Let's start with your high school days. Talk us through how you became an IPS Officer

I did all my schooling in Tamil Medium school. But all of sudden Pre-University Course (PUC), an equivalent of Class 12 today, was conducted in English medium. This took me aback at the start - perhaps due to proverbial “fear of unknown”. However, due to relentless hard work and commitment, within a month, I became confident and comfortable with the medium of instruction being English. I did fairly well in the PUC exam and managed to get the course of my choice - BSc Agriculture. I followed it up with MSc Agriculture and was a recipient of the prestigious Indian Council of Agricultural Research Fellowship. I didn't become an IPS immediately - I, in fact, joined a bank for some time.

Later, my childhood desires came back, and I gave the UPSC exam, the exam one needs to pass to become a Civil Servant in India - an extremely competitive and rigorous procedure. I passed the exams but couldn't clear the interview. I realized all wasn't lost - if anything the urge/ desire to conquer this became deeper. A few years later, I tried again with greater perseverance and successfully cleared the exams and interview to become an IPS Officer.

What's your typical Day@Work as an IPS Officer?

I started as an Assistant Superintendent of Police and today with great pride, I serve as the Additional Director-General of Police and focus on prevention of “Crime against Women and Children”. My day typically starts quite early in the morning when calls start coming in briefing me about what transpired in the city overnight. I then get down to planning further course of action as deemed necessary. We have meetings to take stock of various cases, and then I have to report the finding to other senior officers who will cascade the information to the government. We also meet several members of the public to understand their grievances and see how best to address them. Part of my job is also to sensitize my fellow upcoming police officers on to how to interact with the public - being friendly and courteous, considering the fact that police are not often portrayed as very friendly people (especially in movies!) and that influence public perception of the entire police community.

What are some of the challenges that you face in your work every day?

Nature of the challenges faced by IPS officers is unique to place they serve in. Kashmir may throw a set of challenges, Arunachal may throw a completely different set of challenges, etc. But a common thread in all this is sacrifice. IPS officers are on call 24 hours x 7 days a week x 365 days a year. There have been instances where months together, I haven't seen my children as I am out on the field handling crimes, communal tension, etc. There will be pressure from the victim's side and alleged suspect's side, and it is imperative that the Law and Order are upheld at all times, and I definitely can't lower my guard. Collecting intelligence, gathering evidence, interrogating suspects, facing the public and answering them are all part of an IPS officer's job! Honestly, though, I don't treat any of these as burden or challenges - I treat it as my pleasure to serve my society and its people. This feeling helps relieve anxiety in my work. Just like how you feel lesser stress if you study for the sake of understanding a concept as against for the sake of passing an exam. Do understand life will be boring without challenges - treat them as enjoyable and get on with it.

If let's say after becoming an IPS officer I don't like what I am doing in the field, are there other options for me?

By fieldwork, I think you are referring to Law & Order division. This is a very interesting role which requires both physical and mental effort. However, if one does get exhausted doing this - they can explore desk jobs, which don't require physical exertion as such. Areas like cyber-crime detection and prevention, intelligence, which are just as important and require plenty of mental effort, can be explored.

Any interesting anecdotes that you would like to share with us?

Sure! I was posted in the Villupuram district of Tamil Nadu at that time. Dr B.R. Ambedkar's (fondly recognized as the father of Indian constitution) statue had been desecrated with a chappal garland (i.e., garland made of footwear). This created a lot of anger, commotion and chaos among people who revered and respected him and his ideologies. They didn't allow any members of my police force or other civil servants near the statue and demanded that the person(s) responsible for this be arrested before the chappal garland can be removed.

As the situation started getting tense, I wanted to go to the site quickly and take control of the situation. The location was about 30km away from my office, and I drove there along with a fellow cop. On our way there, I stopped at a shop selling flower garlands and bought a garland and a bottle of water. Then drove all the way to just beside the statue, making the crowd to give way. Without giving the crowd any time to react, I quickly climbed the statue, removed the chappal garland, threw it away, cleansed the statue by sprinkling some water and garlanded Dr BR Ambedkar's statue with the garland it deserves - a floral garland! The angry mob which was stunned, started clapping and dispersed quietly.

This incident reiterates the importance of common sense and presence of mind to solve the toughest of tough problems life may throw at you!

Any words of advice for the students?

May sound cliche, but can't emphasis how important it is to pursue what you are interested in. If you pursue a degree out of peer pressure or parental pressure, should there be an obstacle, you will start using their pressure as an excuse and start blaming them instead of finding a way to overcome the obstacle. Instead, take ownership of your career - find out what you like and have a dialogue with your parents and convince them about what you want to study and why. However, it is important you listen to their opinion and respect that, like it or not, they have given an opportunity for you through sacrifices you may not be aware of in your childhood. “Enjoy your schooling, responsibly!”

To wear the uniform, to command a force and to serve the people - gives an unparalleled high! Giving the civil services exam is in itself a fairly unique experience - give it an honest attempt.