There is no age limit for ambitions and big dreams. The 2006 batch officer Ms Amrita Duhan has proved it through her life journey. She is both a qualified doctor and a police officer. Even though she had a settled career and life, she didn’t stop dreaming for more. This enthusiasm helped her to crack UPSC and got selected in Indian Police Service (IPS).
Currently, posted as the DCP Crime, Commissionerate in Jaipur, Ms. Duhan is inspiration for every woman who somehow lose her individuality while coping with the many pressures of day to day living.
Work hard to achieve excellence
Speaking at a Ted Talk, Ms. Duhan explained her philosophy. She said, “We are not born with genetic excellence. Some of us have to really work hard for whatever we want to achieve. We are ordinary people and our hard work & patience push us to achieve extraordinary targets for ourselves”.
Coming from a humble family in Rohtak, Haryana, Ms. Duhan too wanted a career and a family like most of the women. So, she first completed MBBS and then went on to do MD (Pathology). After that, she got a job of Assistant professor in a government college.
She was satisfied with the career because, to her, what could be a more noble profession than being a doctor? Simultaneously, she got married, gave birth to a child and become a homemaker. She was happily playing the role of a working mother.
Took inspiration from her brother
While Ms. Duhan was managing her family & career, her younger brother got selected for IPS. It was for the first time when someone in her family got into civil services.
As she later recalled, “When he got selected, I also realized my fascination with the uniform. Like many of us in my generation, I was inspired by the main character of serial Udaan who was an IPS. I wanted to become an officer but somehow it became a long-forgotten dream. My brother knew this, so he pushed me to chase the same dream. However, I was very reluctant about that, but then I questioned myself whether it was ok to lose my individuality & dreams while living the life of a traditional Indian woman. This thought stuck me and I started the preparation for UPSC.”
She started preparing for the exams on weekdays, while sparing her time for the family on weekends. This phase was tough as her son was growing up and needed her most of time. She managed all of it while focusing on the preparation. In 2016, her dedication showed results and she got selected for IPS.
Dealing with injury and becoming best probationer
When Ms Duhan started her training at the National Police Academy, she was 33 years old and her physical activity was zero. She was struggling with simple exercises and had to suffer severe pain and then a fracture in her pelvic area. But this didn’t stop her and she kept pushing herself and completed every training exercise. Even after the injury, she completed 21Km of half marathon and 40 km of route march. In the end, she was selected as the second- best probationer in the whole batch!
