Steely nerves behind the friendly smile
When Indian Weekender called in at Papatoetoe police station one afternoon to meet up with New Zealand’s first ever Gujarati woman constable, an officer said she was at a shared lunch and would be back soon.
Sure enough she did. “Hello I am constable Bharvi Bhatt,” she introduced herself with a broad smile and a firm handshake, looking at ease in her crisp blue uniform, hardly betraying the fact that it was her first week as community constable at the station.
“I hope I didn’t hurry you through your shared lunch,” I said. “With me shared lunch is a bit different,” she smiled. “I am a strict vegetarian and during these shared lunches which are great in terms of team building and sharing information, I end up eating my own veggie lunch. But my colleagues are sweet enough to understand and are in fact quite proud of it.”
That candid and confident reply says a great deal about this woman from Baroda who came to New Zealand about seven years ago for, like all migrants do, a better life for her family and kids. And like many migrants, too, it was hard for Bharvi’s family to get into the groove of Kiwi life.
“We were pretty well placed back in India and thought New Zealand would be even better but it was a bit of a struggle,” she said. Eventually, her husband decided to return to his roots but Bharvi begged to differ. “I am not one to give up so easily,” she said. “After all, I was here for the sake of the kids’ future. I wanted to be independent as well. It was just a question of sticking around for some more time, which I did.”
Single parenthood brought with it its share of inconveniences for this deeply traditional Indian housewife and she struggled hard to make ends meet. “But my independence also spurred me on to take my own decisions and take risks,” she said.
“I began to think. Everyone I knew was either a check out clerk or working at a call centre or some such job. I just wondered if there was anything different I could do. And then it suddenly occurred to me that I had a childhood dream that I could never have dared to follow if I was in India given my family background and pressures – which I thought I could now do without any such discouragement: I decided to join the police force.”
Bharvi discussed it with her young children, who supported her decision – and that’s when she made contact with the New Zealand Police with a view to apply. At first instance she was found to be physically unfit. “I never had non vegetarian food in my life, but like all good Indian vegetarians I was raised on desi ghee, so it was showing up a bit,” Bharvi laughed.
A strict regimen of gym workouts, exercises and jogs brought her up to the required fitness levels but not before it was a whole year after she was first rejected. “I was overjoyed,” she said. But with that acceptance came the question of what to with the children when she would be away at the police academy at Porirua for six months as part of her intensive training.
“I had to take some hard decisions. I got my son, who is older, to stay with a relative in Auckland and sent my daughter back to India to live with my folks. It was hard but the kids were very understanding.”
The training was gruelling, Bharvi said. It was physically exhausting but one that built confidence and developed her personality. “The problem, of course, was food. I literally starved on some days,” she said.
Raised in a conservative family as a strict Gujarati Brahmin, anything other than vegetarian food is impossible for Bharvi to even think of eating.
Having made it through the police training college successfully, she is proud of her achievement, especially having done it without compromising her core values like her adherence to vegetarianism. “I suppose, where there’s a will there’s a way,” she shrugged in a matter of fact manner.
Before taking her most recent assignment as community constable at Papatoetoe, Bharvi was a frontline constable. “This role gives far more opportunities to interact with the community and I am looking forward to it because this area has so many Indian residents.” She hopes to use her Indian background and the fact that she is one of only two ethnic Indian women constables in the New Zealand Police force to build bridges with the community.
“There has to be greater and friendly interaction between the police and the community, which can only contribute in a better way toward safer communities,” Bharvi said.
Stepping out for a picture for the Indian Weekender, she smiles for the camera most winsomely, more of which the residents of Papatoetoe and surrounds will soon see in real life around their communities over the coming weeks and months.
When Indian Weekender called in at Papatoetoe police station one afternoon to meet up with New Zealand’s first ever Gujarati woman constable, an officer said she was at a shared lunch and would be back soon.
Sure enough she did. “Hello I am constable Bharvi Bhatt,” she introduced herself with a...
When Indian Weekender called in at Papatoetoe police station one afternoon to meet up with New Zealand’s first ever Gujarati woman constable, an officer said she was at a shared lunch and would be back soon.
Sure enough she did. “Hello I am constable Bharvi Bhatt,” she introduced herself with a broad smile and a firm handshake, looking at ease in her crisp blue uniform, hardly betraying the fact that it was her first week as community constable at the station.
“I hope I didn’t hurry you through your shared lunch,” I said. “With me shared lunch is a bit different,” she smiled. “I am a strict vegetarian and during these shared lunches which are great in terms of team building and sharing information, I end up eating my own veggie lunch. But my colleagues are sweet enough to understand and are in fact quite proud of it.”
That candid and confident reply says a great deal about this woman from Baroda who came to New Zealand about seven years ago for, like all migrants do, a better life for her family and kids. And like many migrants, too, it was hard for Bharvi’s family to get into the groove of Kiwi life.
“We were pretty well placed back in India and thought New Zealand would be even better but it was a bit of a struggle,” she said. Eventually, her husband decided to return to his roots but Bharvi begged to differ. “I am not one to give up so easily,” she said. “After all, I was here for the sake of the kids’ future. I wanted to be independent as well. It was just a question of sticking around for some more time, which I did.”
Single parenthood brought with it its share of inconveniences for this deeply traditional Indian housewife and she struggled hard to make ends meet. “But my independence also spurred me on to take my own decisions and take risks,” she said.
“I began to think. Everyone I knew was either a check out clerk or working at a call centre or some such job. I just wondered if there was anything different I could do. And then it suddenly occurred to me that I had a childhood dream that I could never have dared to follow if I was in India given my family background and pressures – which I thought I could now do without any such discouragement: I decided to join the police force.”
Bharvi discussed it with her young children, who supported her decision – and that’s when she made contact with the New Zealand Police with a view to apply. At first instance she was found to be physically unfit. “I never had non vegetarian food in my life, but like all good Indian vegetarians I was raised on desi ghee, so it was showing up a bit,” Bharvi laughed.
A strict regimen of gym workouts, exercises and jogs brought her up to the required fitness levels but not before it was a whole year after she was first rejected. “I was overjoyed,” she said. But with that acceptance came the question of what to with the children when she would be away at the police academy at Porirua for six months as part of her intensive training.
“I had to take some hard decisions. I got my son, who is older, to stay with a relative in Auckland and sent my daughter back to India to live with my folks. It was hard but the kids were very understanding.”
The training was gruelling, Bharvi said. It was physically exhausting but one that built confidence and developed her personality. “The problem, of course, was food. I literally starved on some days,” she said.
Raised in a conservative family as a strict Gujarati Brahmin, anything other than vegetarian food is impossible for Bharvi to even think of eating.
Having made it through the police training college successfully, she is proud of her achievement, especially having done it without compromising her core values like her adherence to vegetarianism. “I suppose, where there’s a will there’s a way,” she shrugged in a matter of fact manner.
Before taking her most recent assignment as community constable at Papatoetoe, Bharvi was a frontline constable. “This role gives far more opportunities to interact with the community and I am looking forward to it because this area has so many Indian residents.” She hopes to use her Indian background and the fact that she is one of only two ethnic Indian women constables in the New Zealand Police force to build bridges with the community.
“There has to be greater and friendly interaction between the police and the community, which can only contribute in a better way toward safer communities,” Bharvi said.
Stepping out for a picture for the Indian Weekender, she smiles for the camera most winsomely, more of which the residents of Papatoetoe and surrounds will soon see in real life around their communities over the coming weeks and months.
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