One day, while travelling, Kiran Bedi stepped into the ladies compartment. All the women beat her up. They all thought she was a boy because of her clothes and haircut. She was pitilessly dragged to the compartment door, and her shoe fell off the train. She managed to act quickly and let the other shoe fall, so that whoever gets her first shoe, finds a pair for use. She later read that the legendary Mahatma Gandhi had also done something similar when one of his slippers fell off the train. He had then continued his journey barefoot, happy that his slippers would be of use to someone.

Dr Kiran Bedi was the first woman officer to join the Indian Police Service in 1972. She pioneered humanitarian policing by transforming prisons and boldly reducing corruption. She received the prestigious Magsaysay Award in 1994. She has also founded two NGOs in India: Navjyoti for welfare and preventive policing in 1987 and the India Vision Foundation for prison reformation, drug abuse prevention and child welfare in 1994.

Adapted for BookBox by Ananya Parthibhan.