2021 marked fifty years since the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. It also marked fifty years since a young Colonel Ashok Tara walked into a house in Dhaka, unarmed, faced with hostile soldiers. While the Pakistan Army had surrendered, bringing the war to an end, the soldiers in Dhaka were holding a family hostage, unaware of the recent developments. The house belonged to none other than ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the family being held hostage were his wife and children, including his daughter—future Prime Minister of Bangladesh—Sheikh Hasina.
Here’s an excerpt from ‘The Lone Wolf’, a book on Col Tara’s rescue mission.
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The entire time that Ashok was conversing with the enemy on the roof, he was also steadily pacing himself towards the soldier positioned at the front gate, since his end goal was to enter the house. Suddenly a woman inside the house started waving frantically at him through the window he had noticed earlier, crying, ‘Do not trust these men! They are very happy to shoot and kill anyone!’ Ashok’s fears of the intentions of the enemy were now reconfirmed, but he decided to keep going, without giving them any time to consider alternatives and continued to convince them to capitulate. Meanwhile, the Pakistani commander also ordered his troops to load their weapons, to create more fear in Ashok.
By this time, Ashok was standing at the main entrance with a young enemy soldier nudging him beneath his right rib cage with the cold steel of his rifle’s bayonet. Ashok felt a chill run down his spine but continued standing there, undaunted. The young soldier’s hands were trembling and his finger on the trigger was jittery, which was an unmistakable reminder of Ashok’s precarious position.
The Lone Wolf || Neha Dwivedi
To make matters worse, it was clear that the panicky soldier had never been in such close proximity to his adversary, which only added to the threat because he could overreact without considering the consequences.
It was as if for a minute all the years in between had vanished and a young Ashok was once again standing in front of the world. Jolted by the teaching of his experience all those years ago, Ashok gathered all his wits and continued to persuade the Pakistani soldier with whom he was conversing. Meanwhile, he turned to look at the young soldier holding the rifle to him, right in the eye and it was in that moment when he realized that once again he was in front of the lone wolf. Without breaking eye contact, Ashok went on to, quietly but confidently, put his hand on the barrel and slowly push it away from his body.
The soldier too silently relented. He had every reason to believe that in this game of psychological warfare, Ashok was now in the lead. With that conviction, Ashok realized that the enemy was almost swayed with his narrative and now it was time to play the final card in the emotional salvo.
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Moving and inspiring, ‘The Lone Wolf’ brings to light an untold and unlikely war account. To read more of Col Ashok Tara’s story, visit your nearest bookstore for your own copy.
2021, an extraordinary year, charted a trajectory of emotional experiences and most people found their respite in the domain of books. Books comforted adults and kids when their plans went awry, they provided sheer warmth when the world was socially distanced, they allowed people who were homebound to travel and they offered solace to those hunkered down on the couch. During such unprecedented times, we became more reliant on books for our daily dose of entertainment or learning than ever before! We started to see them as companions and friends rather than pages with coherent ink stains. So, let’s pat our backs and raise our glasses for making it through this tumultuous year.
From best memoirs to historical fiction, from non-fiction to self-help books, we stayed close to you the entire year. The following books are only a few of the many remarkable literary releases this year.
Unfinished
Unfinished || Priyanka Chopra Jonas
In this thoughtful and revealing memoir, readers will accompany one of the world’s most recognizable women on her journey of self-discovery. A remarkable life story rooted in two different worlds, Unfinished offers insights into Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s childhood in India; her formative teenage years in the United States; and her return to India, where against all odds as a newcomer to the pageant world, she won the national and international beauty competitions that launched her global acting career. Whether reflecting on her nomadic early years or the challenges she’s faced as she’s doggedly pursued her calling, Priyanka shares her challenges and triumphs with warmth and honesty. The result is a book that is philosophical, sassy, inspiring, bold, and rebellious. Just like the author herself.
From her dual-continent twenty-year-long career as an actor and producer to her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, from losing her beloved father to cancer to marrying Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra Jonas’s story will inspire readers around the world to gather their courage, embrace their ambitions, and commit to the hard work of following their dreams.
Sach Kahun Toh
Sach Kahun Toh || Neena Gupta
An unsparingly honest memoir by an actor who is known to lead life on her own terms. Neena Gupta’s most awaited auto-biography!
In Sach Kahun Toh, actor Neena Gupta chronicles her extraordinary personal and professional journey-from her childhood days in Delhi’s Karol Bagh, through her time at the National School of Drama, to moving to Bombay in the 1980s and dealing with the struggles to find work. It details the big milestones in her life, her unconventional pregnancy and single parenthood, and a successful second innings in Bollywood. A candid, self-deprecating portrait of the person behind the persona, it talks about her life’s many choices, battling stereotypes, then and now, and how she may not be as unconventional as people think her to be.
