Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
By Dheeraj Fartode
TWISTS, turmoil and triumph make a life. This life presents opportunities as well as disappointments in equal measure. While some grab their chances to achieve success, others just keep cursing the darkness. A thread of inspiration is enough for the doers to leave the disappointments behind and embrace a bright future. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone IV Nirmala Devi is one example of turning turmoil into triumph by working on the inspiration from her mother Laxmi, who had left studies in Standard VII.
Born in Alandurai village near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu on September 22, 1982, Nirmala Devi never thought of becoming Indian Police Service (IPS) officer till completion of her graduation in B.Sc. (Computer Technology). It was her mother who guided her to clinch the top post in police department.
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| DCP Nirmala Devi |
Nirmala Devi’s father Sundharam passed away when she was just one-and-a-half-year old. Her mother ably shouldered the family’s responsibility and got into farming. It was a tough job and called for late night trips to the farm to water the sugarcane crop as 3-phase power supply was available only after midnight.
In spite of all problems, she sent Nirmala Devi to a private school for good education. After completing her graduation, Nirmala Devi picked a job of Desk Officer at a private bank to meet family expenses due to losses in farming.
In 2004, D R Karthikeyan, an IPS and Investigation Officer of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, came to Coimbatore for a function. Karthikeyan’s village was just 10 kms away from Nirmala Devi’s village. A news report about D R Karthikeyan and his investigation work was published in a newspaper. After reading the news report, Nirmala Devi’s mother told her to become a Civil Servant like Karthikeyan and achieve good name in life. This remark served as inspiration in Nirmala Devi’s life and her journey towards policedom started here.
“While doing job in the bank, I was visiting a library in morning and evening hours and reading books for preparation of UPSC. Soon, my mother informed me about free UPSC classes in GRD College at Coimbatore after reading an advertisement in the newspaper. I cracked the entrance exam and joined the classes. As it was full-day class, I had to resign from the bank job,” Nirmala Devi said while talking to ‘The Hitavada’.
Nirmala Devi got selected for Tamil Nadu State Training Institute for Civil Services where she studied for a year. After three attempts, she got selected for Indian Police Service in year 2008. During the three failures, her mother was continuously inspiring her and boosting her confidence to become a civil servant.
Nirmala Devi was first posted as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nanded in year 2011 and later transferred as Additional SP Aurangabad in year 2012. She served as DCP at Nagpur from year 2014 to 2016 and investigated Yug Chandak kidnapping and murder case. She was SP Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) at Nagpur from year 2016 to 2017 and became SP Wardha for a year. She again took a posting at Nagpur Police Commissionerate in year 2018. After serving as DCP (SB), Nirmala Devi was given appointed as DCP Zone IV.
Nirmala Devi is known as an upright officer with no-nonsense attitude. She had suspended five police personnel attached to Nandanvan police station in connection with seizure of mephedrone (MD) drug and cash of Rs 2.45 lakh from their possession.
“One can bring a big change in the society by serving as police officer,” Nirmala Devi talked about her motto even as she got ready for deputation in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
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