“No politics for me — it is not my cup of tea,” Sharma tells Newsline on Saturday while discussing life after Inspector Sharma’s death, and her new occupation at the government school in Dwarka’s Sector-3 near the family home. Life, she says, has somewhat got back to routine. “The job of a teacher is the best. That way, I can take care of my ageing in-laws and children.”

But it’s not the same, she admits, almost in the same breath: “When I look at the faces at the dining table, it strikes me.”

When Inspector Sharma’s death was tagged with the ‘fake encounter’ allegation, more than anything Sharma says she had felt wronged. Under media spotlight and the mounting pressure from politicians, the widow had stated that she might consider contesting elections when the time comes. “But that was under pressure,” she says, now somewhat relaxed at having fought off those days. “I love children — I want to teach.”

She had applied for the job of a teacher in January, and Sharma says Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit kept her promises by ensuring she joined the school on February 25. The first day, she says, was “overwhelming”: children from the nearby slums had brought flowers for her. They knew her, and that was a consolation — it helped Sharma cope with the loss.

“That love was unconditional. Families are forgotten after officers die but the children have kept us in their hearts; we are grateful.”

She will have to undergo training and has been given a three-year window to clear her Bachelor’s in Education (BEd). “I’ll teach Hindi,” she says. For now, she is meeting with children and getting to know the school.

Coming to terms — slowly, surely

The family, meanwhile, is still trying to get the government to grant late Inspector Sharma his due promotion. The files are somewhere, lost in the huge bureaucratic machinery — that’s apathy, says father Narottam Sharma. “We are not greedy but what is his, should be given to him without asking for it,” Sharma senior says.

A petrol pump was also on the list, though the family still hasn’t heard of about it, he adds.

In his father’s room, young Devyanshu is working on his laptop. He wants to become a police officer — and neither his mother nor grandmother interferes. “It’s his choice,” they say.

Mother Devendri Sharma was reluctant when Sharma wanted to join the police force — she had been afraid. “We didn’t know, we didn’t expect this,” Devendri says, and cries openly. Unlike the stoic mother who kept up a brave front at the time of Inspector Sharma’s death.