by the President of India was enough motivation for her to think
about joining the Army.
After completing her MSc in
Microbiology, Anjana Bhaduria applied to an advertisement for the induction of
lady officers into the Army -- Women Special Entry Scheme (WSES) --
and was accepted into the first ever batch of women cadets in the Indian
Army in 1992.
She served with the Indian Army for
10 years.
Here, Anjana Bhaduria, gold medalist
in the first batch of women cadets (WSES – 1) into the Army, effectively making
her service number 00001, tells us how it was to be part of this historic
event.
What made you join the Army?
My father was in the Air Force, so I had grown up with great respect for the armed forces and for the cause of serving the nation.
I had completed my MSc in
Microbiology and was working for a pharmaceutical firm in Chandigarh when I saw
an advertisement regarding the induction of lady officers into the Armed
Forces.
I was always excited with the charm
of the uniform and of being an officer.
I just tried for the Army and I got
through, and since they wanted an MSc in Microbiology, it improved my chances.
How did your family react to your
decision to join the Army?
Unfortunately, my father had passed
away a couple of years before this opportunity had come through.
My father was the type of person who
would encourage girls to join anything.
After he passed away, a lot of
family responsibilities came upon my eldest brother.
When I got a call from the Army,
after the interview, my brother point-blank refused to let me join the service!
He was worried about sending a woman
all the way from Chandigarh to Chennai for the training, about the
potential repercussions if anything went wrong and of what the relatives would
say.
I remember taking my mother aside
and telling her to convince my brother before I ran away from home!
Ultimately she did convince him, and
I left for the training.
There was a lot of noise from our
relatives, but soon after I topped my batch and got the gold medal, everyone
was proud.
It wasn’t easy, though.
How was the experience of the
training?
Earlier, women were limited to the
Army Medical Corps, the Army Dental Corps and the Military Nursing Service.
Ours was the very first batch when
they started the induction of women into the Army, so it was really an
experimental batch of 25 women.
When they started, they weren’t
aware of our endurance levels.
Initially for the rifle drill, where
you are expected to carry a heavy 7.62mm rifle and complete two rounds of the
ground, they handed us canes instead because they weren’t sure whether we’d be
able to take it or not.
We obviously refused the canes, but
to figure out an acceptable level of training was a challenge for them.
Once we graduated and gave feedback
for the second batch, and subsequent batches gave their feedback as well, they
realised girls can do equally well.
They recently merged the women
cadets and the gentlemen cadets into one course.
Of course, the physical standards
were a little different, but in the first combined batch of gentlemen and women
cadets, it was a woman cadet who was the recipient of the gold medal, which is
very commendable.
This was about four to five years
ago.
What is the perception within the
Army of women joining the armed forces?
When I got commissioned, my first
posting was in Calcutta.
Not a lot of people were aware that
women were now joining the Army as officers, especially the jawans and the
recruits.
As officers, we would wear trousers
and shirts, while the women in the Medical Corp would be in saris, which they
were used to seeing.
The moment I would pass from
anywhere, the jawans would forget about saluting and would just blankly stare
at me.
It was new for them to see women
cadets and we would have to prove ourselves to them and everyone else around.
All 25 of us from the first batch
had made it to different postings, which meant there was just one woman officer
in each station.
From the second batch onwards they
started posting at least two women officers per station to ease the situation.
It was really difficult in the
start, but now, of course, everyone knows about women officers so it’s
easy.
According to you, why doesn’t the
Indian Army have women in combat roles yet?
I think the mental strain and safety
are the biggest points of concern.
It’s not really safe for women as
far as Infantry is concerned because they have a really rigorous and hard life.
Secondly, once you end up in a
combat role you’re going to end up commanding, and I don’t think Indian men are
ready to take commands from a woman.
Even though women are doing well in
the IPS, I don’t think the Army’s going to be willing to give command to a
woman because commanding a battalion is very different, especially commanding a
battalion entirely of men.
It may be possible if they start
with inducting women into the battalions, but they’re going to need to work on
the safety and security aspects.
It’s going to take a lot of time to
get there, but things are improving, so you never know.
Do you have any advice for women who
may want to join the armed forces?
Corruption is everywhere.
Whether in a civil job or a
government job; you need to draw a line and decide what you want to do, that is
important.
With the new pay scales, the Army
has started paying quite a lot, but initially when I joined that was not the
case.
If you want to serve the nation,
wear a uniform, lead an adventurous life, then the Army is a good fit.
The Army teaches you everything --
you end up being a Jack of all trades, but Master of none. So, if you want
to pursue a career related to what you’ve studied, or a specific field, the
Army is not the place.
For instance, if I wanted to start
something related to my Microbiology degree after my service in the Army, it
would have been too late because the kind of equipment used in the Army is very
obsolete, plus I would have forgotten most of it.
At the end of the day, one has to
decide.
One final thing I'd like to add is
that even though incidents can happen anywhere, the Army is very safe for
women. When you are moved to your field station you get accommodation to
yourself, you have a mess where you can dine; so a lot of the troubles faced in
the civilian life aren’t faced by Army personnel.
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