Whereabouts
Whereabouts || Jhumpa Lahiri
Exuberance and dread, attachment and estrangement: in this novel, Jhumpa Lahiri stretches her themes to the limit. The woman at the center wavers between stasis and movement, between the need to belong and the refusal to form lasting ties. The city she calls home, an engaging backdrop to her days, acts as a confidant: the sidewalks around her house, parks, bridges, piazzas, streets, stores, coffee bars. We follow her to the pool she frequents and to the train station that sometimes leads her to her mother, mired in a desperate solitude after her father’s untimely death. In addition to colleagues at work, where she never quite feels at ease, she has girl friends, guy friends, and “him,” a shadow who both consoles and unsettles her. But in the arc of a year, as one season gives way to the next, transformation awaits. One day at the sea, both overwhelmed and replenished by the sun’s vital heat, her perspective will change. This is the first novel she has written in Italian and translated into English. It brims with the impulse to cross barriers. By grafting herself onto a new literary language, Lahiri has pushed herself to a new level of artistic achievement.
Karma
Karma || Sadhguru
A much-used word, Karma is loosely understood as a system of checks and balances in our lives, of good actions and bad deeds, of good thoughts and bad intentions. A system which seemingly ensures that at the end of the day one gets what one deserves. This grossly over-simplified understanding has created many complexities in our lives and taken away from us the very fundamentals of the joy of living.
Through this book, not only does Sadhguru explain what Karma is and how we can use its concepts to enhance our lives, he also tells us about the Sutras, a step-by-step self help & self improvement guide to navigating our way in this challenging world. In the process, we get a deeper, richer understanding of life and the power to craft our destinies.
A Rude Life
A Rude Life || Vir Sanghvi
Vir Sanghvi’s has been an interesting life – one that took him to Oxford, movie and political journalism, television and magazines – and he depicts it with the silky polish his readers expect of him. In his autobiopgrahy, A Rude Life, he turns his dispassionate observer’s gaze on himself, and in taut prose tells us about all that he’s experienced, and nothing more for he’s still a private man.
He unhurriedly recounts memories from his childhood and college years, moving on to give us an understanding of how he wrote his biggest stories, while giving us an insider’s view into the politics and glamour of that time.
This is an explosively entertaining memoir that details one of the most eventful careers in Indian journalism. Studded with a cast of unforgettable characters like Morarji Desai, Giani Zail Singh, Amitabh Bachchan, Dhirubhai Ambani and a host of other prominent political and cultural figures, A Rude Life is a delicious read.
#Tatastories
#Tatastories || Harish Bhat
The Tatas have a legacy of nation-building for over 150 years. Dancing across this long arc of time are thousands of beautiful, astonishing stories, many of which can inspire and provoke us, even move us to meaningful action in our own lives.
A diamond twice as large as the famous Kohinoor pledged to survive a financial crisis; a meeting with a ‘relatively unknown young monk’ who later went on to be known as Swami Vivekananda; the fascinating story of the first-ever Indian team at the Olympics; the making of India’s first commercial airline and first indigenous car; how ‘OK TATA’ made its way to the backs of millions of trucks on Indian highways; a famous race that was both lost and won; and
many more.
#TataStories is a collection of little-known tales of individuals, events and places from the Tata Group that have shaped the India we live in today.
The Nutmeg’s Curse
The Nutmeg’s Curse || Amitav Ghosh
Before the 18th century, every single nutmeg in the world originated around a group of small volcanic islands east of Java, known as the Banda Islands. As the nutmeg made its way across the known world, they became immensely valuable – in 16th century Europe, just a handful could buy a house. It was not long before European traders became conquerors, and the indigenous Bandanese communities – and the islands themselves – would pay a high price for access to this precious commodity. Yet the bloody fate of the Banda Islands forewarns of a threat to our present day.
Amitav Ghosh argues that the nutmeg’s violent trajectory from its native islands is revealing of a wider colonial mindset which justifies the exploitation of human life and the natural environment, and which dominates geopolitics to this day.
Written against the backdrop of the pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, and interweaving discussions on everything from climate change, the migrant crisis, and the animist spirituality of indigenous communities around the world, The Nutmeg’s Curse offers a sharp critique of Western society, and reveals the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces.
