DSP Santosh Kumar Patel's family had limited means and lived in poverty in Madhya Pradesh's village named Devgaon. Santosh worked hard to pull himself and his family out of poverty and changed their lives forever. 

In a candid conversation with Better India, Santosh revealed that it was difficult to get a filling meal sometimes. He shared, "On good days we ate rice, the rest of the days we ate only daliya (broken wheat). Sometimes, when we did not have wheat, we ate jowar (sorghum) rotis and borrowed wheat rotis from our friends at school."

Santosh's mother was a farm laborer and his father was a mason, thus even though he was raised in poverty, they taught him the importance of perseverance. He would frequently lend a hand, supporting his mother in the fields and helping his father move bricks at building projects. 

“In summers, he (my father) constructed wells in the village. Since it is a risky job, very few masons did it. At times, rocks would fall on him when he would be inside the well. Thankfully, it never hit him on the head but only on the arms and legs,” he shared.

His parents pushed him to concentrate on his education since they were committed to providing their kid with a better future.

His journey to excel in his Class 10 was paved with determination and tenacity as he studied under kerosene lamps. Before choosing to enlist in the police, Santosh continued his studies in engineering. He finished his examination in July 2017 with a 22nd place ranking, having studied hard for 15 months. At last, he became a police officer in 2018.