Combat ready, beyond borders

She is the only woman BSF officer who will soon be seen at the Pakistan border in Punjab. Having just returned home to Bikaner after a grueling 53-week period of rigorous hardship, she is enthused and ready for action. After all, training to become assistant commandant in the Border Security Force (BSF) is no mean task! Meet Tanushree Pareek, the first woman field officer of the world’s largest border guarding force. Now that she is back, she hardly finds time to relax. She has been away from her entire family — a joint family — of grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins, for long, and has a lot to catch up on, now. In the past four years, she has had very little time to interact with her family. While 13 months were spent at the BSF Academy at Tekanpur, prior to that, she was busy preparing for the civil services even as she waited for the field training to commence.

Tanushree is felicitated at the convocation ceremony at the BSF Academy at Tekanpur by Home Minister Rajnath Singh who put the rank stars on her shoulder

With friends, relatives and neighbours pouring in to congratulate her, coupled with the constant ringing of her mobile phone, it’s going to be a long time before Tanushree breathes easy. When I called her father first, Tanushree was busy with her younger sister, an MBBS student, who was visiting her. Later, she was in the middle of an interview with the BBC. Finally, she called with an apology for keeping me waiting — that speaks oodles about her humility. It is true that success is best defined by humility. What’s more? Even with a barrage of the same set of questions that she has to answer, one cannot trace the slightest bit of irritation or fatigue in her voice. In the year 2013, BSF allowed women to apply for operation duty. She was just 22 then. After a four-phase recruitment process, in July 2014, she became the first woman assistant commandant in the organisation. Last week, she was commissioned into the force, post her training. It’s indeed praiseworthy that she is the first female combat officer in the 2.5 lakh strong force.

At the parade

Talking about this, Tanushree says, “Yes, I feel quite happy about it but it is only now that I am reminded of being a woman. Things were not any different during the training because I am a woman. “There was no distinction between men and women. We were trained in the same way, and taught the same things. I had to perform all the tasks that my male counterparts did,” she asserts. Even at home, unlike an average Indian girl, Tanushree Pareek didn’t have to follow predefined paths in her life. She faced no discrimination in the family and had complete freedom to choose whatever she wanted to pursue in life. “Everything is usually predecided for a girl — what she should eat, wear or study, while boys get all the freedom. The society, too, expects girls to live in a certain manner. However, I was lucky not to have faced any such discrimination or different treatment for being a girl,” she elaborates. “We live in a joint family, where we have several cousins, but never ever have our parents treated us differently or told us what to do,” says the confident young woman, who has been made brand ambassador by the state government for the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.

Tanushree Pareek with her parents

Even so, it was rather extraordinary for a young girl to opt for a field job in a paramilitary force in a country where parents, and not kids, choose a career for their offspring. With an exception of just a few, parents want lucrative careers for their sons, while safety and security is the guiding principle in choosing careers for daughters. In this context, how courageous this decision is can only be understood by the fact that the BSF is the first line of defence at the border, during peace time and is also involved in internal security. Her first posting is slated to be at the Pakistan border in Punjab. In response to our predicament as to whether she saw any resistance from her parents, she reveals, “My father was happy. I broke the news to him only after I had cleared the written test and had to go for the physical test.”

Her father, Dr S.P. Joshi, a veterinary doctor, and her grandfather, both of whom she sees as her idols, were naturally quite happy. In fact, her father even encouraged her to focus less on studies and more on fitness to clear the physical tests. Not surprisingly, she gives the credit of her success to her parents. “My mother has always supported me and my sister — She has never asked us to help in kitchen. Moreover, she gave up her job as a lecturer to care for us,” informs Tanushree, in a voice filled with gratitude towards her parents. The versatile, engineering grad also confirms that this was no childhood dream like most children have. “I had no childhood dreams. In fact, I couldn’t stay focused on one thing for long. I was good at studies, and I played state level badminton, and learned horse riding.”

During her B. Tech in electronics and communications from Government Engineering College in Bikaner, when she had joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC), her love for the uniform began to grow, and she wanted to serve the country. So, was it tough? “A lot,” shares the young girl, who stood second in her batch, with three awards for her outstanding achievements in drill, all round best trainee, and public speaking. “I had put on six to seven kg weight before the physical test, and had just a month to get into shape to clear it,” she admits. Truly, she cleared the 100-meter race in 15 seconds instead of the stipulated 18 seconds. However, the real challenge came during the training. “From the early morning parade and physical training to attending classes and further studies, it completely soaks up your energy. There would be a terrible body ache, and often, frustration would creep in as you don’t get time for yourself,” she confesses.

But, true to the expression, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” Tanu trudged along. In her own words, two things kept her going. “Since, I have come half the way, I must complete the journey. Besides, my father always told me that whatever you do, you must give your best,” she says. Steering the conversation towards her hobbies, she says, “The training was tiring and always made me want to hit the bed. I prefer to sleep and if I am not able to, I write my diary. I ponder over things that happened during the day, and I like to put down my thoughts on paper. Sometimes, I also like to go on a drive.” Not surprisingly, she loves travelling. Now that she is in the BSF, it is likely that she will get loads of opportunities to visit different parts of the country. With a resolve to serve her force and the country, she signs off.

The highs

After 51 years of existence, the Border Security Force (BSF) has made history by appointing its first woman field officer
She had been selected after clearing the all-India examination conducted by UPSC in 2014
She underwent 52 weeks of training
Pareek led the passing out parade of 67 trainee officers