Diamonds in the Dust
Diamonds in the Dust || Saurabh Mukherjea, Rakshit Ranjan, Salil Desai
Over the last few years, there has been a growing realization among Indians that their life’s savings, the bulk of which are parked in physical assets like real estate and gold, are unlikely to help them generate sufficient returns to fund their financial goals, including retirement. At the same time, many have lost their hard-earned money trying to invest in financial assets, including debt and equities. Such losses have occurred due to many reasons, such as corporate frauds, weak business models and misallocation of capital by the companies in whose shares unsuspecting investors parked their savings. What options do Indian savers then have to invest in, and build their wealth?
Diamonds in the Dust offers Indian savers a simple, yet highly effective, investment technique to identify clean, well-managed Indian companies that have consistently generated outsized returns for investors. Based on in-depth research conducted by the award-winning team at Marcellus Investment Managers, it uses case studies and charts to help readers learn the art and science of investing in the US$3 trillion Indian stock market.
The book also debunks many notions of investing that have emerged from the misguided application of Western investment theories in the Indian context.
All-Time Favourites for Children
All-Time Favourites for Children || Ruskin Bond
All Time Favourites for Children celebrates Ruskin Bond’s writing with stories that are perennially loved and can now be enjoyed in a single collectible volume. Curated and selected by India’s most loved writer, this collection brings some of the evocative episodes from Ruskin’s life, iconic Rusty, eccentric Uncle Ken, ubiquitous grandmother, and many other charming, endearing characters in a single volume while also introducing us to a smattering of new ones that are sure to be firm favourites with young readers. Heart-warming, funny and spirited, this is a must-have on every bookshelf!
Shyam, Our Little Krishna
Shyam, Our Little Krishna || Devdutt Pattanaik
Devdutt Pattanaik introduces the story of Krishna, fondly known as Shyam, to a new generation of readers. Told simply in his inimitable style, Shyam, Our Little Krishna is perfect as a read-aloud to acquaint young readers with the beauty, wisdom and love that Krishna embodied.
Curated with fascinating bite-sized stories, myths and trivia about the young god, it features over forty playful artworks accompanied by pages dedicated for colouring.
One-of-a-kind, this book is a must-have for every curious mythology enthusiast and budding artist!
The Sage with Two Horns
The Sage with Two Horns || Sudha Murty
ave you heard of the king who sacrificed his own flesh to keep his word to a pigeon? Or about the throne that gives anyone who sits on it the unique ability to dispense justice! And how about the sculptor who managed to make magnificent statues with no hands at all?
There’s something for everyone in this collection of tales of wisdom and wit!
From quarrels among gods and the follies of great sages to the benevolence of kings and the virtues of ordinary mortals, Sudha Murty spins fresh accounts of lesser-known stories in Indian mythology. Accompanied by fantastical illustrations and narrated in an unassuming fashion, The Sage with Two Horns is sure to delight fans of the beloved storyteller.
India’s favorite author, Sudha Murty brings a follow-up to the bestselling Serpent’s Revenge: Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata, The Upside-Down King: Unusual Tales about Rama and Krishna and The Daugher from the Wishing Tree: Unusual Tales about Women in Mythology.
My First Library of Learning
My First Library of Learning
Make early learning years fun and enjoyable for your baby with My First Library of Learning, a complete collection of 10 expertly researched, carefully curated essential baby board books with beautiful bright images to add to your child’s library!
Foster a habit of reading in your little ones with this box set of 10 gorgeously designed and thoughtfully created board books. These books equip toddlers and preschoolers with essential reading, language, visual, motor and imagination skills.
This bright, handy, easy-to-read, and fun library contains:
– My First Books Of Abc
– My First Books Of Numbers
– My First Books Of Colours
– My First Books Of Shapes
– My First Books Of Things At Home (And Around Us)
– My First Books Of Fruits And Vegetables
– My First Books Of Seasons And Opposites
– My First Books Of Transport
– My First Books Of Animals (Domestic And Wild)
– My First Books Of Insects
Leadership and Management. What comes to your mind when you think about these concepts?
We often read about being successful, but how often do we really think about making the people around us successful? That is exactly what Transform, Chandramouli Venkatesan’s latest and final book talks. It also aims at helping people navigate people management and how intricately it’s connected to being successful professionally, as well as flourishing socially.
The word ‘management’ often has a one-dimensional approach for a majority of people However, Chandramouli explains how it’s irrevocably connected with another aspect of success: good leadership. They are both different sides of the same coin. Managing is the art of impacting people while being involved directly, and leading is the art of impacting people without being directly involved. They are mutually inclusive and even though they can be executed independently, the best results can only be achieved when they are practiced simultaneously.
