AFVOA Newletter August 2020

Section 5 - Memoirs CV 2 No. 02 / 2020 Page 99 of 237 the Best All Rounder of the Technical Training Course in 1951 at Jalahalli which he received from Air Commodore RHD Singh the then Commandant. My husband’s colleagues would tell me over the years that his record in performance had remained unbeaten for long. With a brother in law already with the Air Force I looked forward to an interesting Air Force life. And true enough, it was full of experiences. Learning the needed social etiquettes, managing home within budget, adapting to frequent postings to different locations, most of them in the Punjab, acquiring workable multiple language skills, living in whatever type of accommodation was available, “tents” shared accommodation, and if lucky to live in 3 bedroom houses, a very rare occasion though, being, “separated” from your husband off and on, educating children in different schools with different systems of education, were life’s lessons which moulded me to face every situation, all with “positivity” cultivated over a period time. Lasting friendships which were made across religion, and language taught me to look beyond my own immediate family and home needs and forge relationships,“ the service camaraderie”. I used whatever opportunity I could get to improve my educational qualifications and the jobs I could take wherever I could, in school teaching, exposed me to yet another world, growing with children, and, enjoying sharing knowledge with them. My husband retired as Air ViceMarshal in 1981 after three decades of service. His career was without blemish, and had become the committed service officer that he was when he retired, because of the learning ground he had got from the leadership of some of the most distinguished Commanding Officers at the different postings and while in Air Head Quarters, or Western Air Command, or Maintenance Command or Training Command to have had the privilege of working with the Air Officer Commanders, the Chiefs of Staff, each one, highly decorated for their services and legends in their own time. Post retirement, settling in one’s own accommodation, in Defence Colony, amidst your own “clan” has been a great boon, with no environmental changes to adapt. It was indeed a so called “tryst with destiny” that brought my husband and me to be involved in several voluntary activities beyond the routine of retired life. My husband took over, from Air Marshal B. Krishna Rao the office of the President, Air Force Association (AFA) where along with a team of dedicated colleagues, the services of the AFA could reach many more veterans during his tenure of over fifteen years. He was also active with several professional bodies, Membership Advisor Institution of Electrical Engineers, IEE and Chairman, Institution of Engineering Technology, IET. He also had the privilege to be the President of Armed Forces Veterans’ Association AFVOA in which I continue to be a member.