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The history of modern India is almost always told through the careers of wellknown political leaders. But the Indian nation, especially in the first decadesafter Independence, was shaped as much by a few hundred remarkable, largelyinvisible civil servants-part of the ’steel frame of India’. This fascinating bookis the memoir of one such extraordinary administrator.Y.N. Varma rose from modest beginnings in a village in the Faizabad/Ayodhyadistrict to become one of India’s most senior bureaucrats. He joined theProvincial Civil Service in 1936 and worked in the districts with someextraordinary-sometimes extraordinarily eccentric-British Collectors.During the Quit India movement, he struck a difficult balance betweennationalistic sentiment and the duties of governance. He witnessed the tragedyof Partition and worked for the rehabilitation of refugees. Immediately afterIndependence, as Home Secretary of Delhi, he was instrumental in setting upthe state’s administration, and supervised the building of the Tis Hazari courtsand Tihar Jail. In the mid 1950s, he managed the Indian Airlines Corporation,and in the ’60s, he was Director General of All Indi Radio and also workedclosely with the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Indira Gandhi.Drawing upon these rich experiences of over thirty-five years, Y.N. Varmagives us a rare and revealing glimpse into governance in both British andfree India with insight, honesty and rare humanity. In the process, he alsogives us memorable anecdotes about luminaries like Nehru, Rajaji, SardarBaldev Singh, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Indira Gandhi, Nandini Satpathy and JoshMalihabadi. Clear-eyed, insightful and always engaging, this a record of aremarkable life, and also a valuable historical document.
