MY INSPIRATION

After a hectic day, I always love to sit on my couch with a cup of coffee….That is quite relaxing….. I remember the complement of the journalist:” The system really needs your kind of brave & daring officers”… For my 8 years old IPS career, 7 transfers…! Actually nothing is shocking. It was quite inevitable for my kind of person for sure! I am so odd in this system! For our "great" administrative system, -- honesty, ideology , these words are so weird or worthless! Nowadays the suitable place for these words is merely the pages of books on the bookshelf! People are forgetting these  words especially their worth!

My 7th posting is one of the interior places of Bihar. I knew the case history of the place. The place was the paradise of political criminals, antisocial elements, women extortion, illegal drug trafficking etc-In short it was a hell. I took that as a challenge…. Today it is really great to see the people, especially women are walking on the street without any  fear or worry even in the evening which they once could never imagine…. Despite of political interferences, lots of barriers and  hurdles, how could I succeed to eradicate these dirt from here, only I know….Even I was hospitalized after the shoot out…. Those politicians who threatened me to throw me in the jungle in my next posting, today they are giving me award & promotion for my bravery……. So, I am busy nowadays for attending press conferences, meetings & all that….. News headlines: “Swati kapoor(IPS), the hero”…. the complement of the journalist, especially the words ‘brave’ and ‘daring’ remind me of someone , about 20 years ago…….!!

I was 13. I was a very shy kind of girl. My dad got transferred to Jallandhar from Amritsar. I got admission there in a leading girls’ school. After checking my last school grades & interview, school authority decided to put me in the section A, for the good students, B for the average, C for the bad “hopeless” students.

I remember my 1st day -- I was searching my classroom. I saw six girls were there…. I asked them -"Can you please tell me where is class VIII?"…… One of them told me the way.I thanked them and walked away from there. Shortly I got to know that  it was a prank! The way they showed me it was Vth standard's  classroom. They were laughing.  I didn’t want any mess, so without saying anything, I walked away. Not only that but also  I didn’t have the courage  to say anything to anyone….. I was always like that. Even I used to get scared when someone talked to me loudly. I asked another girl about the classroom, she showed me. Her name was Aditi. She said,” don’t you ever mess with Tina and her gang”. She meant those six girls. Those girls were in section A with me.
Suddenly during  the lunch break, a strange kind of laud voice I heard. Looking back I saw a girl was fighting with someone. I had never seen such kind of girl in my 13 years old life. Aditi said, “Don’t look at her. She is Jaspreet, C section girl. Nobody likes her. She is so arrogant &  duffer. She is just good for nothing”. May be, who cares?

I don’t know which kind of fun Tina & her gang used to have by annoying me! Sometimes they used to pour water in my bag or sticking chewing gum on my chair and many more. I never complained ….The school became a nightmare to me.One day Tina crossed all the limits. In the lunch break she came to me and asked,” would you like to have chocolate?” There was a chocolate bar in her hand & she was eating that. I was so shocked, why she was asking me? She took out chocolate from her mouth &  forcefully tried to make me eat. I was trying to stop her desperately. Suddenly someone held  her hand &  said,” Leave her alone”…. Shocking! It was the section C’s ‘good for nothing’ girl. What was her name? Jaspreet. By seeing her Tina &  gang walked away. I was crying. Jaspreet asked,” Why are you crying?” she was so caring. Whatever others told me about her, she was totally different than that.
Shortly  she became my best friend. I even started helping her in studies. Strange girl, sometimes she used to enter into the strictly prohibited areas. She was a fearless,different and straight forward……Tina wanted to torture me like before but seeing me with Jaspreet, she didn’t dare to do anything….One day Jaspreet said,” you are a coward?” I said,” no, I’m not”. She said,” Prove it”. I didn’t care that time. I thought she was kidding.
One day once again, Tina in the lunch break came to play some  prank with me. Jaspreet was sitting with me. But today she was not fighting for me with them. I didn’t believe that she was singing:” coward, coward, u r a coward…” I didn’t know what happened to me, there was a water bottle, and I picked  that up and threw that on Tina’s face. A kind of strange power came to me. There was a pin drop silence. Jaspreet  was smiling…..that day I was feeling much better. That was the moment which changed my entire life……
Today I don’t know where is Jaspreet…..but wherever u are, by my heart I’m thanking you for my achievement, my inspiration, JASPREET KAUL. Thank you.