What does it take to become a successful detective? A couple of skills like Martial arts, Karate, quick-wittedness and a whole lot of presence of mind. Well A.M Malathy is no champion in the art of fighting but she sure is clever and quick witted and she is the first Women Detective of South India. "I did not choose this profession. It was an accident that I got into." says Malathy, an engineering graduate, who during her college days approached the Detective India Agency to sort out a personal problem and stayed back interested to join as a part-timer in her husband's detective agency.
Going back in time she got into this profession in the year 1990, now an expert and with a lot field experience. Malathy has dealt with more than 10,000 cases till date. With her parent's support she managed to step into this field and flourish with all the success falling into her path. "Both my parents and my in-laws never had a problem with me getting into this field, they were very supportive and proud of whatever I did", she said.
Her first case was to find a person's address, and with no authentic clue in hand she managed to don the case successfully. "The only clue we had was that the person was a Christian and his daughter used to visit the church on a particular day. We also knew that she worked in a parlor. Since we dint know how the girl looked we went to the parlor first to collect details about her. With that I managed to shadow her from the church" explains Malathy.
Every job has its own stress levels and impact. With a profession as sensitive as detecting, it made her change and adjusts to various situations from time to time. She explained, "Technically every field has its own drawbacks, advantages as well as disadvantages. I have got used to all these and I have learnt how to deal with various situations. My profession involves a lot of risk, and I believe that I am a very bold lady and I can deal with any situation what so ever. We also have ample police support".
She claims that it is a myth that the detectives and the policemen do not get along well. They are not their competitors as they deal with completely different issues, "the cases which we deal will never go to the police and vice versa. People have a very wrong notion that we detectives and the police don't get along but actually we are good friends", she laughs.
A greater number of cases she deals with involve pre-matrimonial, post matrimonial cases, shadowing and teenage monitoring. Since most parents now are working it becomes tough for them to keep an eye on their child's activities, therefore most cases involve issues relating to college students as well. "Many parents come to me with their problems and I make sure they go back happy. I am a mother of two children myself so they feel pretty much comfortable talking about the issues relating to their kids to me" she adds.
Malathy also runs her own detective agency and has many professional detectives assisting her. "My agency is mainly for women, where they can come to me and share their problems. When I entered into this field there was not a single women detective in this field. There are various issues which women can't share with men. So I guess my agency proves to be a great help to the women in particular" she said.
With her husband and children's support and there is nothing that can stop the bolt lady in achieving what she perceives. " It feels great to be the first women detective in south India, it feels even more great thinking about the fact that we are providing great service to the people making their life better" she signs off.