Educational Media Reviews Online

This film highlights an exemplary individual - Kiran Bedi - who surmounts immense political and cultural opposition to create and provide services that would truly benefit the Indian society. She stands out not only as the first police woman of India, but also for her Gandhian sense of justice and fairness as she serves people regardless of their position or power. The film focuses particularly on her reformative activities when she became the Inspector General of Tihar Central Jail – with more than 12,000 prisoners, one of the largest prisons in the world.

s Bedi’s philosophy of “correction at the roots of the crime” and “welfare policing” leads to the establishment of an organization called Navjyoti. This organization’s first project was to build 90 schools in the slums of New Delhi – one of the sources of poverty, ignorance and crime. To accomplish this task, Bedi gets funding from a Norwegian development fund (NORAD) through the Norwegian ambassador visiting India. The film portrays Bedi’s amazing work through comments from people who live in the slums as well as those who were working with the reform activities.

Tracing the case of a Norwegian prisoner in India, the documentary highlights numerous reforms at Tihar jail, completely transforming an aggressive, violent and filthy environment to that of a calm, clean, serene prison where inmates went about their scheduled tasks, meditated, exercised and trained for various skills. The prisoners are educated about the effects of addiction, and through a series of meditation programs learn to control their anger and bring peace into their lives. Kiran Bedi’s deep inner strength and unrelenting belief that her ideas and methods will bring effective change in jails as well as society is a theme across the length of the film. She won India’s prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1994 for her reforms.

Professors and instructors of sociology, criminology or criminal justice will find this film to be an excellent discussion starter. This film will also be inspirational for women’s and gender studies classes for the display of the strength and character of a woman who breaks the gender mold and establishes herself as a powerful and effective leader in a male dominated Indian police force. In Gandhi’s Footsteps: Kiran Bedi is a poignant example proving that welfare policing, humane and reformative activities in prisons and social activism are successful and essential for the long term health of a society.

Awards

• Best Short Film: 2006 Atlanta Indo-American Film Festival