A choice between a sickle and a pen. This is what Santosh Kumar Patel, a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) rank officer, was faced with while growing up. His family lived in poverty in the Devgaon village of Madhya Pradesh with meagre resources.
A square meal was tough to come by. “On good days we ate rice, the rest of the days we ate only daliya (broken wheat). Sometimes, when we did not have wheat, we ate jowar (sorghum) rotis and borrowed wheat rotis from our friends at school,” the 31-year-old recalls in a conversation with The Better India.
Despite witnessing poverty from a young age, Santosh learnt the value of hard work from his father, a mason, and his mother, a farm labourer. He would often pitch in, helping his father lift bricks at construction sites, and assisting his mother in the fields. While the couple was worried about his safety, their son was worried about theirs.
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“In summers, he (my father) constructed wells in the village. Since it is a risky job, very few masons did it. At times, rocks would fall on him when he would be inside the well. Thankfully, it never hit him on the head but only on the arms and legs,” he recalls.
Determined to give their son a better future, his parents encouraged him to focus on his studies.
Perseverance and dedication guided his way as he studied under kerosene lamps and worked hard to top his Class 10. Santosh pursued his engineering studies before deciding to join the police force. After 15 months of intense preparation, he cleared the examination in July 2017 with the 22nd rank. Finally, in 2018, he joined the police force.
“I aspire to continue serving the public and better the image of the police; only criminals should fear the police. In my investigations, I ensure that innocent people are never put behind bars,” says Santosh, who chose the pen.
Edited by Khushi Arora
