A bureaucrat’s life is by no means an easy life. It is a busy life centering around work from morning to evening. Sometimes, he is on call even during the night. Yet, many of them still manage to find time to follow their passion.
One such person is IPS officer Gurpreet Singh Toor of the 2004 batch, Punjab cadre. He keeps pursuing his passion for writing and has already got four of his books published, all the while diligently serving the nation. In a tete-a-tete with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Toor talks about his favorite topic: his books.
AALNION DIGE BOT
The book name ‘Aalnion Dige Bot’ means fledglings weaned from the nest. The officer’s first book is a compilation of stories from Partition time. He was influenced to write this book by the numerous articles that were published in newspapers in 1997 when India celebrated its 50th Independence Day.
“The articles shared stories of Partition and people’s lives afterward. My family had also come to India from Western Punjab after Partition, so I could personally connect to these stories. That’s when I decided to compile a book of Partition stories,” Mr. Toor informed.
SAMBHLO PUNJAB
His interest in Punjabi literature led him to write another book by the name of ‘Sambhlo Punjab’ meaning ‘take care/be cautious Punjab’. This book was published in the year 2010. The book highlights the ground situation of Punjab during his service days and focuses on the effect of drugs on the youth.
“This book is a compilation of real-life short stories that I had observed during my stint there,” he revealed.
JIVE JAWANI
The third book is ‘Jive Jawani’, which means ‘blessings for youth’. It was published in the year 2014 in two parts – the first focuses on the severe problem of drug menace in Punjab, and the second attempts to create awareness against the usage of drugs by the youth.
ALLAR UMRAN TALAKH SUNEHE
The fourth book, ‘Allar Umran Talakh Sunehe’, meaning ‘Tender Age and Hard Messages’ was published in the year 2018.
In Mr. Toor’s words: “This book focuses on the innocent ones who are of tender age before stepping into youth. Through it, I wanted to make the little ones aware of the hard realities of life and the kind of world that they will have to face in a few years from now.”
A PROLIFIC WRITER
For many years now, the officer has been writing articles and short stories for Punjabi local newspapers, as well. His story, ‘Ek pair pe khadi naujawaan peedhi’ (youngsters standing on a single leg), focuses on the problems that youngsters face today, like unemployment, drug addiction, lack of education, etc. which make life difficult as if they are standing on a single leg.
He believes “every person has a story to tell. If we go to a prisoner and sit down with him for a while, ask him about his health and talk with him pleasantly, we will find that he starts opening up to us”.
BALANCING POLICING AND WRITING
According to the IPS officer, no other service can provide so much material to write than the police service. His work gives him the motivation to write every day. Revealing how he balances his time between writing and serving the nation, he said, “Writing is like a stress buster for me. It relieves my tension and relaxes my mind. I always keep a notepad and different colored pens with me. I have an overflowing subject matter which I pen down at any time.”
Mr. Toor will have another published book added to his name soon. The book is almost halfway to getting completed. He has already thought of a name. “Its name will be ‘Daftar’ (office), and it will highlight moments from working people’s lives. People who have spent most part of their lives working in an office and how important an office job is for them,” he informed.
No doubt, this book too, like all his previous ones, will be an interesting read, taking the readers on an insightful journey of ethos, pain, and acceptance.
