Real Virtue or proclaimed virtue: The clean autobiography
Head Held High is the autobiography of Vishwas Nangre Patil. Vishwas Nangre Patil is the joint commissioner of police (law and order), Mumbai City, and former commissioner of police, Nashik City. He is an Indian Police Service officer from the 1997 batch. In 2015, he was awarded the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry, for his role in the counterterrorism operations during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.a distinguished and courageous police officer whose career spans several decades in Maharashtra’s law enforcement. Known for his unwavering integrity, resolute commitment to justice, and leadership in tackling crime, Patil’s life story is one that inspires and serves as a window into the multifaceted world of policing in India. Through this autobiography, Patil opens up about his personal and professional life, revealing the complexities of being a police officer in a society often rife with corruption, crime, challenges and ups and downs he faced in his life. Patil begins by sharing his childhood and family background, providing valuable context for his eventual decision to join the police force. The book contains of 10 chapters present in chronological order which helps reader to understand in a simple way.
Patil begins by sharing his childhood and family background. Patil was born in kokrud a village in sangli district on 1 june 1973. Patils parents were not much educated they highly completed there schooling till 4th std. He completed his schooling from a zila parishad school in his village and sent to his uncle for highschool in new English school shiral. Being a student of zila parishad school he weak in english but being a meritorious child he overcomed it. He was a disciplined child as his father was well reputed person of village (sarpanch) After his grandmother died patil was depressed and was not able to accept that fact and this created a very large impact on him he took 1 to 2 years to come out of it . After his college he went to mumbai for preparation of civil services and lived in a very small room and started his preparation towards his dream during this preparation phase he faced failures a lot he was not able to crack pre of upsc simultaneously after giving his pre there was mpsc’s pre coming and somehow he managed to do both but however was not able qualify.He faced a lot of ups and downs in his life one incident was during his preparation there was elections in his village so he visited his village to help his father but there was some fights between some groups and however vishwas was not involved in it but also the case was filed against him because of jealousy or to end his fathers political career some choose this way to hamper him but the PI ( police inspector) knowing him well managed it and told him not to come village again go and prepare this incident generated a spark in him.This ups and downs in his life made him enough competent to face challenges which helped him During the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Vishwas Nangre Patil, then Deputy Commissioner of Police, exhibited remarkable calmness, strategic foresight, and decisive leadership. Amid the chaos, he maintained a clear focus on managing resources, ensuring effective communication between various agencies, and leading from the front showed his braveness and courage being a dynamic police officer. Patil’s quick decision-making skills allowed for swift mobilization of forces and efficient crowd control, contributing to minimizing casualties. His ability to stay composed and adapt to the rapidly changing situation exemplified crisis management at its best. His leadership played a pivotal role in coordinating the efforts of police, commandos, and other emergency services during the deadly seige and due to his disaster management skills and big contribution of his team they managed to take down the terrorist and caught a terrioist alive which helped a lot to the government to shut down all the loopholes which helped terrorsit.
Head Held High is an inspiring and thought-provoking autobiography that provides a rare glimpse into the life of one of Maharashtra’s most respected police officers. Its truly inspiring and motivating book by Vishwas Sir, its worth reading his struggle to UPSC, his journey from a simple village boy to the biggest post is truly commendable. I will suggest every aspirant of civil services to read it. It will help and motivate a lot during there journey of preparation till they act and work as a civil servant this will help them throughout there whole journey and service of civil services.