WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR CHIVALRY ?

One distinctly remembers a group of Sikhs, almost all six feet plus tall, with recently honed long drawn swords in their hands, marching towards Bangla Sahib gurdwara, New Delhi, in support of their political demand. A team of policemen stood guard on the Sikhs' route to prevent them from reaching the gurdwara. But the Sikhs kept marching. The police had lathis (long sticks) in their hands and were feeling uncomfortable to melee with the Sikhs.
Suddenly, a boyish looking police officer jumped out of the police ranks and went head on to tackle the Sikhs. All the swords were raised in defence; they could have struck any time. But then the officer's helmet fell off, revealing cascading, beautiful hair of a lady. The Sikhs halted, felt sheepish and dispersed, their swords sheathed.
The lady was Ms Kiran Bedi, the new Indian Police Service (IPS) officer then.
That remained the motto of Ms Bedi all through her police career : to meet all the challenges head on.
As in charge of Tihar Jail of Delhi she introduced yoga and meditation for the prisoners. This attracted international interest and she was given Magsaysay award.
When posted in Chandigarh, she reduced the night bar hours. And was called back immediately.
But she always did what she thought was right. She was working as the Director General of the Bureau of Police Research and Development in the Home Ministry of India till recently.
As every one of us has ambitions, so had Ms Bedi. She wanted Delhi Police Commissioner's chair. But it seems chivalry is dead in India and nobody vacated that chair for her. In sadness, she opted for voluntary retirement, 19 months earlier than her marked time.

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