TEJ DEEP KAUR MENON IPS

TEJ DEEP KAUR MENON IPS

Tejdeep, who serves as Additional DG, Sports, recently concluded the State Police Duty Meet, an annual event at which department heads meet and competitions are held in the professional field. She also organised the Andhra Pradesh state police band's recent performance at the Laserium, its first major show in 12 years. She seems pleased at show's success and the audience's response, but she is most delighted about the band's enthusiasm.

“We succeeded because of my boys' willingness. We had a great time during the day-and-night practice sessions. They played and sang with equal enthusiasm and on D-day we gave our best shot. All those sleepless nights and the long practice sessions paid off. We were going home at ungodly hours, sometimes the birds woke up earlier than we went home,” she laughs.

And those also happened to be the coldest December days in the city this year. “Lots of chai, osmania biscuits and khaana from a live tandoor kept us going,” says Tejdeep. “We had the doctor visit us to ensure no one fell ill.”

In the meantime, we request some photographs, but Tejdeep says she is not prepared. “Let's do it tomorrow,” she smiles. “I hardly get a chance to dress up so if we do it tomorrow I can dress for a while, at least before coming to work.”

Just then her homepage disappears and she requests one of her constables to bring it back while she gets busy with mehmaan nawazi. “Please cut some apples and offer them, aap log bhi khao. Wash them before cutting beta,” she instructs.

As we munch on the Shimla apples sent by her mamaji, she remembers, “This is the first time the Chief Minister and Governor attended the police band's performance.

I just couldn't help smiling seeing the excitement of the boys. They came in their best clothes, brought their family along and then we all went for a little Hyderabad tour.”

“No matter which department I am put in, I have to excel,” says this cop. “After coming to this department I formed the Women Police Shooting team. This has happened for the first time. They formed, they participated and were adjudged the best team in States category in 2010.”

How is it to head a department where most of your colleagues are men? “Find out for yourself,” she says and quickly passes the question to her colleagues. This includes her PAs, her clerk, her accountant, the shooting coach, rowing coach and several others.

The verdict: “She is like our mother. She scolds, is stern, a disciplinarian but very loving.”

What made the eldest daughter of a Punjabi family choose to join the police service? “My grandfather inspired me,” says Tejdeep. “I spent a few years with him but those few years were enough to leave an impression.”

Tejdeep says she might be a Punjabi but “I am also a Hyderabadi. Our grandparents were Partition refugees. After my dad married he shifted here, and since then Hyderabad is our home. We were three daughters and our dad was a struggling entrepreneur. I studied in St Ann's along with my sisters. To shine in a class of over 60 students, one had to be extraordinarily good. I had the zeal and enthusiasm and made sure I was a cut above the rest,” she says.

What about managing the hearth? Do you cook? Do you look after your home? That question is left unanswered.

Our chat spills into the next day's photo shoot. “Go ahead and see where you want me to pose,” she tells us. Tejdeep's home in Bowenpally is every woman's dream.

The sparkling brass artefacts, the well-polished wooden furniture show her insistence on tidiness. “So do you think I am a good homemaker?” she laughs. Over the perfectly soft and fluffy dahi wadas she has made, churwa from Pune and pineapple upside-down pastries, our conversation continues.

Tejdeep has published four poetry anthologies. “The little mandir on the first floor is my daughter's.

We lost her to cancer and that's when my grief took the form of poems. I loved words as a child and followed Wordsworth.”

For a few last shots, she poses on the sturdy wooden swing with brass accents, reminding us all of an ad we've been seeing everywhere in the city. Tejdeep laughs and says, “This photo should make Deepika Padukone lose her brand ambassador contract with the store.”