From Literature to Leadership
Kiran Bedi and the Power of the ‘English & IPS’ Combo
#onherbirthdaytoday
9th June 2026
Today, happens to be the birthday of the legendary Kiran Bedi – a woman who made history by becoming the very first woman to join the IPS – The Indian Police Service. In fact, she happened to be the only woman (in a batch of 80 men) to subsequently undergo rigorous police training, thereby shattering a massive glass ceiling in a heavily male-dominated profession!
Interestingly, Kiran Bedi holds a BA in English from Government College from Women, Amritsar, an MA in Political Science, Bachelors in Law from the University of Delhi, and a PhD in Social Sciences from IIT Delhi (focusing on drug abuse and domestic violence in society).
I personally loved the vibrant positivity in the title of her 1998 book titled, It’s Always Possible: Transforming One of the Largest Prisons in the World. The book documents the sweeping reforms that Kiran Bedi made during her tenure as Inspector General of Tihar Jail.
Well, as we all know, Tihar jail is one of the largest in the world spanning 200 acres, housing over 9,700 inmates - men, women, adolescents and children, including both Indians and foreigners. The inmates include unconvicted alleged offenders, convicts and remandees as well.
When Bedi arrived on the scene, the prison was a completely “rotten system” characterised by corruption on all sides, drug abuse, gang extortion, and pathetic living conditions for its inmates (including unhygienic food with insects and metallic residues).
How she transformed the prison system through her nuanced and humane approach to the inmates, forms the crux of the book.
In the initial chapter Kiran alludes to the initial situation within Tihar -
What I saw inside Tihar was captured with human concern integral to my duty. I was there to correct and not to accuse. The magnitude of the problem was enormous. It took me months. Institutions take their time to reveal, despite individual impatience. Tihar Jail tested my patience to the maximum, and ultimately did cave in for the inhabitants to call the same monument ‘Tihar Ashram’.
I took charge as Inspector General (Prisons) on World Labour Day (May 1) 1993, not really being able to fathom the magnitude of labour that would be required of me to negotiate the problems waiting behind the bars.
I had heard of the gory practices that continued unexposed beneath those searchlights. A whole world seemed to have been exiled behind those high walls with rusted frames.
It always seemed another world, banished behind those dead walls. I had heard about the gang wars, prisoners running extortion centres from within the prison, and tales of rampant corruption, violence and heart-rending tragedies.
But I was a soldier, duty-bound to take charge of this hell-hole,
says Kiran Bedi.
She strategically made a bold shift of perspective, from “accusation mode” to “correction mode”. And this shift from “accusation” to “correction” mode required actionable initiatives like education programmes, vocational training, and introducing daily prayers and yoga to combat laziness and despair among the inmates.
Kiran shows her readers the power of community involvement and community engagement by inviting the community inside Tihar. As a result, for the first time in 35 years, voluntary groups, including international health organisations and NGOs were brought in to provide counselling, medical aid, legal support, and entertainment to the inmates.
Moreover, Kiran promoted a vibrant internal community within the walls of Tihar by encouraging educated prisoners to teach literacy classes and actively involved inmates in improving their environment, such as participating in large-scale tree-planting and social forestry projects.
Also, Bedi was fully aware of the fact that, physical confinement without mental and spiritual rehabilitation breeds further criminality. With this in mind, she advocated the importance of structured mental health interventions for the inmates.
Finally, Kiran focuses on the vulnerable sections among the inmates, including women and children.
The book emphasises on the need for targeted welfare programs for these groups by initiating health and hygiene monitoring for children living in the prison with their mothers, starting educational creches, and fighting roadblocks to get bank accounts opened for working women inmates.
Just an excerpt on that note, from the book –
I moved to the women’s ward as if by instinct. I knew that the women would have been waiting for me. As I entered, all the women present in the courtyard rushed towards me, uninhibited and happy, cheering my visit.
Was this a homecoming?
The ward was a total contrast to that of the men. The women promptly sat around me, wanting to interact and hear what I had to say. They had taken it for granted that I would visit them. Looking at their faces, I felt they were my children and I had indeed come home for them.
Each one, I sensed, needed a hand on her shoulder to help her cry out her grief and relieve herself of the agony within. Yet, all of them were putting up a cheerful appearance for my sake.
I asked them: “Do you read and write here?”
They said: “No.”
I said: “Would you like to?”
They said: “Yes.”
“Very good, we will study here, and before you leave, you shall be literate.”
They applauded in excitement.
My prayer with the men gave me the joy of seeing hope and acceptance; with the women, something pulled me from within. I had been ‘imprisoned’ - Tihar was going to be my destiny,
she writes.
I’d personally suggest that you read the entire book, which I personally feel is a real leadership guide telling us that, even the most “condemned” institutions can be revitalised, through collective community action.
Added, I personally feel that, the English Literature & IPS Combo is in fact, one of the best combos for the Administrative Services.
That’s because literature is the world’s largest archive of human psychology in all its glory! In fact it is a living library of human character. By reading extensively through poetry, drama, and fiction, a student of literature has already encountered every facet of human emotions – including ambition, betrayal, grief, and desperation.
Hence, when an officer encounters a crime of passion, or a criminal fraud, they are essentially watching literature at work!
There are quite a lot of such English Literature & IPS combos in India. I would love to mention just a few notable ones here.
Shri K. Vijay Kumar, IPS, who is best known for heading the Special Task Force (STF) that successfully neutralised the notorious sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, did his BA & MA in English Literature in MCC.
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| Former IPS officer and CRPF chief K. Vijay Kumar being conferred with the Padma Shri by the President of India |
Shri K. Muthukaruppan, IPS, the former Director General of Police (DGP) and former Commissioner of Police for Chennai, did his BA & MA in English Literature in MCC.
Smt Manjari Jaruhar, IPS, Bihar’s first female IPS officer completed her BA in English Literature at Patna Women’s College, before clearing the Civil Services Exam.
Smt Meeran Chadha Borwankar, IPS, who served as Mumbai’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) and Maharashtra’s Inspector General of Prisons, holds an MA in English Literature from DAV College, Jalandhar.
Smt Jija Madhavan Harisingh, IPS, was the first female IPS officer from South India. She completed both her BA and MA in English Literature at the University of Kerala and went on to hold various prestigious positions, retiring as Director General of Police (DGP) in Karnataka
Smt R. Sreelekha, IPS, was the first-ever female IPS officer in Kerala and the state’s first female DGP. Before joining the police force, she graduated with a BA in English Literature from the Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram, and completed her Masters in English at the Institute of English, University of Kerala.
And now for the ‘literary’ takeaway for today -
Well, all these remarkable IPS officers (with special reference to Kiran Bedi IPS on her birthday today) 😊 have proved that when the profound empathy that they have learnt from literature is applied to their administrative responsibilities, the result is, as we all have witnessed - genuine, lasting human transformation!
And akin to Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, they become a literary ‘Daniel come to judgment!’ 😊
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