Catalyst||Chandramouli Venkatesan
In Catalyst, Chandramouli’s first novel, there was a great emphasis on career management and life management. It had crucial insights about the important strategies and decisions people take to move forward in their respective careers. Catalyst focused on helping people win where it matters- the second half of their careers. Moreover, it also took into account life management, and how success is not limited to professional boundaries. Excelling both personally and professionally is possible.
Get Better at Getting Better|| Chandramouli Venkatesan
Get Better at Getting better was the sequel and the second guide in this series, and eloquently talked about improving consistently. While it’s great to be good, you can always be better, and even hack the process of getting better. With a heavy emphasis on improving one’s skills, capabilities, judgements, communication, and decision-making abilities effectively, it talked about how to grow rapidly as a professional and remain relevant.
Getting Better Continuously, Career Management, and Life Management are three out of the four of the author’s pillars when it comes to effective management. They focus on bettering themselves to excel and have an inward approach. However, management and leadership are functions that involve people. Hence these three pillars and their success depend on the fourth and final concept: People Management.
Transform||Chandramouli Venkatesan
Transform, the ultimate guide to lead and manage, is an insightful and interactive read for anyone struggling or striving to be better at being a good leader and manager. By keeping leading and managing as pre-conditions instead of mutually exclusive alternatives, Transform puts into perspective the importance of being good at both. With revelations and key learnings in all four sections, it helps managers who aren’t leaders and leaders who are struggling to be good managers understand how the two are connected through their own experiences.
Transform stands out from the long list of books on people management by facilitating two-way communication instead of a jargon-rich monologue. With exercises to improve self-awareness and steps to create practical action plans, it also takes into account that different things can work for different people. People management is the pillar that supports the other three, and according to Chandramouli, “It is not important whether you are a leader or a manager, what is important is whether you are leading and managing.”
Renew the way you approach success at the workplace and in life and evolve into a more self-aware professional with Transform!
Do you crave nostalgia in this sultry weather? Chamor is our most heartfelt novel of 2021. This gritty novel, while offering the reader delightful glimpses of daily life in the two regions of southern India that form its setting, also brings them face to face with the less savoury and disturbing aspects of the human condition. The mostly lovable characters, who are at the mercy of a universe that does not discriminate between good and evil, cannot take anything for granted. Whether man, beast or bird, each must deal with their destiny according to their nature and instincts. Here’s an excerpt to give you a taste of this beautiful novel!
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The car that my father drove was an old one—a grey Morris Minor. It looked weird to me, like a bug, but its colour reminded me of a certain grey, syrup-filled toffee that used to be a favourite of mine as well as of my school friends. The car had belonged to my father’s brother, who had arrived in it with a friend, but when they tried to drive it back to Kerala it would not go. Uncle did not care to have it returned to him, and between the mechanic, Raju, and my father, they managed to keep it running, though it could not be taken for long trips. As dinnertime approached, my mother would still be busy with her books, and Jency could be seen bustling about, clinking utensils in the kitchen as she hurried to finish making the last dish. With both of them wanting me out of the way, I would go looking for my father and find him lying on his wheeled plank under ‘the Morris’, as he called it, tinkering with its wires and nuts and bolts. The sound of wrenches and spanners being put aside is, in my memory, associated with the urgent cawing of crows and the plaintive cry of the cuckoo as late afternoon merged into the evening. Clouds of sparrows kept swooping in and bursting out of the thorny acacia shrubs that were their home, and a flock of tiny silverbills, with their distinctive, black-tipped tails that looked like wet paintbrushes to me, sat in a long row on an overhead cable, waiting for the right moment to dive together into their home, which too made for a pretty thorny dig—a jujube tree. A stout, old date palm inside the park thronged with colourful bee-eaters, the two needle-like feathers sticking straight out of their tails making them recognizable in flight, while species of parrots and other birds fought angrily for holes and hollows on the cycads and coral trees. Sadly, at this time, inside the houses, too, feelings ran high as students suffered corporal punishment over mere homework. I would have a brush with this medley of sights and sounds as I hung about my father, kicking my heels. Sometimes, I would lie beside him under the car, shining a torchlight up at its brown, metal underbody. After the job was done, I would be rewarded for my help with a ride around the block, at the end of which we stopped at Mr Nair’s thatched establishment. While my father waited at the wheel, I took the rupee note that he gave me and went inside the lantern-lit shop, which was reputed for its quality goods and hygienic tea stall. Jency and I were regulars there as it was the only shop near us that
sold our breakfast staple of Nendran bananas. As I entered, I found that there were no other customers, and Mr Nair and his wife were busy arranging the stock. Bhavani Auntie cast a glance outside, concerned that I had come alone until she saw my father, and fished out from her mixed candy jar the two specific ones I wanted—the round orange-flavoured coconut bonbon for Jency and the aforementioned grey confection for myself. As per the slip that I had handed in, Auntie gave me a slab of wax paper-wrapped burfi, which was for my mother, and some change. This indulgence was a rare thing, as my father was strictly against ‘putting rubbish in the mouth’.
