Y. C. - Real Time Cop- An Autobiography

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Even when still in service I used to feel that some of the more intense experiences of my life as a police officer should reach the people in some form or other. Many of my relatives, well wishers, colleagues and even a few of my superiors, felt the same. Certainly, some of my experiences during the thirty odd years I spent in the Police Department should prove enlightening and of interest not just to the men in khaki but to the general public as well. For instance, former Director General of Police, Shri Suryakant Saraf and Additional Director General of Police, Shri Rahul Gopal, were particularly keen that the story of my campaign against the feared don Varadarajan Mudaliar, which put both me and my family at great risk, should come out in published form.

I was born in a backward, untouchable caste and had to put up with injustice and disdain at every step in my life. Despite these adversities I managed to rise to a very senior rank in the Police Department, an achievement of which I am justly proud. My career in the department was rather unexpectedly successful and many people, both inside and outside the department, wondered at my rise. While some were surprised, some others felt envy. As I grow old and look more and more upon life, including my own, as an observant bystander I feel convinced that the story of such an out-of-the-box career and indeed of life itself should come before the people so that through it they may see how it is possible to confront injustice, overcome odds and stay away from temptations in spite of being born poor and in spite of many alluring opportunities to give in to them. Young people at the threshold of their lives and careers may see how it is possible to stand firm by one's principles and yet tackle daunting challenges with a surprising degree of success. This is my main motive in writing this book. I would like young people of the coming generations, especially those from the oppressed sections of society, to get motivated through my experience. That one can live life in this manner, with no backing from anyone and yet fight one's battles till the end purely by seeking strength in the truth, is the essence of this book. I believe its contents are relevant not only to people interested in public affairs generally but also to the police department specifically. The book can give some object lessons to the police officers of today on how to handle serious policing situations, how to implement the rule of law without succumbing to political pressures and basically how to make the police department a well regarded professional body as it was in the forties and fifties. This thought made me work harder in writing this book.

I am aware that the changes brought in by Information Technology, an intrusive media and the Right to Information Act have altered the rules of the game somewhat for the next generation. Yet, the fundamentals of administration involving human nature mostly remain the same. Hence, I still have a story to tell and I would be greatly pleased if my writing offers some help to activists in civil society in general and the young officers of the police department in particular, to achieve a better understanding of the needs, capacities and compulsions of each other. I would then consider my efforts to have been worth their while!

In this English version of my Marathi Autobiography I have added a few of my thoughts to some of the bare events narrated earlier. These are important, in my view, to set the context which might otherwise be alien to readers of the English version.