'I look at your stripes, not your face': How three women forced open India's men-only jobs

Three individuals who entered professions long closed for women shared the stage at the India Today Conclave South in Kochi on September 29, sharing accounts that not only showed how much has changed but how much of it had to be fought for.

Commander Prasanna Edayilliam (retd) grew up in the FACT township near Kochi. As an NCC (National Cadet Corps) cadet, she was drawn to the naval officers' "golden stripes" and went on to join the Indian Navy as an air traffic controller.

After 14 years, she and other women officers were sent home without pension or medical benefits because women could not serve the Navy beyond that term. A group of them, connected through Facebook, took the case to the Delhi High Court and won.

The Navy appealed and the fight ran for five more years before ending in the Supreme Court's March 2020 verdict. Today, women can enter the military through Sainik Schools, the National Defence Academy in Pune and Dehradun's Rashtriya Indian Military College and compete with men for the top ranks.

Commander Edayilliam recalled being the only woman at her first naval base, which had no women's restroom and a commanding officer who told her he had been "expecting a male officer".

Nathana Mary J.D., a physics graduate, is one of the nine women operating cranes at the Vizhinjam International Seaport near Thiruvananthapuram, moving containers weighing 40-plus tonnes. At the India Today Conclave South session 'Women, Warriors, Winners', she credited this to her training, supportive managers and automation. Mary J.D. said people are shocked when she tells them what she does, but that shock turns into curiosity once she explains the technology.

Shiji U., also a crane operator at the Vizhinjam port, said she is her family's sole breadwinner and had set aside social disapproval to take up the job.

The three women had a common message: they want parity, not special treatment, and that confidence comes from taking the opportunity rather than waiting until you feel ready.

SESSION TAKEWAYS

Commander Prasanna Edayilliam (retd)

* "My commanding officer told me: 'I look at your stripes, not your face'. So, you have to prove yourself."

* "We don't want to get treated as lady officers. We wanted to be known as just officers because we have cleared the same interview, the same process."

* "It used to be 'Good morning, gentlemen' for the briefing. When I joined, it became 'Good morning, lady and gentlemen'."

* "In that particular year, the ship was commanded by a lady and the operations officer was a lady too. What are we talking about? We talk about our expansion in all fields. Why are we not empowering women?" (on sailing aboard a Singapore naval ship in 2000)

* "Everyone was telling me, 'You are a lady, you should have long hair'. Where is the definition? Where is it defined?"

Nathana Mary J.D.

* "Sometimes we will have a support system. Sometimes we ourselves will be our support system."

* "Don't think 'I will start when I'm ready'. The confidence will not come before you get into that opportunity."

* "Empowerment means giving the woman that opportunity. If we give a space for her to work, that work will show how women will work."

* "When I tell them (people) it's an automated crane, that confusion changes into curiosity."

* "My childhood [self] would not believe that I am a CRMG (cantilever rail-mounted gantry) operator."