Inner instincts, they say, never die! And it is the instinct of writing in Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, that remained intact even after he became a police officer.
Occupied answering the call of duty 24×7, Singh, who as Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) heads the Punjab Police Crime Branch, burnt midnight oil to service his instincts, and penned a bilingual book on the verses of Saint Kabir.
The book “Universal Teachings of Kabir (Kabir ke Sadabahar Dohe)”, was released by Punjab DGP Anil Kaushik at a special function held here, on Sunday.
Flanked by ADGP Crime Sanjeev Gupta, IGPs C S R Reddy and M K Tiwari, besides other senior police officers, the DGP patted Singh on the back for his endeavour to bring the essence of Kabir’s teachings in a simple, people-friendly and telling manner. The book contains 100 verses of Saint Kabir based on such themes as have universal application. “Saint Kabir gave a new dimension to the Indian thought process in the medieval period which is relevant in modern times also,” says Singh, a 1998-batch IPS officer.
“The modern Indian society is passing through a transitional phase and there is a visible rat race to adopt westernity to achieve modernity, which is an open threat to the great Indian traditions,” he feels.
The author says that the teachings of Kabir are quite useful and relevant in the present-day circumstances.
“The present book is an honest and truthful attempt to bring Kabir’s universal teachings before the masses, especially keeping in view the existing socio-cultural problems,” he under-lined.
The book dwells on various themes like speech, good company, patience, charity, saint, teacher, false ego, love and devotion, truth of material world and good conduct. Every theme consists of four to ten verses given in a separate chapter and each chapter starts with a brief summary of the theme.
Every verse has been given first in Devanagari script, and then explained in Hindi. Later, the same verse has been reproduced in Roman script and explained in English. The English version is not merely a literal translation but offers original description of the verses.
Singh says. “It is a well-established fact that modernity cannot be achieved by ignoring our traditions and value system.” The verses have been collected mainly from Beejak, Sakhi and Kabir Granthawali.
The author has also interviewed many personalities, who are well-versed in the teachings of Kabir. He also visited Varanasi, the birth place of Saint Kabir, to have a firsthand exposure of his teachings.
Some of the verses have been taken from the holy book of Sikhs Guru Granth Sahib.
“I have made an attempt to summarise the teachings of Kabir for the benefit of the common people. The primary objective of this endeavour is to bring modernity in the society along with great Indian traditions through the universal teachings of Kabir,” he adds.
Singh has served in various capacities across Punjab, including Amritsar, Patitla, Ludhiana and Mohali. He headed Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Batala and Ferozepur districts as SSP. Presently, he is looking after special crimes and cyber investigation and also commanding 82 Battalion of PAP Chandigarh.
Despite odds, the cop-turned-writer has made a conscious and consistent attempt to remain in constant touch with the cultural heritage of Punjab and India, because of his passion for art, culture and literature.
Singh did his Post-graduation in Sanskrit with specialisation in Indian Philosophy from Patna University. He was recently awarded Ph.D. in Police Administration by Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He also acquired PG Diploma in Human Resource Management from the IGNOU during his service, and is presently doing LL.B from Punjab University.
“My continuous learning attitude has induced in me additional capabilities which have helped me immensely in the discharge of my professional duties,” adds Singh.
