{"product_id":"journeying-with-india-memoirs-of-a-civil-servant-1","title":"Journeying with India Memoirs of a Civil Servant","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe history of modern India is almost always told through the careers of wellknown political leaders. But the Indian nation, especially in the first decades\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eafter Independence, was shaped as much by a few hundred remarkable, largely\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003einvisible civil servants-part of the 'steel frame of India'. This fascinating book\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eis the memoir of one such extraordinary administrator.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eY.N. Varma rose from modest beginnings in a village in the Faizabad\/Ayodhya\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003edistrict to become one of India's most senior bureaucrats. He joined the\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eProvincial Civil Service in 1936 and worked in the districts with some\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eextraordinary-sometimes extraordinarily eccentric-British Collectors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDuring the Quit India movement, he struck a difficult balance between\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003enationalistic sentiment and the duties of governance. He witnessed the tragedy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eof Partition and worked for the rehabilitation of refugees. Immediately after\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndependence, as Home Secretary of Delhi, he was instrumental in setting up\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ethe state's administration, and supervised the building of the Tis Hazari courts\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand Tihar Jail. In the mid 1950s, he managed the Indian Airlines Corporation, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand in the '60s, he was Director General of All Indi Radio and also worked\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eclosely with the then Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Indira Gandhi.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDrawing upon these rich experiences of over thirty-five years, Y.N. Varma\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egives us a rare and revealing glimpse into governance in both British and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003efree India with insight, honesty and rare humanity. In the process, he also\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003egives us memorable anecdotes about luminaries like Nehru, Rajaji, Sardar\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBaldev Singh, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Indira Gandhi, Nandini Satpathy and Josh\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMalihabadi. Clear-eyed, insightful and always engaging, this a record of a\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eremarkable life, and also a valuable historical document.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"None","offers":[{"title":"Couverture souple","offer_id":46535370866898,"sku":"9789354474866","price":37.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0655\/8980\/5233\/files\/1_9345578a-6cfe-4a7d-ae3a-e752ce402970.jpg?v=1762585538","url":"https:\/\/www.indigo.ca\/fr\/products\/journeying-with-india-memoirs-of-a-civil-servant-1","provider":"Indigo","version":"1.0","type":"link"}