Jewel of the jail

This was an exclusive one on one with the Inspector General of police Kiran Bedi during her stint at Tihar Jail as DG Prisons in Delhi. This interview turned out to be one hell of a luck since soon after my chat the next day she got a call from the Ramon Magsaysay Jury that she has been selected to receive the award by the end of the week. In all since she would be busy and have no time for interviews for other newspaper journos, who wanted to after the award announcement, was out of the question, till she got back from Philippines. So this chat for than three hours with her proved a plus for Deccan Herald and me. I was asked by the Sunday Herald's than editor that I write every single word I spoke to her since they were going to give me a full page with the Tihar jail story. This brightened my eyes and ears and I sat for two days in the Deccan Herald, New Delhi Bureau office, ensuring that I recollect every little aspect of my interaction with her.

The year 1984 seems to be a blessing in disguise for the Indian women. Shortly after the New Year revelry came the creaming; with the crowning of Sushmita Sen, as the queen of the universe. Now in the middle of the year is the icing of Asia’s most prestigious award, Ramon Magsaysay, in community services bestowed upon Kiran Bedi, Inspector –General of Delhi Prisons.
Kiran is the second of four girls born to a businessman from Amritsar. Her ancestors had fled to India from Peshawar during the partition. Born on June 9, 1949, she took to tennis at the age of nine when she was at Sacred Heart’s Convent High School. At that age itself she was taught to be independent by her father, an hard taskmaster. She completed Government College and an MA in Political Science. After her selection in the Indian Police Service, she did a course in law and a doctorate in narcotics.
It has been a long climb and no sweat lost. Attempting the Everest was not an easy task as she had to fight off the eagle eyed forces and also maintain her good PR with the press. The short-haired Punjabi lady with an ever helpful eye has always attracted controversies. In 1980, during an Akali demonstration which turned violent, she led the police force from the front brandishing her baton against the armed hordes. It did embarrass her senior officers bust was a dose of muscle in the arms of the front line cadres.
And as chief of traffic police, later, she was called ‘crane Bedi’ because she used cranes to two away offending vehicles. Earlier, as a daring officer she had killed a boy while firing at a fleeing gang of dacoits. This brought political vendetta, just like a medical college seat for her daughter from the Mizoram quota, where she had been posted. She had also faced the wrath of lawyers when one of them was handcuffed on her instructions.

The human in Kiran Bedi is evident as she goes about reforming convicts rather than negate them. While in the narcotics bureau she set up a watch squad along with neighboring countries to check drug trafficking. Asked about her reactions to the award, she replied, “I am thrilled … grateful. It is God’s grace.” It also saddens me because it was a massive combined effort, and the award is for me alone, she added. “Therefore now, I realize my responsibility is even greater … and am a ‘trustee’ who has to do more than before.
The joy on Kiran Bedi’s face was seen as she entered the jail, greeted by the inmates’ innocent eyes and their clapping of hands, accompanied by the beats of drums and melodious songs. She waves back to the inmates like a child would do after getting the ice cream for which she worked hard and joins them in the jig of bhangra added with a spice disco. “The award is for you all,” she screams as she picks up a child who welcomed her with a garland, and jumps in joy known only to her.
Being a woman or the second sex does not matter to her as she was always treated as a beta- a child- by her parents. “I must be the only woman heading a prison of this magnitude, and I am grateful to this community for this award,” she said. If not for the backing of my family I would not have even reached half of what I have achieved so far.
When her mother was contacted for her reaction, she said, “This is a victory for the Indian women and not for my daughter alone. I am proud to be her mother and as always honesty and hard work pays. I often visit Tihar ashram and not the jail. The last time I had been there was when a yagna was being performed in which Kiran sat in the hot sun for three or more hours and went through the rituals. Looking at than my eyes, without my being conscious, welled with tears.”
Kiran’s father, who is the main source of encouragement to her, pointed out, “I had worked for 50 years for this day. I have no son but my daughter has given me the pleasure of seeing to it all my dreams come true. The sky is the limit for the Indian woman.” Asked how she grew up he replied, “I have punished her so many times by making her stand in the sun for hours, and I think this hard effort has to be awarded at last. I would have been surprised if she had not got it.”
The most feared inmate of Tihar ashram, Charles Shobraj, commented that ‘It’s great, she worked hard for this. She deserved it and she’s got it.”
For the super cop it is a lot of money to handle now because the award also carries a cash prize of $ 50,000. “I have never worked for money all these years, and now suddenly I get so much I don’t know what to do with it. I think it will be channelised to help the needy.” Another six months to go for this year, and many more things to happen, the Indians will have to wait and see if more women from a country which has always treated women as second rate will spring up surprises. As one would say, only time will tell, not for the awards but for men to treat women as equals.

Prisoners offer a lesson in self-help on water crisis

This story was planned when one day I was visiting the jail during the annual Raksha Bandahan that I saw two dozen hardened criminals being paraded in a line and taken by walk to the other side of the jail premises, so I asked the Jailer on their movements and he just brushed it aside and told me to call him later in the day after the other media members have left the jail premises. I did so that evening and he explained me the whole story, and asked me to visit if I want to the next day. I did so and landed up with another story to my credit.

The convicts residing with in the four walls of the Central Jail are set to teach a lesson or two to their compatriots on the outside. The jail inmates have their own solution to the current water crisis and accordingly plan to construct their own stop-dam at the Gandhi Nagar area of Bhopal, opposite the jail premises.
Till recently, illegal occupants had a free run of the place setting shops and houses on the Central Jail land. Thanks to the efforts of Jail Superintendent Purshotam Somkuwar the encroachments were removed. It was Somkuwar’s idea to set up a stop-dam and a farm in the area.
“When I saw the Bhoj Wet Land people breaking up the hills close by and dumping boulders in our grounds, I decided to make use of them by constructing a stop dam. The dam would make available potable water for the 2,500-odd inmates, 1,500-odd staffers and residents in a four KM radius. The 50 by 8 meter stop dam would span an area of 600 meters and run 1.5 meters deep. The entire construction would be undertaken by the Bhopal Central Jail inmates.
Somkuwar says the project would enable the Police Department to save Rs 5,000 per day in water expenditure for the jail.

He adds the rain water running down adjoining hills and flooding the area would be the main source of water.
“I have requested the BMC to give us digger machines to remove the silt. There has been no response so far, so I have decided to approach private organizations for their support,” he says. While the dam promises to solve the summer water shortage in the jail, for life convict Kanahiya Lal, it also promises a taste of freedom. Kanahiya Lal says it feels great to work outside the four walls without the chains – a staple scene in innumerable Hindi films. And while the hardened criminals confront the pressing problem head-on, it is high time the BMC and public in general learn a lesson and start thinking of the fate of the 15 odd lakes in the City. Hopefully, they have to approach the Central Jail inmates for potable water.