From the seva spirit to the saree pact

Life  in the times of Coronavirus, under the cloud of a lockdown, is about coping with a new genre of existentialism. It subsumes concepts like retiring after spending decades as a member of the Indian Police Service or for that matter any other professional career. Even more so, like in mine, demitting office as the Director General of Police, Telangana Special Protection Force, after joining the IPS in 1983 and wearing khaki for 38 years. It is truly a fulfilling and meaningful career in public interest, if those in government perceive it that way.

So, it is a continuum for me given my charge as President of the Telangana Sikh Society (TSS) and the spirit of seva that the community contributes to incessantly. Reaching groceries and other essentials to the families of indigent Sikhs, many of whom are migrants, across the State during the lockdown, not once but in three rounds so far, relying on cost - effective logistics, and rallying the community in that effort has made me feel as if it is work as usual. It also means WFH which is not altogether new except for the newer modes of communicating with people.

WFH, brings with it other advantages like spending more time with my mother in her mid-eighties - an invalid stricken by Parkinson’s disease who can barely speak a few words, but communicates effectively with her eyes - taking care of her needs in the autumn of her life. Another task, on which work I am working, is in engaging the poor children, overcoming inevitable hurdles, in online education. Missing her creche, and cooped up at home in Mumbai, my granddaughter Bani, who will be four later this year, is picking up skills through online yoga.

All children can advance to the online route. There is a personal passion too – promoting handlooms. As the administrator of the 15,000 strong ‘Global Saree Pact’, a Facebook group, draping the weavers innovations and making their endeavour sustainable is a constant challenge. Even amid the lockdown, members pull out select saris from their wardrobe, wear it and share knowledge about the rich tapestry and story of Indian handlooms. As time flows there will be more challenges to rise to for one used to and interested to serve in public interest. As for retirement, whose call is it in anyway? Not mine. –Tejdeep Kaur Menon, IPS (Retd ) (As told to Tamanna S Mehdi )