One thing that I badly missed during my two year stint in UK was books of my taste. Though there were government libraries providing books free of cost, I rarely found books of my liking. Now that I am back in India, I am on a reading spree since past 9 months. Ideally, I should write a review of at least half of them but the reviews are written best if you write them just after you finish the book. So let’s leave them at that.
Currently the book that is featuring on my pillow is a class 'Journeys Through Babudom And Netaland' by retired IAS officer T.S.R Subramanian who last served as cabinet secretary in Government of India. He is someone who has seen and worked with bureaucrats and politicians from close quarters. The book is a real insight and first hand account of the red tapism and the corruption which is prevalent till the roots in public sector. A perfect blend of humour and satire. It portrays the moment of frustrations he had during his 37 years of service most of which were spent as the collector or district magistrate of small districts in UP.
It’s a must read for nonfiction lovers. There are so many anecdotes that I can mention but this one takes the cake :
"Contrast this with K K Dass, who had been chief secretary of UP in 1960's, and retired from service sometime in 70's.When he served as secretary to the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, his minister was the late Uma Shankar Dikshit. Dikshit soon thereafter became the home minister of India, and his staff officer Rajgopal, a dear friend of mine, showed me a file with exchange of correspondence between Dikshit and KK Dass. On his retirement,Dass had written a polite letter thanking Dikshit for all the courtesies extended to him and formally bidding farewell to him.The next letter in the file was the copy of an acknowledgement from the home minister to Dass, with a paragraph added, asking whether Dass would be available for a gubernatorial assignment. It is the home minister who usually initiates the proposals for the post of governor in the various states; and it was not a casual offer. Dikshit had made a mention on the file that he had discussed the matter with prime minister. In his reply, which is on record, Dass said that he was flattered and overwhelmed by the kindness shown by the home minister.Then he went on to add "I have served the Government of India for nearly 40 years. During this time, I have neglected the two true loves of my life -- my wife and my rose garden. Could the home minister excuse me and allow me to spend the few remaining years of my life in the company of my wife and the roses"
Such men existed!
Cheers!
Hey there :) Thanks for stopping by my blog & blog-rolling it. The first thing I thought of when I read that your last name was Rathore was Imran Khan's character in Jaane Tu, Ya Jaane Na. Lol, if I remember right his dad in that movie made a huge hullabaloo about him being a Rathore & how by being one you had to be 'manly' and stand up for yourself. Heh, totally random but anyway, moving on to your post.
ReplyDeleteI've always been more of a fiction reader. Never been too keen on non-fiction, but I have been coaxed into reading a few and sometimes they do prove to be interesting. So read any must-read fiction novels in the last 9 months?
PS - Indian fiction authors are absolutely fantastic.
@Archna,
ReplyDeleteNo one forgets to mention this rathore thing!:-) Before Jaane Tu...It was ACP Rathore (Remember Aamir in Sarfarosh?)
As far as fiction novels are concerned, just went through 'Kite Runner'. It was on my 'To Read' list for so long that I ended up watching movie before reading the book!
And yes, Thanks for your visit to my blog.
That's for stopping by my blog. Am in a hurry today but will surely come and read through more later ... :)
ReplyDeleteWill have to check out this book for sure ...
@Adisha,
ReplyDeleteNice to see you stopping by here though for a split second!
Hope you would come back for more.