Humour in uniform

Sajita Nair's debut novel For She's A Jolly Good Fellow is an amusing take on the life of a woman officer in the Indian army While many women have made chiklits and mush their own space in the literary universe, Sajita Nair's debut novel, For She's a Jolly Good Fellow, marches into an area where no woman, at least in India, has been before – the male-dominated Indian army.

The book, which releases on July 3 in Kochi is a hilarious take on a woman's life in the army. Something that came easy to Sajita as she was one of the first woman officers to be commissioned in the Indian army. Like Sajita, the two protagonists – Deepa and Anju – are two young women who join the army and gingerly find their way around the highly regimented environs of the army. Now settled in Vizhag with her husband, Sajan Abraham, a naval officer, and two sons, Sajita's book is perhaps a first of its kind in India.

On the eve of the release of the book at Kochi, Sajita, in an e-mail, interview, talks about the book and its interesting background. Excerpts…

How much of it is autobiographical? How many years were you there in the army and where were you posted?
The book is partly autobiographical. I have drawn from many of my own experiences, but there are also those that are purely imagined and some that I have borrowed from my father's life in the Air Force, my husband's in the navy and from my friends who served in the army. I was a Short Service Commissioned officer and served for five years. Panagah in West Bengal was my first posting after the training period at the Officer's Training Academy. I was also posted in Ahmedabad.

Full interview here Hindu