I am still in shock.
When one feels as bereaved as the next person, then who can comfort whom. There are no words that can actually describe the persona that was Madhukar or even attempt to articulate the grief that his passing has caused.
When words fail, tears help.
But when one thinks of Madhukar watching from above with that peaceful expression on his face, one feels that tears are also so trivial. He was far above words and tears.
I know that if he knew that he would cause so much grief when he died, he would have done everything in his power to live on.
So I am going to try and celebrate his life instead.
Madhukar Shetty was my probationer. I say this with a sense of immense pride. I met him 4 months ago when he invited me to take some sessions with participants of a course he was coordinating. I have taken many sessions in NPA earlier but the fact that Madhukar found me worthy of teaching his course gave me a sense of satisfaction like no other. It was validation to say the least. After his beautiful introduction, I also reintroduced him to his own course. I thought the officers should know what an inspiring course coordinator they had.
Madhukar was one of my fittest and finest probationers. His shy smile and kind eyes endeared him to one and all. He rarely spoke but when he did, everyone stopped and listened. His questions were soul searching, his conviction was rock solid, his sense of rvice was completely selfless and his sense of fairnesswas unquestionable. An epitome of dignity, clarity of thought, integrity and maturity, inspiring, to say the least, Madhukar was an evolved soul.
I will miss him always. I used to often relate stories of his high moral and ethical standards in my classes with probationers as well as senior courses. I remember how he walked up to the track judges after they had adjudged his Squad 3 relay team the winners in the Annual Athletic Meet at NPA and told them they had made a mistake and that he could clearly see that the other competitor has tipped the tape before he did and so was the rightful winner. 20 points given without batting an eyelid. His sense of right and wrong was absolute. He never had an ethical dilemma.
Madhukar Shetty made his father, family, friends, colleagues and service proud. I'm sure he's watching and smiling from above. I think he had only this much left to live in this never ending cycle of life and death. It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts. It's as though he knew he had only this much time and he decided to be the benchmark that he thought the Indian Police Service should attain.
I hear that a village was named after him, that the police training college will be named after him and many more such awe inspiring stories keep trickling in. But I do know one thing that he would never like and I hope that NPA will honour his wishes and NOT name a trophy after him. Madhukar was very sad one day and came to me talk about how he felt that trophies should be done away with in NPA as it caused only negativity and a sense of unhealthy competition that shifts focus from the spirit of service and teamwork to individualism and selfishness. It pained him greatly. I would not want his memory to be trivialised such.
The spirit of Madhukar cannot die. It will live on, in the deeds of all those who he has touched in his meaningful life, in the words of all those whom he has inspired and in the thoughts of all those who loved him for what he was as also what he wasn't.
Anna you will always stand tall.
Suvarna, Saamya he's there somewhere, watching over you, concerned, wanting you to be strong, wanting you to smile..
My words fail me once again, let the tears take over....
When one feels as bereaved as the next person, then who can comfort whom. There are no words that can actually describe the persona that was Madhukar or even attempt to articulate the grief that his passing has caused.
When words fail, tears help.
But when one thinks of Madhukar watching from above with that peaceful expression on his face, one feels that tears are also so trivial. He was far above words and tears.
I know that if he knew that he would cause so much grief when he died, he would have done everything in his power to live on.
So I am going to try and celebrate his life instead.
Madhukar Shetty was my probationer. I say this with a sense of immense pride. I met him 4 months ago when he invited me to take some sessions with participants of a course he was coordinating. I have taken many sessions in NPA earlier but the fact that Madhukar found me worthy of teaching his course gave me a sense of satisfaction like no other. It was validation to say the least. After his beautiful introduction, I also reintroduced him to his own course. I thought the officers should know what an inspiring course coordinator they had.
Madhukar was one of my fittest and finest probationers. His shy smile and kind eyes endeared him to one and all. He rarely spoke but when he did, everyone stopped and listened. His questions were soul searching, his conviction was rock solid, his sense of rvice was completely selfless and his sense of fairnesswas unquestionable. An epitome of dignity, clarity of thought, integrity and maturity, inspiring, to say the least, Madhukar was an evolved soul.
I will miss him always. I used to often relate stories of his high moral and ethical standards in my classes with probationers as well as senior courses. I remember how he walked up to the track judges after they had adjudged his Squad 3 relay team the winners in the Annual Athletic Meet at NPA and told them they had made a mistake and that he could clearly see that the other competitor has tipped the tape before he did and so was the rightful winner. 20 points given without batting an eyelid. His sense of right and wrong was absolute. He never had an ethical dilemma.
Madhukar Shetty made his father, family, friends, colleagues and service proud. I'm sure he's watching and smiling from above. I think he had only this much left to live in this never ending cycle of life and death. It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts. It's as though he knew he had only this much time and he decided to be the benchmark that he thought the Indian Police Service should attain.
I hear that a village was named after him, that the police training college will be named after him and many more such awe inspiring stories keep trickling in. But I do know one thing that he would never like and I hope that NPA will honour his wishes and NOT name a trophy after him. Madhukar was very sad one day and came to me talk about how he felt that trophies should be done away with in NPA as it caused only negativity and a sense of unhealthy competition that shifts focus from the spirit of service and teamwork to individualism and selfishness. It pained him greatly. I would not want his memory to be trivialised such.
The spirit of Madhukar cannot die. It will live on, in the deeds of all those who he has touched in his meaningful life, in the words of all those whom he has inspired and in the thoughts of all those who loved him for what he was as also what he wasn't.
Anna you will always stand tall.
Suvarna, Saamya he's there somewhere, watching over you, concerned, wanting you to be strong, wanting you to smile..
My words fail me once again, let the tears take over....
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