The police officer who climbs for a cause

Meet Gurjot Singh Kaler, the man using mountaineering to fight drugs and emotional pain in communities affected by ethnic conflict in Manipur, writes Harpreet Bajwa

- Harpreet Bajwa

IGH in the rarefied Himalayas, a different kind of battle is underway. Gurjot Singh Kaler, a 2012-batch Punjab Police Service (PPS) officer who is on deputation from Punjab to Manipur and now posted as Superintendent of Police (Investigations), is using mountaineering to fight drug abuse, build unity, and heal fractured communities. For Kaler, mountains show the way to social change. He has personally sponsored over a dozen children from Punjab to attend basic and advanced mountaineering courses at India's top institutes, including the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering in Uttarkashi and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute in Manali.

They were excited experiencing their first snowfall, first night in a tent, first battle against biting winds. Under his guidance, they learned to tie life-saving knots, cross sharp ridges, and pitch camp on unyielding ground. However, what they took home were values they'd never forget: self-discipline, patience, and the courage to keep moving.