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Beware!
If you are doing something on the sly, the friendly lady in
the neighbourhood could be actually tracking you down. TWF
correspondent Ritusmita Biswas gives a low-down on a new breed
of professionals - the women detectives
They grew up on a diet of Nancy Drew before
graduating into Agatha Christie's famous creation- Miss Marple
who could teach a thing or two to the sharpest detective with
her home-grown wisdom and insight. For most of these women,
working is more of a passion than profession. Meet the female
detectives, who have been increasingly in demand in the recent
years. Almost all the detective agencies around the globe
show this trend in hiring.
"The demand for female detectives is
at an all time high," affirms Leela Banerjee who works
for the Globe Detective Agency in Kolkata. Twenty seven-years
back when she entered the profession, she had raised many
eyebrows and was discouraged by most of her relatives and
friends for choosing a risky profession unsuitable for women.
"Nonetheless my zeal to discover the truth and establish
justice drove me on. Ever since I began reading, I grew up
on a staple diet of Felu-da and Byomkesh (the icon sleuths
in Bengali fiction). The risk factor in their lives and the
constant excitement around them made me long to be a part
of a world that is as exciting and challenging. Hence, soon
after my graduation I decided to join a detective agency."
"The Globe is an agency which has been
a pioneer in recruiting female sleuths across the country.
At our branch in Kolkata at present we have four full-time
detectives. Globe, Bangalore, which recruited the first south-Indian
female detective, AM Malathy, has now five female detectives
working in the organisation. The maximum number of female
detectives, however, are recruited in Mumbai and Delhi, where
the number of cases are higher and are much more complicated
in nature," says T.K Das who is in-charge of the agency.
Das, who is regularly flooded with calls from young women
asking ways to enter the profession, believes that 'women
have some inherent feminine qualities that make them better
as investigators.' "After all one of the most famous
undercover agents of all-time, Mata Hari, was a female,"
he adds.
Echoing Das, CEO of Eagle Detective Agency,
Bangalore, Major (retd) Sudhir Kumar says, "Women are
less likely to attract suspicion and are more likely to be
trusted. Ability to interpret body language, capability of
being discreet and a knack for uncanny details make women
an asset in this profession that relies more on intelligence
than physical strength."However, the CEO of Cats Eye,
M. Bose has a different opinion. "As sleuths we often
get into tricky situations that would be difficult for a woman
to handle. I would hence prefer not to recruit any female
employee," he says.
So what makes a good detective? "The
ability to spot and not to be spotted. We have to mingle with
the crowd and gather information," says Suchismita Bhraucha
working for AI investigation agency in Mumbai. It is much
easier for a female to enter a house than a male, she says.
She should know! On several occasions she had gained entry
into a house, befriended housewives and gathered vital information
from them in guise of a salesgirl for household goods.
The portrayal of female detectives in most
of the novels and movies is of 'glamorous, seductive and sexy'
femme fatale. Nothing could be further from the truth, according
to those experienced in the field. "In fact, seduction
plays a very minor role in our profession. Rather, we are
supposed to merge into the background and not be noticed as
that could spoil our plans. Our job is to watch and not to
be watched," says detective Preeti Das of the Globe.
Clad in a simple cotton saree, looking the typical neighbourhood
boudi (a housewife), Das has managed to crack many a complex
cases. "Average looks with an agility to react to situations
and spot details have given me an edge as a detective,"
believes Das.
Though there is no specific area of specialisation,
women detectives are employed mostly in cases of post-marital
investigation, where the husband is suspicious of the wife's
conduct and want her to be shadowed. "A man following
a woman can raise alarm, while a woman can follow another
women even to the bathroom," says Das, who recently camouflaged
as a maidservant to keep tabs on the wife of a rich merchant
who was suspicious of his spouse's peccadilloes.
There is no particular reason why there has
been an upsurge in the demand for female detectives, say most
of the people attached to the profession. Perhaps more women
have mustered the courage to join this so-called risky profession,
says Suchismita. Or perhaps, with a rise in number of infidelity
cases and upsurge in crime, the demand for sleuths, and hence
female sleuths too, is on the rise, sums up Leela Banerjee.
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