The Mumbai Police’s fighting spirit against the novel coronavirus and the grit of the personnel in managing a city under lockdown has been captured in photos and is now available in the form of a calendar.
Last week, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray unveiled the 6th edition of the Mumbai Police calendar, which features the uniformed personnel through the lens of photographer Pravin Talan.
Mr. Talan said, “The calendar has never-before-seen action images of the Mumbai Police. In the new world order, threats are varied and ever increasing. Whether it’s the pandemic, terrorism, law and order situations, or cyber crime. Mumbai being the financial capital of the country is always at the centre of it. The 2021 calender projects the many facets of the force: whether it is personnel in PPE kits or bomb suits, ferocious Belgian Malinois sniffer dogs, Quick Response Team commandos with MP5 and AK-47s patrolling at night, or an emotional moment like a policeman fixing a little girl’s bicycle.”
Mr. Talan said at the peak of the pandemic, the maximum number of personnel from Maharashtra who succumbed to the virus were from the Mumbai Police. He said despite grave dangers, the personnel stood as a solid barrier between the deadly virus and the city’s residents. “An inspirational addition is the photograph of Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh leading from the front on foot in Dharavi, a COVID-19 hotspot, when the pandemic peaked in 2020,” Mr. Talan added.
Mr. Singh said last year wasn’t an easy one to sail through. “Citizens should be given credit for getting through the year; for surviving its good, bad and ugly. All of it, with the lucky three — grit, grace and gratitude. In its fight against the virus, policing found a new meaning as much as the ‘spirit of Mumbai’ did,” he said.
Mr. Singh added that the Mumbai Police will always be the wall between good and evil, and be with Mumbaikars in the fight against “the unseen, unknown, and unheard-of enemy”.
Mr. Talan said Vishwas Nangare Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law & Order) mentored him with regard to the concept and execution of the calendar. Mr. Talan said, “The calendar is an annual feature, a tribute to the brave, compassionate, and unparalleled police force in the world.”
At the launch ceremony, Mr. Thackeray honoured Mr. Talan for his endeavours amid the pandemic by bringing out books such as True Grit and Atulya Himmat and the viral video hit ‘Rakh tu Housla’ to support the Mumbai Police Foundation.