IN THE SARDAR's SHADOW

“The College is the first institution of its kind in India.  It has no precedents to look back upon but has an inspiring example to set for future generations.  It has to build itself and build others….-

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on the Central Police Training College, later the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy

Visited the Sardar Vallabhbhai  National Police Academy , Hyderabad on 16th and 17 th October-  for the first time since COVID . There was an invite for a lecture on Road Safety Interventions . I am passionate about road safety, and thoroughly enjoyed my tenure as ADG Traffic for over three years- and I was delighted to go. 

Hyderabad is by far my favourite amongst the cities of the south , having undergone Basic training at the Academy during 1988-1990 .Since then , I have visited the academy many times - for various in- services courses ,as well as the  25th and 30th batch reunions . 

The Central Police Training College was established in 1948 at Mt. Abu as a  central institution to train IPS  - operating out of unused Army barracks, the rented rooms of Hotel Rajputana  and Abu Lawrence School. It was upgraded as an Academy in 1967,  and two years after admitting the first  woman officer to its ranks , it shifted to Hyderabad in 1975 . Located on the Bengaluru highway at the then village Shivarampally, the Academy has grown by leaps and  bounds  - having trained 73 batches of IPS officers  as well as officers from Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Afghanistan. It conducts a large number of mid-career training programmes for senior police officers as well as officers of other allied departments. 

As we approached the Academy, the journey became a bit bumpy since a flyover was under construction. Flyover building activity in Hyderabad has always been prolific - as the city grew exponentially from mid 1990s. During my training days, whenever we would go out of NPA, , we would turn right only to go the stables , the dispensary and a dhaba. Otherwise , it was always a left turn as we entered the city by the river bridges over Musi to Koti and onwards towards Husain Sagar and Tank Bund . Now one hardly turns left - airport is to the right and the huge urban build up ,  approachable by an elevated flyover , is in that direction. I am of course nostalgic about the old days as all these areas were earlier a huge swathe of empty lands with rocks of various shapes and sizes that made the sunsets look so scenic. 

It was close to 11 in the night that the vehicle took me up the Vallabh Shikhar and deposited me at the Rajasthan Bhavan . Built in the traditional Rajasthani style of architecture , it now occupies a space which we earlier used for rock climbing - and a giant rock has been retained in situ as a landscaping prop . It also overlooks the Mir Alam Tank - sparsely inhabited during my training days , now a humongous cluster . Went to sleep straight as I had already consumed a huge G.O.A.T cheese mutton burger from Pronto. 

It was a lazy start in the morning. Had wanted to swim , but the academy pool is closed on Mondays for cleaning . So I went out for the usual walk . The academy is now dotted with buildings , as training demands have grown. The academy seems to be in race with the city it is situated in so far as construction activities go. There is a vertical of Mid Career Training programmes   - though has now lost a lot of sheen as they have  snipped the foreign leg of the programme . The present AD MCTP informed me that the last phase V batch which  went abroad was in 2015 - the year I did alongwith a number of my batchmates - Zulfi , Bhaskie, Ramesh , Anil , Sanjay, Rohit and many more - and even my younger brother Vikas . 

However , a stroll in the academy sans the IPS probationers , is rather insipid . This is

the time when either the PT ground or the parade ground is dotted with probationers in different stages of toil - the sight is energising and also evocative . I went past the empty parade ground , the PT ground , the obstacle courses , a clutch of new buildings to my left and then hit the stadium. It is now named after Ashok Kamte of 1989 batch  , an outstanding sportsman, a sterling officer who lost his life in the 26/11 Mumbai attack . There is a synthetic track now , in place of cinder track earlier . Two records still stand out in the name of my batch- 4X100 M relay and javelin throw ( Brij Raj).

On my return from the stadium , went  up to the imposing statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Sardar perches over an elevation - keeping vigil over the flock. He is the central figure , his name affixed to the academy since 1974 . The IPS  is because of his strident assertion that the country needed All India Services to maintain its unity - his statue a mirror for all of us to reflect, introspect, and correct.

