National Police Academy : A Glimpse

Despite the fact that the training regimen in the National Police Academy gives me absolutely no time for myself and the training often deals with things that are of little interest to me, my stay here has come to be characterised by a sustained subtle feeling of self-fulfilment.

This magnificent feeling is somewhere related to the pace with which life in NPA moves. Every single day that I have spent here has had at least three times more action/activities than any other day of my life spent outside. This is evident in the distorted perception of time that I feel here. It is a common experience that while recollecting something about yesterday, I feel as if it happened maybe a week ago!

In the last few days (i.e. the last 3-4 days), that I have spent here there have been so many new experiences that seem to have covered up for a whole month of buzzing activities in my days before joining NPA; I have come to love horse-riding in this time - much of the credit goes to the fact that I found a horse that complements my personality. His name is SaturnGold and is the most muscular horse amongst the 60 odd horses we get. I had morning classes of horse-riding when SaturnGold cantered (and often started galloping) like an uncaring beast.
            
All that swimming that I have done in the last few days has also added to the enthusiasm and jest. The pool is where I can continuously challenge myself to do more laps. This is also the place where new things can be learnt - rolling underwater to finish the laps, to matching up with the instructor who swims twice as fast as me with seemingly half of the effort.

The Un-Armed Combat classes have also spiced up the days with the practice-oriented modules where we get to work our moves on our squad mates and practise different locks, holds and techniques that will be very relevant in the days ahead.

The Public Speaking module was also a refreshing break from the regular routine. The expert who coached us, knew the tricks and I finally ended up working on my articulation skills. It helped me break the monotony of self-loathing about how I have become a nervous wreck as far as public speaking is concerned. I simulated an experience of mine on the national highway connecting Gokarna and Goa, where the S.P. and the D.M. had to negotiate with a group of 500 protesters who had blocked the highway on the pretext of some trade-related demand. It's surprising to see how agile the mind becomes when called upon to do so!

It's always a pleasure to hear our Director V.N. Rai speak. He has the rare ability to sum up a lifetime's worth of experience and knowledge into simple linguistic constructs that are delivered in a matter-of-fact manner. When he spoke about how police can help address not just the police-related problems of the local people, but also the developmental problems - he made us understand how people can be empowered to do their own work.

Finally, the book that I am reading these days (and which should be over by tomorrow) - Lajja by Taslima Nasrin, helps me to fill up the time when the indoor classes are dealing with something less important or trivial.

Life here has given each one of us a distinct and loud message - Stop the habit of stealing time for yourself from the training activities, rather just know that all this time is your own and immerse yourself in them.