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Ever since kingdoms and nations were formed, women have been the best of informers across the globe. Only they never get the fame, both for the sake of the job they do and the male dominance over the field.

Despite all the risks and restrictions, few brave women have etched their names on the invisible wall of bravery by stepping into the shoes of investigators. One such woman is Private Detective Bhavna Paliwal from New Delhi.

In conversation with LifeBeyondNumbers, Bhavna shared her journey and some valuable tips for aspiring detectives.

With over 21 years in the field, Bhavna started out with Times Detective Agency. After having a firm understanding of her profession, she decided to start on her own and is now successfully running her agency Tejas Detective Agency in the city.

Bhavna has particularly done a number of investigations for women who are in distress and are not getting any support from family or society. Many organizations have welcomed and supported her in these efforts.

Early days

Growing up in the village of Nain in Uttar Pradesh, Bhavna knew that she wanted to do “something different.” In an unfortunate turn of events, Bhavna’s father died when she was about five years old, and that changed everything for the Paliwal family. But Bhavna always kept her eyes, ears, and heart open. She always looked around and contemplated the situation.

“You would hear about problems, women getting beaten, domestic issues. But I had my mother’s strength to look up to,” said Bhavna.

That’s when Paliwal found her role model in Kiran Bedi, the first woman in the Indian Police Service. Bedi was a symbol of power and she was amongst the first women officers in the country to normalize pantsuits.

“In the village, we couldn’t wear pantsuits. But girls have this craze, don’t they? To do things the way a man would do them,” she says.

Having completed her initial education, at the age of 22, Bhavna came to New Delhi to study journalism. She found the subject and field challenging and that created her interest.

“I thought journalists were a big deal and could do anything,” she says recalling her initial ambitions.

Like any other student of mass communication, Bhavna joined a newspaper after completing the course. But within just two weeks she realized that the job wasn’t really making her happy.

She never knew that life had something really awesome in stock for her. One fine day, she came across an advertisement for the Times Detective Agency. With no second thoughts, she straight away decided to apply. Her decision was not uninfluenced exactly. Bhavna’s uncle had been an inspector in the Crime Investigation Department, and conversations about detective work were common at home.

The start

Recalling her very first case in 2000 Bhavna shares that she and another woman came up against a man who, unbeknownst to them, was a retired Intelligence Bureau agent himself. It was sheer guts that helped them to solve the case, she quotes. There was no looking back after that. Three years and many cases later, she branched out with her own detective agency.

“There were fewer women doing detective work in those days and most of them remained hidden. People won’t understand and I would tell them I am a journalist or an advocate. And in the field, the men took all the credit. That’s when the head of my first workplace encouraged me and asked me to create my identity. Soon there were others like me across the country,” Paliwal shared.

Today Bhavna has a team of women working for her. Shedding more light on what it means to be a lady detective in India Bhavna says that “The biggest advantage of being a woman is that when we’re doing an investigation, we don’t arouse suspicion. Ladies are more comfortable with you. And if someone is suspicious, they can’t take immediate action. Men are reluctant to start a fight with you”.

“There is one disadvantage though. We can’t do as much surveillance. If a woman is standing anywhere for half an hour, someone will definitely ask what you’re doing there, or if you need help. No one would notice a man,” she adds.

Pro tips

But what are the most essential qualities in a female investigator? We asked and here are some points listed out by her.

Being alert: “One needs to be on constant alert at all times in all places when one is a detective”, Bhavna Paliwal says.
Presence of mind: “This is the trickiest and the most important part of being a detective. One has to act according to circumstances with ease. Otherwise nothing can be possibly done”.
Promptness: “Reflex is the key.”
Ability to blend in: “An investigator has to have the ability to mix with the crowd and not catch anyone’s attention”.
Friendliness and communication: “Every interrogation done by a detective is stealthy so one has to have the way around talking to people without raising suspicion”.
Bravery and willingness to flex work hours: “Each case has its own challenges and requires a different kind of tactics and surveillance. One has to be flexible”.
Averting attention and publicity: “It was only after many years of working on the field that I revealed my work to people. I remained unknown for a long time. That’s how it should be”.