I was born in Nizamabad district of Telangana state on 12th Jan, 1977 that was Swami Vivekananda’s birthday who was a great philosopher. This day is also the national youth day of India.
Since I was born on this special day, my father would always say in my childhood to read about Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna math and to follow their teachings.
Swami Vivekananda, a monk has introduced Vedanta and Indian spirituality to the western world and was immensely popular for his teachings. He brought India to the limelight in the days of the British ruled Indian era.
Vivekananda said : “I consider all those people having got educated at the behest of others, and paying least heed to them are not to be pardoned ”
Today we are in this position only because of the sacrifices of many people.
Hence, we need to respect the poor and downtrodden. I believe and follow this saying in Telugu to see Lord Narayana in the poor. Vivekananda said that we need to work for the poor and change their lives. It is the only mission that one should have in their life.
There are many professions today but all may not have the opportunity and scope to serve the marginalized sections . One of the gifted professions that gives the scope to serve the marginalized is the Indian Police service. Hence I have chosen this career.
I was selected for Navodaya Vidyalaya from Nizamabad and completed my high school education from there. It was a very tough academic and disciplined life in that residential school, and I am thankful to my teachers who moulded my personality. I regard my teachers as much as my parents.
For the first time there were student elections held in Navodaya Vidyalaya and I was elected to become the School pupil leader.
I believed that a leader should be able to wipe the tears of the weak and I wanted to inspire the society in this way by following this noble path.
Jesus Christ says follow me and lakhs of people followed him without questioning him . That’s a true leader in my view and people who followed him are true followers.
During my student days , I read not just books about Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa but also Vedas, Ramayana, Bhagavad-Gita, Bible and the Quoran trying to understand the essence of these philosophies. I have been a continuous learner since my childhood till date.
In Bhagavad-Gita, Bhagwan Srikrishna bows to people who considers others problems as their own problems. Wiping their tears is regarded as the highest form of worship. So, I decided that this kind of service is the greatest form of worship beyond rituals and wanted to change the lives of people.
After my high school education in Navodaya, I wanted to become a doctor because Doctor is considered next to God. Specifically, I chose to become a Veterinary doctor as I love animals and wanted to serve them as they are voiceless and cannot seek help.
I was the 6th ranker in India for the All-India veterinary council exam and the topper from the erstwhile combined Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. I felt very satisfying to serve the poor animals for taking up the Veterinary profession.
After I started practising as an animal husbandry officer, I was happy but felt that my scope has been restricted to a particular mandal or a zone. During that time while I was in my first year PG , my father suddenly died of a heart attack. That put me into deeper thought and I wanted to extend my sphere of influence to a much wider arena and decided to write civil services.
I went to Delhi to prepare for civil services without any knowledge of its exam pattern but was determined to crack it. I worked very hard and would keep remembering my father’s inspiring words to serve the society. He is the greatest motivator of my life.
I secured 143 rank in civil services in 2008 and got IPS for the home cadre for the combined AP and Telangana state. Though I had attempts left to still try for IAS or IFS I didn’t pursue further and was passionate to join IPS only.
I felt that was a commonality between being a doctor and an IPS officer. Both of them mainly deal with people’s lives directly and any wrong judgement could adversely impact them. For instance, a wrong firing order could kill many people and affect their families . Hence, I regarded IPS as a very noble profession and wanted to give my best.
Being in the police service and fighting with unscrupulous elements in the society, our lives are at risk and not sure if we could come back home every day.
I will give you a small example of how people trust the police blindly.
When I was in Haridwar as a probationary officer, we went to the Kumbh mela. An old woman lost her way in the crowd and was unable to locate her family. She saw me who was in police dress and held my hand crying earnestly to unite with her family. I was moved by her trust in the uniform and helped her to be reunited with her family. These are one of the million instances when I have felt the job satisfaction of being a police officer.
I feel that only gifted people would be able to take up this kind of noble profession. The greatest motivating factor is to see the tears of joy in people’s eyes when their problems are solved. There are so many police officers working like this with a strong community motto.
I will only work with a sincere motto to serve the weak in this society and the day I am unable to do so will not wear my khaki uniform.
Whatever salary I am earning is not a big deal and can be earned in any profession today.
I believe that the concept of Aiswaryam is earning wealth lawfully , using it to satisfy our needs and distributing a part of it for the society. There is no point in secretly hoarding illegal wealth at the cost of your health. That’s not how we should live life in my opinion.
Nothing is constant in life except change. Positions change, reputation changes as per people’s perception but what is important is our personality. We should be able to answer to our own conscience when look at ourselves in the mirror. This is what I am.
