Kitne Aadmi The? This famous dialogue from the superhit film of the Seventies, Sholay, encapsulates the life of retired IPS officer, Meeran Chadha Borwankar, the first lady Police Commissioner in Maharashtra. The Sholay dialogue fits into her life aptly as it asks about the number of people she antagonised during her action-packed career.
She participated in a discussion on her latest book, ‘Madam Commissioner’ at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai, on 24 January. Noted author S Hussain Zaidi led her in conversation through her career, where she targetted organised crime as Commissioner of Crime Branch in Mumbai, becoming the No 1 enemy of gangsters and politicians on the way. The discussion also centred around how she was sexually harassed by a senior police officer, how she was stalked by a lady admirer, her defiance of NSA Ajit Doval, and how she became a police commissioner.