With the end of Novem-ber's insight, a foggy winter is slowly set-ting in North India. Sunshine and wind are in full play at Mehndipur Dabodha, a picturesque village of Haryana situated 45 km from Gurgaon on the Bahadurgrah Jajhhar Road. It’s a unique village in many ways with its water bodies, a micro forest, playgrounds, school, parks, roads, etc. In the midst of such a picturesque setting is a beautiful ancestral ‘haveli’ (a palatial home) standing tall. It has an education centre and a library within its walls. And presiding over it is a man in his late sixties with a mustache that makes him look regal and a stylist hat that adds to his imposing persona.
That’s Ranjiv Singh Dalal (IPS), former Director-General of Police (DGP) of Haryana Police, a decorated super cop who is cruising ahead with great speed to develop an ‘aesthetic village model for Haryana’. Dalal’s initiative is an exclusive one in many ways, focused on creating a general sense of happiness in a place where humans and nature can co-exist in harmony. He greets me with a high octane welcome and leads me into his home to indulge in a relaxed interaction in the course of which he reveals his journey of life from super cop to social activist. Excerpts from the interview:
Ranjiv P Dalal
Things do not happen in a day. The seed of metamorphosis must have been planted in your heart long back which gives birth to a successful social reformer out of a successful police officer. How did it happen?
This story is from the January 2021 edition of Dignity Dialogue.
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This story is from the January 2021 edition of Dignity Dialogue.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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