K Annamalai - Stepping Beyond Khaki: Revelations of a Real-Life Singham

STEPPING BEYOND KHAKI

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This edition published in 2021

Copyright K. Annamalai 2021

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ISBN: PB: 978-9-3903-5835-9; eBook: 9789-3903-5894-6

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All the men and women who had worn khaki and made themselves worthy of it

The author had a brief but brilliant innings with the Indian Police Service, blazing a trail wherever he served. The reasons for his successes as well as the triggers for his quitting a service that he dearly loved, come out clearly through this book. Each chapter is unique and worth reading. The narration is very simple, interesting and the flow takes us easily from his school days to his last official position as Superintendent of Police, gradually maturing from an unknown to a respected police officer. His empathy is self-evident in the simple but gripping anecdotes that dot this book. In simple prose, he takes the reader on a guided tour of policinga world whose gamut, naturally, spans all of societys echelons, from scum to the elite, encompassing within it all citizens who crave fairness and justice. How the author balances all these with dignity and self-esteem, is edifying. That the emotional quotient clearly counts more than the intelligence quotient is another key takeaway. He touches upon almost all aspects of policingfrom dealing with rules and regulations, the public, subordinates, seniors, politicians and last but not least, with the self (as a police officer and as a human being, and the struggle between these two in deciding the right and wrong in a holistic manner). The pages of this book drip with conviction, passion and emotion. Leadership oozes from almost every page.

On leadership the author cites KPS Gilla doyen of the Indian Police. Legendary EN Rammohan in his book Simply Khaki refers to the times of policemens agitation in Assam. In KPS Gills jurisdiction there was no trouble. The chorus of agitating policemens wives was, We need more KPS Gills. That is the measure of a true leader.

A caring leader at every level is what our police forces deserve, for its men are at the frontiers of internal security as its first responders. The current wisdom is that there is scarcely a seam between internal and external security. True, the Indian Police Services, of the States and Centre have many gems in their ranks, gazetted or otherwise. But as the author points out, the systems should be in place to facilitate fair policing so that the common man benefits.

Though most of the straightforward people in the police force may be averse to political interference in policing, in a democracy like India it is an integral part of policing. The author has rightly explained the aspiration of the public from a politician and elucidated on the reasons for tainted politicians overshadowing the righteous ones. He has touched upon the subject of criminalisation in politics and also on the need to understand politicians, their commitments and compulsions. Annamalais experience in dealing with politicians, his views on them and the tips given by him at the end of the chapter titled The Breed of Indian Politicians will help young IPS officers in learning to deal with politicians without compromising their integrity and responsibilitymastering the art of policing with political balancing. His patience and perseverance in learning the nuances of policing in such a short time is admirable. His policy of policing with a humane touch and his keenness to stick to the right path is worth emulating. Not only politics, but he has also devoted one chapter on government/governance and the need of reforms. His view that democracy by its very foundation is not a perfect mechanism to deliver the goods is worth pondering on.

To a non-policeman, this book offers a peek into the policing world with its good, bad and ugly innards. But mostly, its the abundance of goodness in selfless men that stands out. To every policeman, this is a must readanyone commanding upwards of a section of menwhether he is in the State Police or Central Armed Police Forces.

K Vijay Kumar IPS (Retd)

Senior Security Advisor

Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)

Government of India

This is a book I believed I would never start or, having started, see through its completion. My ability to write was limited to a few articles for the college magazine and a page for personal diary when I felt like maintaining one. Writing close to 60,000 words for a book really tested memy patience, my persistence and, most importantly, my ability to focus. More than me sharing my perspectives of life and the circumstances that made me, this was a soul-searching exercisean exercise that I wouldnt have gone through except for this book. So I treat penning down this book as a unique honour. My special thanks to you, the reader, as you have stayed with me almost till the last leaf.

Considering the changed circumstances of my life post resigning from the Indian Police Service, this book was made possible entirely due to a whole host of people whom I should acknowledge here. Firstly, my wife Akila for being with me and for constantly pushing and encouraging me to complete this book. This was despite her full-time job, managing our son and bringing into this world our beautiful girl, just about when I completed this book. Technically, she should be the co-author for her efforts!

Satish Acharya, a dear friend and a cartoonist whom I deeply respect, agreed to do all the illustrations in this book. Without even allowing me to complete my request, he agreed to do this. Reading my thoughts and converting them into an illustration to capture the essence of each chapter is no mean task and I jokingly told him that some of his illustrations are far better than my chapters. I know, he did this only for our friendshipIm truly humbled.

I thank my friend Suraj for his critical and unbiased comments, Rajendiran for his unvarnished, honest opinion after reading the manuscript, Lakshmi for looking at the grammar and Shiva Kumar for his constant motivation despite our hectic travel scheduleI hope I have lived up to your time and energy given for this book as if this is yours.