Caught By The Police: The Life Story of Dr Anandswarup Gupta

Book excerpt: Caught by the Police is the story of a talented, public-spirited and erudite man, with a multidimensional personality, a republican bent of mind, Indian values and English sensibilities. After a brilliant academic career, he joined the Royal Air Force in 1934 at the age of 19; unfortunately, he was forced to leave on contrived medical grounds. He got into the Indian Police due to a providential combination of circumstances and events, somewhat against his inclination. But once in it, he gave his all to his profession. A brave and intrepid police officer, he went on to become a celebrated police historian. He also wrote spiritual poetry, which forms a part of the book and, interestingly, could recite Shakespeare, Ghalib and the Bhagvad Gita with equal facility. Spanning a century of changing times, this book provides a unique account of the last decades of British Rule and the emergence of a new India, woven into the story of an extraordinary life lived in ordinary places, and a compelling family chronicle.