A year ago, we lost Deepak Ratan, my friend, IPS batchmate, and an illustrious officer, to a heart attack.
We are all in shock. Deepak was still in his 40s and looked fit and strong. Who could have seen this coming?
Deepak and I were in the same squad at the National Police Academy, where the officer trainees were divided into 8 squads of about 15-16 officers each.
We were in squad 7 — the worst squad, not in temperament but in everything else.
We always came last in every sport. Other than Abhinav, who had played sports at Doon School, we were all good for nothing in sports (or anything else). And yet (or maybe, because of that), we had so much fun.
For 10 months, together we marched, ran, jumped, and went through every kind of physical torture the Academy prescribed for us. Nothing creates a better bond than being stuck in the same trench (metaphorically).
Deepak was the tallest of us all, and regrettably, also the most handsome. And even though we weren’t close friends socially, we got to spend a lot of time together.
After graduating from the Academy, Deepak had a stellar career — he was the police chief of many districts and even larger units, and finally, he became an Inspector General in the CRPF. He won a bagful of medals, as a testament to his competence.
Though for many people, he might have been a big-shot two-star general in the CRPF, for me he always was and will be an officer-trainee in Squad 7.
Deepak — some day, we will all see you on the other side. And we will again form Squad 7, but this time, we won’t be the worst — we will make sure to be the second-worst.
Brother — we miss you 😞
– Rajan