There is hardly a patch in the academy premise that doesn’t trigger  fond memories - but alas no batchmate or faculty  was around to share and reminisce with. My  whole batch had been making a programme to visit the academy when Atul Karwal , the batch topper, Evererester , prankster , dancer , singer , influencer, triathlete and what not was the Director  of NPA.  But he is transferred now and heads the NDRF. Had he been around , would have surely stayed over  to spend an evening , instead of the hurried retreat after collecting Biryani from a Paradise outlet en route the airport . 

Later in the day when I set out to deliver my lecture, I went all alone and sat under the Sardar’s portrait in the Central IPS Mess lounge , the batch remaining ever present in the frame by virtue of having presented the walnut table with inlay works in the central sofa enclosure . Atul has swapped the lounge with the dining area and extended the earlier lounge to accommodate a whopping 192 hungry probationers to dine at a  go. The dining area now looked much larger , and smelt stronger of the menu served during our days.

The lecture was delivered post lunch - at 3 pm . The MCTP building is now named

after Randhir Verma of 1974 batch, a gallant officer awarded the Ashok Chakra for his daring bid to foil a bank dacoity by suspected terrorists armed with AK 47s . Sri Verma was a hero of sorts in Bihar - brave, helpful and possessing unimpeachable integrity. Winner of many death defying battles , he had shot down the dreaded Kamdeo Singh and contained the tribal agitation in Chaibasa. “ In the  shadow of  of your gigantic achievements we pitch our miserable little tents, “  Sri Manoje Nath , his senior by a year , would write about him in a hagiographic requiem . After joining the service, I had visited Dhanbad and my cousin Pradeep Bhaiya took me to meet him. It was Diwali, he was so humble and self effacing, nary a swagger, and my last memory of his is he taking hold of some crackers from his wary son , stabilizing him, and bursting them nonchalantly. 

There were about 24 officers of the ranks of SP and Addl SP. It is tough to engage a group after lunch and siesta, but I plodded on. The group had  the usual mix of interested , disinterested , and  those in siesta . I think I did well as per the session feedback scores communicated the following day  - but more than that I am happy to note that NPA has taken taken it up in earnest to organise training courses on not just traffic management but on road safety as well.

I always find it very engaging and rewarding to meet colleagues younger and from different places. It was no different with the Course Director Bhushan Gulabrao Borase of 2009 batch. A keen learner in the field of blockchain technology and road safety, he confirmed what I had discovered on a couple of occasions in West Bengal .  I had information, and on two occasions , evidence  that sometimes false road traffic fatal accidents cases were being lodged involving snake bite or electrocution or even drowning victims to claim false insurance - by a cabal of touts, autopsy surgeons ,policemen , insurance agents. , etc . But what Bhushan told me took my breath away - the Special Task Force of Haryana busted a gang whose modus operandi was to target terminally ill cancer patients of Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical SCiences, Rohtak, approach relatives to buy insurance policies , pass of the death as road accident  , and claim insurance. Its SP  Virender Vij, younger brother of my batchmate Rajinder, said the gang committed 281 such offences, and the seizure included Rs 60 lakhs cash, 53 ATM cards, 41 Cheque Books, 38 OPD cards, 40 policy papers, 14 passbooks , four mobile phones and 66 new kits of different banks.

After the lecture , went back to Rajasthan Bhawan, and poured over the Indian Express over a cup of tea. The news which stood out was the introduction of Hindi  as medium of instruction in the study of allopathy medicine . Medical practitioners have been divided , and already the Facebook pages had carried out a humorous take on it . Hindi always has a tough time - it is indigenous but as cementing agent, it has to yield ground to a  language of foreign origin , English . 

But I missed The Hindu. I was addicted to its cryptic crossword. Such was my association with the Hindu quiz that in the batch yearbook , its editor  and my good friend Pankaj Singh wrote : 

Did you ever realise why the last page of the The Hindu is often vandalised ? Well, you only have to look for VS who , armed with the Hindu crossword, would be muttering possible combinations, anagrams, etc and trying to spoil the neighbour .