Armed for Success

Tarn Taran,the place from where Prabhdeep hails,is often termed Punjabs backwater. Its one of the poorest in Punjab. Its sex ratio,898 females per 1,000 males according to provisional census data for 2011,is one of the worst in the country. Located near Amritsar,it was once the capital of the Khalistani movement and the hotbed of terrorism. Now,the area is characterised by a largely feudal society in which women are still sidelined. Thanks to Prabhdeeps entry into the BSF and her posting at the Wagah border in Atari,matters might improve as more and more girls look to join the Indian armed forces. Making all of this happen is a not-for-profit Sikh organisation,Nishan-e-Sikhi,started by Padma Shri awardee Baba Sewa Singh in Khadur Sahib. Prabhdeep too trained here.

As of March 2012,177 girls from Baba Sewa Singhs training academy have joined different units of the armed forces,including BSF,Punjab Police,CRPF and the army. It takes the girls months of training and rigorous discipline at the academy to achieve their dream. Their day starts at dawn,practising long and high jumps,exercising and participating in the high point of the training,the 1,600 metre run. This is followed by theory classes in English,Hindi,mathematics and general knowledge. Though the training has no fixed duration,it generally lasts from three to six months,with emphasis on intensive training for field tests. Aimed at uplifting young boys and girls from underprivileged backgrounds in Punjab,the trust has turned into a grooming centre for these youngsters as they prepare for the civil services,military academies and professional exams. Fees are negligible,in fact,the armed force training course costs a mere Rs 100 as administrative fee.

Amandeep Kaur from Nagra village in Ludhiana is a new trainee at the academy. The shy and reticent 23-year-old,the youngest of four siblings,was forced to drop out of school when her father died. For a while,she tried giving tuition lessons to pay for her school fees. Circumstances soon forced her to work as a daily wage labourer. But she eventually completed her class XII and found work as a data entry operator in Mohali. It was a job that meant a lot to her,but Amandeep was spurred on by an ambition much deeper. I have always wanted to be a police inspector. In our village,girls are killed even before birth or married off at a very young age. People consider us a burden. I want to prove that girls are equal to men, she says.

Sukhwinder Kaurs story has none of the Dickensian quality that marks Amandeeps life. The only girl in the training school with a double graduation in political science and history and a B.Ed degree,she was also among the first girls in her village to have completed her education. Yet,she dreams of working in the armed forces,living out the adventure she always hoped for. I keep seeing myself in a BSF uniform,a gun in the holster,protecting our border from enemies, says the sprightly 23-year-old.

For most of these girls,the armed forces are a window of opportunity,giving them a foothold into a life they can never have if they stay back in the village. While some of them candidly admit that a job in the forces is their ticket to financial freedom,most consider it an opportunity to step out of stereotypes and create their own identity. Hardeep,in her early 20s,from Bombi village in Ludhiana,sees it as a means of bringing fame to the family; Raibir is tomboyish,dreaming of a jeep of her own and enough independence to teach the men a lesson in gender equality. Most of the girls come from underprivileged backgrounds and have studied only till class XII. At the training sessions,some run barefoot,while others wear the same set of clothes every day. Yet,most show a dogged determination even as they joke and laugh and set targets for themselves and for each other.

Some of them have run into family opposition,while some others have braved criticism for their unorthodox choice of profession. Kuldeep Kaur was among the few who was not lacking in family support. She was barely 18 when she appeared for a BSF selection test in 2010 at the end of her training at Nishan-e-Sikhi. She qualified. After completing her training in 2011,she was posted in the remote Abhor district of Punjab. Exposed to a relatively bigger world outside her village,Kuldeep is now keen to complete her basic education and is pursuing her class XII exams. Her uncle is effusive about Kuldeeps accomplishment. Shes made us all proud. Kuldeep is not our daughter anymore,but our son, he says,falling back unconsciously on the prevalent gender codes.

Back home,Kuldeeps newly-married brother Inderjeets wife Daljeet longs to follow in her footsteps. I had applied for the BSF exams and have luckily qualified. Im waiting for the final call, she says. Her husband is wholehearted in his praise for his sister,but does not seem completely at ease with the paradigm shift in the district. His mother has no such qualms. Sitting half-hidden in the shadows,she allows herself a smile when she hears her daughter-in-law talk of her dreams. Her daughter has already made a name for herself in the village,and she wouldnt mind if her daughter-in-law follows suit. There is a strange vindication when neighbours drop in,talking about the women in her family as the pride of the village. Honour is finally free of gender stereotypes in her household.

The writer is a Delhi-based freelance photographer