Indian Police Service or IPS is a dream service for the youth who want to be a part of the uniformed services. This premier police service of the country offers power, position and respect, and also provides a platform to do good for society, a heady cocktail that attracts the young aspirational generation. However, getting into this prestigious service is not at all easy, and the tough process deters many from even attempting it for fear of failure.
Aspirants of IPS have to clear the UPSC Civil Services Exam, one of the toughest exams of the country. And they are usually always on the look out for guidance to clear this exam with a good rank that will make them eligible for IPS selection. This is why, guide books on CSE sell like hotcakes, and so does success stories and motivational books by civil servants who have ‘been there and done that’.
Joining the bandwagon of that genre, the publication arm of Drishti IAS Sansthan (a premier coaching institute for UPSC exams), Pankh Publications, has brought out a collection of adventure and motivational stories of 13 select IPS officers. The title of the book, which is in Hindi, is – Hauslon Ka Safar (Journey of the Spirit).
THE SUPER 13
Hauslon Ka Safar incorporates the heroic stories of 13 prominent IPS officers, each story written with the purpose of lifting the reader’s spirits. The stories create excitement in the mind of the reader and arouse the passion to do something better in life. They contain fascinating accounts of complex internal issues ranging from British India to present-day India and true events of the brave officers who struggled with them. The 13 IPS officers in this book are – B.N. Lahiri, K.F. Rustamji, Julio Francis Ribeiro, K.P.S. Gill, Ajit Doval, Prakash Singh, Kiran Bedi, K. Vijay Kumar, Hemant Karkare, D. Sivanandhan, Arun Kumar, Meeran Chadha Borwankar, and R.S. Praveen Kumar.
TRUE-LIFE STORIES
Some of the interesting stories in the book are the daring escapades of K.F. Rustamji, who killed the infamous Chambal dacoit Gabbar Singh, Ribeiro’s clever ploy to break the back of Mumbai’s underworld, the heroism of Ajit Doval who worked as an intelligence officer in Pakistan, indomitable Kiran Bedi who towed away the car of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with a crane, and many more astonishing tales of IPS officers who battled India’s major internal crises with their wisdom and courage. These brave police officers always placed the pride of uniform and tricolour above their lives.
HAUSLON KA SAFAR
The main purpose of the book is to motivate the youngsters preparing for UPSC exam. Not just to tell them how to prepare for the exam, but also to inform them about the struggles after joining IPS or IAS – how to deal with the challenges they will face, to learn to prioritise between family and internal security, and so on.
The book is the result of a one and a half years of research and conversations with the officers, their family members, various Ministries, etc. As a result, many unheard stories have come to the fore. The true-life stories will not only captivate UPSC aspirants but readers across all categories. For instance, the Taj Mumbai attack would interest any reader, the book’s editor, Purushottam Pratik, said, adding that their next book will be on IAS officers, and it will hit the stands in the beginning of 2023.
