Memoir

The history of modern India is almost always told through the careers of wellknown political leaders. But the Indian nation, especially in the first decades

after Independence, was shaped as much by a few hundred remarkable, largely

invisible civil servants-part of the 'steel frame of India'. This fascinating book

is the memoir of one such extraordinary administrator.

Y.N. Varma rose from modest beginnings in a village in the Faizabad/Ayodhya

district to become one of India's most senior bureaucrats. He joined the

Provincial Civil Service in 1936 and worked in the districts with some

extraordinary-sometimes extraordinarily eccentric-British Collectors.

During the Quit India movement, he struck a difficult balance between

nationalistic sentiment and the duties of governance. He witnessed the tragedy

of Partition and worked for the rehabilitation of refugees. Immediately after

Independence, as Home Secretary of Delhi, he was instrumental in setting up

the state's administration, and supervised the building of the Tis Hazari courts

and 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 worked

closely with the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Indira Gandhi.

Drawing upon these rich experiences of over thirty-five years, Y.N. Varma

gives us a rare and revealing glimpse into governance in both British and

free India with insight, honesty and rare humanity. In the process, he also

gives us memorable anecdotes about luminaries like Nehru, Rajaji, Sardar

Baldev Singh, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Indira Gandhi, Nandini Satpathy and Josh

Malihabadi. Clear-eyed, insightful and always engaging, this a record of a

remarkable life, and also a valuable historical document.