Excerpt of the week: Maharashtra IPS officer relives his journey from a village boy to saheb

I got  a  call  for  the  physical  test  for  the  post  of  PSI  a  week  before  the  prelim exam  of  the  UPSC.  I was not used to exercising; besides, I had lost weight due to the unhealthy food that I ate in Mumbai  and Thane.  

I  could  hardly  do  a  couple  of  push-ups.  I  could  not  sprint  for the  required  800 metres. On the day of the physical test, I went to the police ground at Naygaon. I met with PSI Kamble, who hailed from the neighbouring village. Many a time, he would visit the area near Petit Library in style,  riding  a  Bullet motorcycle and wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses, to meet his friends.

We mingled with  his  friends,  in  the  hopes  that  he  would  offer  us  tea.  He came close to me, patted my back and wished me heartily, saying,  “You  are  lucky,  Vishwas.  You  must  emerge  victorious today.  Such  an  opportunity  comes  only  once  in  a  lifetime.  You  too  must  prove  that  you  are  a tiger,  like  me,  from  the  banks  of  the  Warna  River.  You  are  sure  to  become  a  police  sub-inspector.”

I  mustered  up  my  courage  and  strength.  Teams  of  six  candidates each had to complete two laps on the 400-metre-long  track  at  full  speed.  I  picked  up  speed  immediately  after  the  whistle  was  sounded  but  suffered  cramps  in  my  stomach  after 200 metres. My speed reduced and I did the second lap walking.

PSI Kamble was cheering me on, but I had no strength left to run. When I stepped out of the track, a frustrated PSI Kambale  shook  me  and  rebuked  me,  saying,  “Only  a  loser  would give up this God-sent opportunity.” I said, “Sir, if Lady Luck  smiles  at  me,  you  will  be  saluting  me  around  this  time  next year.”

He said, “You are free to have unrealistic big dreams. Now go and study instead of wasting your time making empty promises. If you become a big boss, I would not be ashamed to salute a tiger coming from the banks of the Warna.”

Tired, I returned to my room. My entire body was aching. Nimat gave me a tablet of Combiflam. I had to revise for the prelim  examination.  To  successfully  accomplish  this,  I  had  maintained a 500-page register for general studies preparation, with  100  pages  allotted  to  each  section.  

Whatever  I  found  important, I jotted down in the relevant section of the register. This ensured that I was not just dragging through the track, but  carefully  picking  and  plucking  the  flowers.  I  had  stored  these pearls of knowledge in the register, and it was time to realize their worth.

I had also highlighted important sections in the general studies study kit and Tata McGraw Hill. While studying,  I  started  by  reading  the  entire  chapter  first,  though  I  understood  little.  During  that preliminary  reading, I underlined the difficult words, found their meanings in  the  dictionary,  assigned them  a  number  and  jotted  down  the meaning on the margin of the same page.

In the second reading,  I lay  emphasis  on  comprehension,  underlining  the  important lines. In the third reading, I wrote down the précis of every paragraph in a line or two in my micro notes. I marked these notes with blue, red or black pencils, depending on the importance of the content. 

(Excerpted with permission from Head Held High by Vishwas Nangre Patil, published by Penguin Random House India)