'Being In The Fauj Is Most Glorious'

'No matter how much you get paid or how successful you get, nothing can match the fauj.'

Major Kh Deepi Devi served in the Indian Army for 10 years before joining a leading multinational in 2023.

The officer completed a business management course for defence personnel at IIM-Shillong after leaving the army to begin a new chapter in the corporate world.

Married to an army officer who was awarded the Shaurya Chakra for gallantry in an operation in Manipur, Deepi is still very much a part of military life.

"Being in the fauj is the most glorious phase in anybody's life. No matter how much you get paid or how successful you get, nothing can match the fauj. You will not get that experience anywhere," says the retired Indian Army officer from Manipur who is also part of Egalitarian Manipur of the Altruist, an organisation that sponsors children orphaned in the Meitei-Kuki conflict in her home state.

Her ward is a school girl whose father was killed in the strife that has raged on for nearly two years and driven a rift that seems impossible to bridge.

"I related this to my life. In my bad times when I had no one, there was somebody who guided me. This made my life and bettered the lives of those associated with me."

"Now it is my turn to give back."

In 2007 when she was just out of school, Deepi lost her father, the only earning member in the family.

He worked for Doordarshan in the North East and had gone to Hyderabad to broadcast the swimming competition at the World Military Games. On his return journey, he suffered a heart attack and died in the train.

Another tragedy befell when the ambulance transporting the body for post mortem was hit by a truck. In the cruel twist of fate, his remains were severely disfigured.

"I wanted to see him for one last time when his body was brought home after three days. When I saw his face it was not in human form," says Deepi who exemplified tremendous courage for a girl barely out of her teens then.

"When I got the news that my father was no more, I could not process it. I was very still. All I was thinking was will I be able to go to school?

"Where will the next meal come from?

"How will I provide for my brother and sister who are nearly 10 years younger?

"I stopped crying because the other realities were too heavy on me. My mother was sick. All responsibility was on me."

A few days after her father's passing, she and her mother flew to Guwahati from their home in Imphal.

Deepi went to the Doordarshan office to meet the director in charge of programme production of the North East.

"I broke down when I went there because I used to spend 2 hours every day after school at the office. I used to roam around the whole office and knew it so well."

She requested the director for work and was given a contractual job as a personal assistant for Rs 3,450 in Imphal.

Deepi started taking tuitions after work to supplement the modest income, and joined a morning college so that she could be at office at 11 am.

"I had no ambition at that time. I wanted to finish my graduation and appear for a competitive exam, find a better job to feed my family," she says looking back at life's trials that ultimately shaped her life to come.

It was during this difficult time that she met Colonel Rajesh Mishra, an officer who was handling public relations for the local army formation.

His responsibilities would bring him to the Doordarshan office where he would often find Deepi at the desk.

He encouraged her to join the army which was still a new concept at that time, even more for women in the North East.

"I did not believe that I had the ability to pass the Combined Defence Services Exam, but Mishra sir pushed me. He was a father figure."

She prepared for the exam during lunch break at work and then at night when she was back from tutoring three siblings from a Marwari family.

"I used to get home by 9.30 pm and study from 10.30 pm to midnight."

Electricity used to be abysmal in Imphal at that time.

"We had electricity for 6 hours on alternate days. I really did burn the midnight oil," she says in good cheer looking at the adversity which has been the classic story of many Indians.

The hard work paid off and Deepi cleared the entrance exam.

Next was the most difficult part of the selection process -- the week-long Service Selection Board interview process.

She wanted to go for coaching to Delhi like many other aspirants do, but did not have the money.

"The first person I called was Mishra sir who had been posted to Pune. He told me I did not need coaching and gave me one mantra."

"Be honest."

The good colonel transferred money for her flight ticket to Bangalore for the interview on the pretext of a Manipuri painting he wanted to buy in Imphal.

"He told me I could send the painting later and that I should use the money for the air fare."

100 young women appeared for the selection process.

Only 5 were selected.

Deepi was one of them.

She then went on to clear the medical test and was ranked 13 on the merit list.

But the real test lay ahead in the arduous year-long training at the Officers Training Academy.

"No amount of preparation can prepare you for it," she says, but she did chop of her waist-long hair and trained on building stamina.

By then, she had also met her husband-to-be who had trained at the National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy. He would guide her about what to expect at the academy.

Deepi completed the tough training and graduated from the academy as an officer.

At the passing out parade, she asked Colonel Mishra to put the army insignia on her uniform in what is the most memorable part of an officer's initiation into military life.

"My entire family, fiancé, Mishra sir and his wife were all there. It was a beautiful moment during which I also gifted the painting that Mishra sir had sent the money for."

Freshly commissioned into the Army Ordnance Corps in 2103, her first posting was in Kupwara, J&K where she was stationed for two years.

She served in several other military stations like Jabalpur, Hissar, Shillong and married her fiancé. Her mother and siblings moved in with her and she was able to build a life for all of them just as she had set out to do after her father's passing.

Her sister has just picked up a job and brother is pursuing a career in sports education.

Colonel Mishra retired from the army and unfortunately passed away during Covid, but he changed the course of her life.

"By mentoring me, he could ensure that 5-6 lives were bettered, and this chain must be carried on," she says stressing on her commitment towards the little girl she is sponsoring in Manipur.

Egalitarian Manipur of the Altruist has sponsored 80 Manipuri children of conflict.

Still a new entrant into corporate world, Major Deepi says her army tag brings a lot of respect.

"Moral courage is needed in every job -- be it military or corporate," she says.

For someone who has chartered an admirable course, Major Deepi's advice is worth taking.

One person changed her life, and now the retired army officer is trying to do the same.

On her mantra for young professionals:

Don't be very rigid.

Flexibility always works. Rigidity creates barriers and leaves no room for others to pitch in ideas.

Take life as it comes

Accept pain. Accept suffering. Accept happiness.

Be cognisant of emotions and don't be afraid to express them.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com