An officer and an author

He recently released the Urdu translation of his book Talaash Insaan Ki Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan had done the honours the esoteric musings of Mumbai Police Commissioner Dr Satyapal Singh’s treatise is the truest glimpse of the man behind the uniform.

On a balmy morning at his residence in Bandra, we found him casually dressed as he engaged in homely banter with his wife Alka even as his grandson Aryaman keept him busy as only energetic 5-year-olds can. For someone who’s iron hand broke the backbone of the organised crime syndicates that terrorised Mumbai in the 1990s, including the Chhota Rajan, Arun Gawli and Chhota Shakeel gangs, he comes across as remarkably unassuming in his personal life.

“There are times when force has to be used,” says Singh matter-of-factly when reminded of those days. “In the Mahabharata, there is an incident when Guru Dronacharya loses his temper and tells an arrogant Prince Duryodhana, ‘If I have the four Vedas in front of me, I also have a bow and quiver behind me.’ It’s a statement I’ve made my guiding principle.” He’s quite a workaholic we learn that the last time he went on a proper holiday with his family was almost five years ago, but now that he’s at the fag end of his stint as Mumbai Police chief, he’s contemplating a well deserved break. “There’s something about the Himalayas which haunts me. Highest on my wish list is the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. I feel I have a past life connection with those areas,” he says.

A vocal proponent of holistic health, yoga and vegetarianism, he’s almost consumed by his passion for knowledge Indian mythology, philosophy and sociology are the subjects that dominate the almost 3000-odd books in his home library. “Eventually I will trade my uniform to become a man of letters again. I’m currently working on three more books one of them is about the challenges faced by the Indian Police, another is titled Timeless Time. The third one is about how to bring lasting religious harmony in society. These are subjects I have given a lot of thought to,” he says. Here’s wishing him many more books to come.