HC-PRESENTATIONS BY LADIES

In all the controversy that flared up over the question whether India needs an army at all, I quite forgot all about the recent assignment HC ladies have been roped into.

For the uninitiated, through out successive promotions of officers we Ladies are exposed to a number of training and seminars and interractive sessions to train us to play our role more effectively. We are groomed not only to be better hosts ( which includes lessons from make-up to table lay out, flower arrangement, preaparing mocktails, and cooking up exotic desserts and snacks) but better and more concerned seniors to our younger ladies and jawans wives, who we are supposed to groom and guide and educate and look after while our men perform their duties in forward posts. We form a very close network which includes some fun activities like Ladies Clubs and others are Welfare based- related to health hygiene and education, vocational training . All welfare activities are managed by the apex bodies AWWA/AFWA/ANWA in the services ( army, airforce and navy welfare associations)

By the time we reach the Higher Command Wing , as wives of senior officers we aretaken to the next level of training. Our foremost concern now is to educate ourselves about the changing scenario of the army and draw out effective and workable welfare programmes for the future. In the forces ladies play a very important role in the home as well as in the organisation at large.We shoulder several responsibilities even at the cost of pursuing our own career attimes.We are always expected to put our personal needs and aspirations on the back burner and remain attuned to the so called unit and organisational obligations at large.

I personally feel the amount of dedication we are expected to show is not always fair. For the men, their sacrifice at the battle field is part of their job, that gets them kudos from every place. We get straddled with an extra portfolio which neither sustains us emotionally nor financialy. It can be very draining especially for those who had carved out a career for themselves and had little or no opportunities to pursue it.There is also a catch 22 situation where it is made to feel ladies must feel privileged and thankful for the perks they receive in form of a vehicles or sahayaks and so they must contribute to the organisation without making any noise at all , at all cost actually. No one dares defy this unwritten rule of conduct that thas been accepted as a commandment over a period of time.In reality, lack of opportnities have made ladies grow unnecessarily dependent on the organisation today.

Anyway the questions that are being raised in the this changing scenario are the following:
1. Do you think that those who feel that wives have an important role to play in the Armed Forces are out of tune with the reality?
2.What activities and responsibilites can the wives rteadily and successfully contribute to in the units/ formations and establishments ?
3. Our welfare activites are all devoted to the PBOR and their families. What about the needs and aspirations of the wives and how is the organisation meeting them , specially when they expect them to move at short notices to remote places with no ooportunity for a decent career? What should we do to improve the satisfaction level and aspirations of young officers' wives?
4.As seperated families we face innumerable problems . How is the organisation addressing them?
5. Will it be a good idea to help our ladies get more self reliant , so that they depend less on the roganisation? And many more. During the next few days we will be brainstorming on all these issues and coming up with 6 syndicate presentations for the whole college to watch, followed by an interactive session,which should be interesting. I will keep you posted on the lastest happenings.