New Delhi/Jammu: Women join the armed forces with dreams of breaking gender barriers, but many of them find that life in uniform isn’t what was promised in the recruitment posters.
Several recently retired woman officers CNN-IBN spoke to said the main problems they faced related to adjustment, acceptance and their being a very small minority in male-dominated forces.
It has been two years since Sq Leader Deepa Nailwal wore her blue uniform for the last time. Today, she is extremely comfortable in her silver jewellery and long flowing skirt. A member of the first batch of women to be inducted into the Indian Air Force, Nailwal wore her uniform for 11 proud years. She then quit.
"The forces have, because of the nature of the job they perform a clear, a cut hierarchy which can be claustrophobic," she says.
Especially when you are a young woman, leaving home for the first time and being posted to an area where you are in a minority of one. Loneliness can be the biggest problem. But there are also issues of acceptance.
“On my first posting in Assam, the jawans would be reluctant to even salute us. Eventually we made them realise that we were here to stay," says Capt Priyanka Sharma.
Till two months ago, Sharma was a captain in the Army Supply Corps. Today, she is a homemaker. Sharma was eligible for tenure of five years (and more years if she wished) but she opted out. Of the 49 women in her 2001 batch, 13 have called it a day.
“All eyes are constantly watching our actions and you don't have a breathing space. The comfort level has to be both ways if a lady officer is trying to adjust. Why can’t others do that," says Sharma.
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