Most defence personnel take up a job after they quit the armed forces. This is more to do with killing time and keeping oneself busy. But I had a different perspective. I wanted a second career. After taking premature retirement from the Indian Air Force—I was a wing commander— in 1991, I did an MBA, a course in foreign trade management and a computer course.
I worked with a few companies as business development executive. It was an opportunity for me to clear the misconception held by people that former defence personnel only took up positions with security service providers! In 2001, I joined a training course for insurance agents that was organised by Tata AIG. On completing the course I sold some policies, but my heart wasn’t in it and I decided to discontinue.
A few days later I received a cheque for Rs 11,000 as my commission and an invitation to attend the national convention at Shimla. This was quite a surprise and I decided to pursue this career.
Many of my friends had a prejudice against insurance agents and dissuaded me. They weren’t entirely wrong, after all unscrupulous agents have given this career a bad name. But I took it up as a challenge to dispel perceptions. My first decision as an agent was never to lie or cheat.
I have sold more than 1,000 policies (both life and non-life), some to clients living abroad. I have won international recognition and quality awards. I’m now a member of MDRT, an international financial association having 30,000 members. Only 682 agents from India, since Independence, have been granted this honour.
My earning per month is in six figures. I pay more income tax now than my annual salary as an air force officer. I also give motivational talks and guide agents who are not only younger to me, but are also pursuing this as their career.
My new job has also given me the chance to travel abroad to attend conferences But more than any of these what I’m proud of is that the lessons in sincerity and hard work I learnt at Air Force have worked wonders for me in my second career. Dedication and determination pays— be it in protecting lives as a soldier or as an insurer.
