My first day in the police was July 16, 1972. I was the only woman in the IPS. I remember getting a lot of questions. Are you sure you want to do this? Have you thought about your family? Why did you choose to be here? There was a lot of amazement and doubt.

Kiran Bedi

The focus is what is right before you - to give it your best. It sows the seeds of tomorrow.

Kiran Bedi

Let eternal vigilance be the price of liberty and integrity of the country hereafter.

Kiran Bedi

Without a beat officer system, there can be no crime prevention or supportive investigation. This is the very foundation of sound policing. It is the beat officer who connects with the common man on a daily basis and is the five senses of his area.

Kiran Bedi

I joined the Indian Police Service as a tough woman, a woman with indefatigable stamina, because I used to run for my tennis titles, etc.

Kiran Bedi

I do not need any rest. I enjoy my work, and at work, I rest. I rest with my good work.

Kiran Bedi

I had a clear vision: if I take up an assignment, I'll do full justice to it; otherwise I'll walk away.

Kiran Bedi

I am a Gemini. We have split personalities. While at work, I am fully in it. I can be attached yet very detached. I have no feelings of remorse.

Kiran Bedi

I believe in prayer. I believe in gratitude and serving people.

Kiran Bedi

The moment you design the post of a HR manager in the police, your whole outlook towards your team changes. You designate an official to look after their health, their professional needs, their preparedness and motivation, which in most cases becomes quintessential.

Kiran Bedi

I haven't seen a single institution in the corporate world operating smoothly without a HR team.

Kiran Bedi

I do not believe in living in either the future or the past.

Kiran Bedi

Corrupt bureaucrats and cops ought to dismissed or compulsorily retired from service, as they are a drain on the service. Their performance must be vigorously assessed.

Kiran Bedi

You cannot just exercise your rights and get away without performing your responsibilities. Understand that it should not be about 'me' but rather 'us.'

Kiran Bedi

Many years ago, when I was born in the '50s - '50s and '60s didn't belong to girls in India. They belonged to boys. They belonged to boys who would join business and inherit business from parents, and girls would be dolled up to get married.

Kiran Bedi

Policing is an integral part of governance. It is a whole, but it is also a part of the larger whole. Just like a human organ like the head, it's got intelligence, stamina, strategy and surveillance. But it cannot function independently in the absence of other life-sustaining organs.

Kiran Bedi

If I could, I would never walk. I would just jog or, even better, run.

Kiran Bedi

My policing was nothing but activism - it had to be.

Kiran Bedi

When governance improves, there will be less have-nots and more haves.

Kiran Bedi

The media has a key role to play in ending corruption.

Kiran Bedi

Don't avoid doing something wondering what its consequences may be. Give it a thought, break it down, and consider what really may happen rather than not do it at all.

Kiran Bedi