Chennai :
In 1989, the then principal of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) training centre in Tiruchirapalli was not too pleased to see a woman trainee among hundreds of men for the first time at the institute.
“It was very evident from his body language and his face. But when he saw me matching steps and firing the .303 rifle as proficiently as the men, the apprehension was gone. In fact, when I graduated, he personally came up and said that I had exceeded expectations,” says 60-year-old M Parameshwari, the lone woman RPF inspector in the Indian Railways, also in-charge at the Egmore Railway Station.
Parameshwari is all set to retire after a 38-year-long career with the Indian Railways — a service which she fondly says is her second husband. Looking back at her career and life, the mother of three tells City Express about her her father’s encouragement.
“He pushed me into sports right when I was a teenager. This made me physically and mentally tough. It worked in my favour when I joined the RPF in March 1977,” she explains, crediting the Indian Railways for helping her stand on her feet today.
Times were tough those days, she reminisces. “The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had just given a push to include women in security forces. But special facilities like a toilet or changing room were non-existent for men, much less women. I’ve seen the gradual changes over the years and today, we have a separate toilet and a relaxing room for RPF staff,” she says.
Being tough-as-nails in a male dominated work-force always has its pitfalls, rues Parameshwari. Refusing to elaborate, she indicates that there have been times when professionally jealous subordinates or colleagues would pass unnecessary comments based on her gender. “But since I was very straight-forward and demanding, they never dared to say it on my face,” she says.
Despite her diligence, Parameshwari says that she was given only office work for the first few years after she became Assistant Sub-Inspector after the training in Tiruchirapalli. In 1998, the then Chief Security Commissioners Ganesan and Damodaran, recognised her toughness and sent her to safeguard passengers, remove hawkers from the stations and apprehend criminals.
“After that, there was no looking back. I travelled to places like Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Delhi. Very few women get an opportunity to see the world and I consider myself lucky,” she says.
But being a woman in the security forces was a tough job, especially if one wished to have a satisfactory domestic life as well, Inspector Parameshwari says.
“I was not only a government servant, but also a servant in my home, a wife, a mother and a daughter-in-law. Unlike other 9 to 5 jobs, I have to attend the call of duty at any time of the day or night,” she says, adding that a woman must develop a sportive spirit to succeed in a demanding career like this.
Parameshwari is looking forward to spending her life’s savings on building a home for her children in Avadi. She plans to spend her post-retirement time with her two grandchildren. Duty, as she puts it, is a task that she is always ready for.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Siddharth Prabhakar / October 29th, 2015