Former IPS officer Prakash Mishra spent his career dealing with dangerous situations such as protests and violence. Now, nine years after he retired, he is ready to offer a glimpse into the lighter side of the life in uniform in his soon-to-be released memoir.
"Comedy in Khakee: The Humorous Memoirs of a Policeman" has anecdotes of an "uncanny boss" frowning at pink napkins in a meeting and how a young Mishra played pranks on friends and teachers during school and training.
The book, of course, does not name anyone.
The memoir recounts how the son of a district magistrate in Odisha "loved to laugh, even at silly things, much to the annoyance of others".
Mishra, a 1977-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, retired in 2016 from the post of director general (DG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the world's largest paramilitary force with over three lakh personnel.
He also served as director general of police (DGP) in Odisha, apart from heading the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and having stints at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Union home ministry while on central deputation.
"In an environment of policing, where seriousness often overshadows the joys of life, 'Comedy in Khakee' seeks to remind us the power of humour and the importance of laughter," Mishra writes in his book, which is set to release on January 11 in Delhi.
The book, much on the lines of the "humour in uniform" columns that appear in various publications globally, contains anecdotes, musings and observations about a variety of human beings and circumstances the former top cop observed while being in school, during his training at the National Police Academy and various stints with the Odisha Police.
He admits to playing pranks, sometimes bordering on the dangerous, along with his twin brother during his early days and later with his "partners-in-crime" friends and batchmates.
The book describes an incident of a commode at the residence of his senior -- a deputy inspector general -- collapsing while the officer was sitting on it and tales of "sumptuous" feasts being organised by police personnel for their seniors during routine police station inspections.
"There was a particular officer of the rank of commissioner, who used to love this kind of arrangement. I had heard that once, during an inspection of the office of the subdivisional officer, he was given such a sumptuous lunch. Having eaten his full, he retired for an afternoon siesta," Mishra writes in the book.
The characters, including an "uncanny boss" who ended an important meeting as he had got offended with the "pink napkins" served with potato chips, remain unnamed.
The 198-page book is peppered with anecdotes and repartee that went around in the police establishment during Mishra's tenure while dealing with a multitude of circumstances -- protests, riot-like situations or during routine practice at the firing range for cops.
The book is "for the jesters among us who remind us not to take ourselves too seriously and bring light into our lives with their wit and charm," according to Mishra.
The retired IPS officer confesses in the book that it was in his school that he learnt "rascals can be of different types."
