G THILAKAVATHI IPS

G. Thilakavathi or G. Thilagavathi, is a police officer and a Tamil writer from Tamil Nadu, India.

Biography

Thilakavathi was born in and did her schooling in Dharmapuri district. She is an alumnus of Auxilium College, Katpadi and Stella Maris College, Chennai. In 1976, she became the first woman from Tamil Nadu to become an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. In 1987, her first short story was published in Dinakaran. Her first short story collection to be published in book form was 'Theyumo sooriyan'. She is a prolific writer who has written more than 300 short stories and a number of novels and poems. Her short stories Theiyumo Sooriyan (Will the Sun Wane) and Arasigal aluvathillai (Queens don’t rule) won the Government of Tamil Nadu's best short story prize for 1988-89. Her novel Pathini Penn (1983) was made into a film. Some of her works including Vaarthai thavari vittai, Arasigal aluvathillai and Muppathu kodi mugangal have been adapted for television. She is also a translator for Sahitya Akademi and has translated Nizhal Kodugal, Uthirum Ilaigalin Oosai, Govarthan Ram and 50 short stories into Tamil. In 2005, she was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil for her novel Kalmaram (lit. The Stone Tree). In 2007, she became Additional Director General of Police. In her police career, she has been the Director of Vigilance and the Inspector General of police-Headquarters. She has been promoted to Director General of Police and is currently the chairperson of the Uniformed Services Recruitment board.