I am from the second batch in 1993 and one of the 18 women who were selected from more than 30,000 applicants. The selection procedure was the same for both men and women. We faced the same written exam, same round of interviews, debates... and even the physicals were same.
The day I reached Air Force Academy, I remember being excited. My mum (an NCC officer) had promised me that it would be a year of training with tons of fun and NO books (I was from BITS Pilani and tired of studying).
The first thing I remember is the ‘fall in’. I realised we were 18 girls and more than 200 boys!
The training period was exciting. I was amongst the fittest of the 18 and could take the ragda compared to others. This often made me a target of seniors, and envy of fellow women officers. Each and every aspect of our training remained same as that of boys. We even had to pee in the open behind tarpaulin walls!
Once the postings came, I reached Ambala, a hub of Fighter Pilots. I was given a separate room. Fellow officers had a bit of a trouble digesting this as the junior-most officer had a room to herself while they were all sharing.
In an Air Force base, besides the primary duties there is a load of secondary duties which officers are expected to perform. Three months into my tenure I realised that I wasn’t being given any secondary duty. I learnt later that the ‘top man’ didn’t want any chaos as he was hoping for a foreign posting after his tenure at Ambala. I wonder what ‘chaos’ he imagined I would create.
But all good things come to an end and after him the next boss had his head firmly on his shoulders, and he decided I had to make up for all the secondary duties I had NOT done.
Thinking back, the biggest thrill for me was to be addressed as SIR. Oh how I loved that! I was the first woman officer to be taken for a spin in a Jaguar while all MIG pilots were kept waiting. I learnt to drive on my boss’s sarkari jeep. I have driven a tractor with a trolley with three aircraft engines sitting pretty on it, a queen mary, a fork lift, a tanker topped up with petrol... Alas, now I only get to drive a mere i 20.
I was always treated with courtesy. The Men in Blue sure know how to treat a woman, in a sari or in uniform. My boss even had a WC installed in the office premises before I joined.
But I did have to prove myself to some men. I remember a Master Warrant Officer who decided he would test me. He took our parade and drill. He singled me out one day and asked, if Madam could teach him how to give the command. I agreed readily, but not before asking him to address me correctly. He apologised and addressed me as ‘Sir’, but I still had to give the command.
Boy, did I make them march! A young airman was bold enough to come and tell me, “Sir, aapne aaj paseene nikalwaa diye.” (Sir you had us sweating out there).
