MP cops turn to tunes to beat stress with official sanction
Having worked nonstop for 12 hours and with no signs of duty ending soon, inspector Arvind Jain of Jabalpur headed to the superintendent of police (SP) office earlier this week, but not to call on his boss.
Jain entered a room, took a chair, flicked on a music system, reclined a bit and closed his eyes as Kishore Kumar’s voice belted out the evergreen ‘Zindagi ek safar hai suhana, yahan kal kya ho kisne jaana’. A few instrumental hits followed. After 15 minutes, Jain left the room that is now popular as the music chamber for Jabalpur police staff to beat stress.
Drawing inspiration from the concept of ‘Anandam’ (spreading happiness) under the newly introduced happiness department of Madhya Pradesh government, Jabalpur police personnel have earmarked the room at the SP office as a brief musical getaway when time permits.
Popular Hindi songs of Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore, Asha Bhosle, Mukesh and bhajans are the norm. There is, however, no place for raunchy or loud music.
Jabalpur additional superintendent of police Suraj Kumar Verma said, “Many choose soulful numbers to calm their minds. In morning hours, most prefer bhajans and instrumental music.”
New entrants to the police department play AR Rahman’s compositions, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Arijit Singh. Constable Javed Mansuri, 28, picks Rahat and Arijit to de-stress. “I am away from my family and I relax with songs such as Rahat’s Main Jahan Rahun and Arijit’s Re Kabira.”
Senior officers believe this will prove therapeutic.
State DGP Rishi Kumar Shukla lauded the Jabalpur initiative. “Such centres should be opened in every district,” he said.
KK Singh, principal secretary, home department, said, “Seeing the poor health scenario of police personnel, this is a very good initiative. After analysing the success of this initiative, it will be implemented across the state.”