Mahesh M. Bhagwat, read the sign on the door. Behind that wooden door sat a man who was hailed as a Hero by the US State Department for his work in human trafficking, the Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda Commissionerate, Telangana. He sat buried in his files, behind a polished white desk with the national flag of India and a flag of Telangana Police by his side. He glanced up for a moment, smiled pleasantly, and went back to his files. He asked us to sit in Marathi, his janmabhoomi’s tongue. Immediately after, his phone rang and he started speaking in fluent Telugu, his karmabhoomi’s tongue. The call ended in a few minutes. Just then, a lady officer entered and he advised her in his articulate English. Boy, was he busy!
Whilst he was busy, I had enough time to look around his office. Spacious and stylish. Brilliant blues and polished whites. Behind him, accolades shone proudly. A replica of a rocket, a signed cricket bat, and his khaki cap added to the beauty.
I was lucky. Although I needed to be quick, I got 18 minutes of precious, uninterrupted time.
Photo with Mahesh Bhagwat
He is remarkably soft spoken and a bit shy. His gaze always finds something curious to look at. His words, too, are few and measured.
We were seeing a gentler soul behind the stony khaki uniform.
‘Shall we come later?’ We asked.
‘पोलीसांच्या कामात हे सगळं चालतेंच रे!’ (Police work is always busy like this!)
‘I grew up in the small town of Pathardi, near Ahmednagar. Both my father and my mother were primary school teachers. My contact with the police station was limited to just the singing of the national anthem there on Independence Day. Other than that, I kept away from it. I never thought I would be a police officer. In fact, I became an IPS officer first, then I decided to join the service.’
Mahesh Bhagwat, a civil engineer by degree, wanted to become an IAS officer, but he couldn’t qualify. Instead, he qualified to be an IPS officer, and has been working as an IPS officer since. But does he regret not being an IAS?
‘Not really. You know, people tell me that I’m doing an IAS’s work from an IPS’s chair, so it’s not a big deal.’
After his engineering, he took up a job in Tata Motors. There, he handled the CSR activities of the firm. Alongside it, he was involved in other social movements as well.
‘I was very interested in rural development and social work. I was associated with Anna Hazare’s watershed development project. If I hadn’t been an IPS officer, I would’ve continued being a public servant, doing social work.’
After he became an IPS officer, his first posting was in Manipur. The year was 1997. Manipur was raging with extremist activities. A number of police officers were attacked; many of them had lost their lives. It was a scary place to be a police officer in during those times.
‘The early days were tough. I was a stranger, an outsider amidst a crisis. I didn’t know their language, I didn’t know their culture. How, then, were the people supposed to trust me? So, I learned their language, Manipuri. I learned their traditions. I learned what Manipur meant to the Manipurians. Slowly but surely, things worked out.’
First challenge surpassed, next up was Hyderabad, which has been his karmabhoomi since. His immense work in sex trafficking, women safety, and against Naxals has won him the hearts of the Hyderabadis.
I was lucky again. I got to hear a few stories.
‘When we were working against Naxals in Adilabad, some used to surrender. These Naxals aren’t inherently bad people. The situation has made them bad. They deserve to improve their situation. They deserve a chance to rebuild their life—a good life.’
’One such Naxal had to quit his engineering studies in 1988. He surrendered in 2001. He said he wanted to study again. We approached universities, but they weren’t ready to accept a Naxal. I wrote a guarantee letter to the universities. He finished his B Tech, then M Tech, and now he’s working as a professor at the university. I met him recently. I was going home after taking a seminar in a college, and someone started shouting my name from a corner. He came forward, introduced himself, and thanked me profusely. असं, भारी वाटलं! (It felt wonderful to see that I’d changed a life.)
This isn’t a single story. Mahesh starts his work as a human being from where his work as an officer ends. Mahesh hasn’t changed ‘a’ life; he has changed many. Most notably, the lives of the victims of sex trafficking—there are hundreds of them. Under his tenure, trafficking has been the top priority of Telangana police. In just one year, they’ve closed 25 brothels, for which he was awarded the Hero award by the US State Department in 2017.
Mahesh has achieved a lot. But a lot more remains.
‘I don’t think a lot about my future. I still have years more of service. I just think “what’s next?” Each day comes with new challenges and new responsibilities. I just focus on them.’
Nearing 25 years of service, Mahesh stands tall—but with humility—as one of the best IPS officers in the country right now. But that means nothing to him. To him, more important is the question ‘what next?’ More important is his service.
A service he will keep on doing for years to come.
An honest and devoted service.
Advice to the Youth:
‘My definition of success is very simple. Go to sleep feeling satisfied and without worries, and bring a smile on someone’s face each day. That’s it.’
‘Today’s era has become the era of the fast. People are always looking for fast, short ways to succeed. They lack patience. My advice will be the same. Develop patience. Don’t give up easily. Be persistent in your efforts because there’s no alternative to hard work.’
‘And don’t compromise on your core values. Be it integrity, honesty, or empathy. Always live a life aligned with them. That’s what I’ll give to you.’