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Poignant and perceptive, Chamor will haunt you for a long time. Get your copy and explore vulnerability and honestly like never before!
The Lone Wolf intersects Col Tara’s childhood and adolescence against the background of political tensions caused by linguistic hegemony in Pakistan. This eventually explodes into a full-fledged war that we now know as the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 and that India specifically remembers as the Indo-Pak War. On the very day that the war ended, Col Tara was at the centre of a high-profile hostage crisis. He was tasked to negotiate the release of Pakistani Army hostages, who were none other than the family of Sheikh Hasina.
Col Ashok Tara led the high-profile rescue mission as was his duty, but his tact and bravery are emblematic of India’s own diplomatic role in the conflict between East and West Pakistan. Neha Dwivedi’s book spotlights the side of war requiring strategy, a level of wit and composure that many rarely identify as a strength of the military.
The Lone Wolf || Neha Dwivedi
A childhood encounter formed the foundation for these skills. For Col Tara, The Lone Wolf is more than just a metaphor. At the young age of nine years old, Ashok Tara found himself face-to-face with a wolf, while walking through a forest ridge along the Yamuna. Back then the undergrowth was wilder and for Ashok and his brother Kirti, the walk to and from school was an adventure. On that fateful day, Ashok was all by himself. With a wild wolf standing in his path, the young Ashok Tara remembered the words of his grandfather, a former shikari:
. . . when confronted by an opponent, even if it’s a wild animal, stare at your opponent with a confident and stern expression. This show of courage will effectively deter them from launching an attack.
These words saved his life, not just on that day, but twenty years later, as he stood unarmed in front of a group of hostile Pakistani soldiers.
To read Col Ashok Tara’s story, get your own copy of The Lone Wolf from your nearest bookstore.
Inspired by the sincere words, here is a kaleidoscope collating the responses and a few stories from #KindnessMatters.
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‘Kindness matters because this is the only way to live and let other live in peace.’
Lisa’s act of kindness was inspired by the personal experience of unwavering hospitality. Being an international student in Morocco, it wasn’t enough to simply know the textbook language. The locals teaching her the nuance in local dialects made a huge difference in bringing her closer to the community.
Returning to Switzerland, Lisa saw the refugees going through a similar plight. She then created the ‘voCHabular’ book and app, which succeeded not only in teaching the local language to refugees but also in creating a hybrid community of offline-online volunteers. Their work has now expanded to refugee awareness campaigns, food banks, and more around the borders of Europe.
Kindness, as proven by Lisa’s story in the chapter No Language Barrier, is what helps build trust with strangers.
‘Inner peace.’
It began with one family. Now when there’s a death in La Guajira, Sonia Bermúdez is the only one people can call.
Sixty-five-year-old Bermúdez’s story begins in 1996 when authorities informed her that there were no more spaces for unidentified victims of Colombia’s fifty-year-long conflict and drug-related violence. With neighbouring Venezuela’s political and economic crisis, Bermúdez’s focus has shifted to refugees who ran away from home but did not make it. Since municipal cemeteries are not free, the daily wage of a migrant labourer does not allow them to bury their dead with dignity.
To date, more than 300 Venezuelan refugees have been laid to rest in her cemetery, a 5.5-hectare land in Riohacha.
Sonia Bermúdez’s story in A Resting Place is a living example of how peace, if not found, can be built with one’s own hands.
‘So that the world is a better place for our kids.’
Not able to find the love and community they need, it’s not uncommon to find queer youths in Manipur, fall victim to addiction.
Sadam Hanjabam was one of them until a tragedy changed his life and set him on his current path. A core member of Ya-All, which means ‘revolution’ in Manipuri, Hanjabam is part of the collective creating queer-focused spaces, something he needed while closeted. Known as Meitram, the co-working, social space is more than just a location. Hanjabam and others are using his experience as a reference to integrate recovery and sex education programs for the youth.
Hanjabam wants the kids to have the support system he never had. Of Rainbows and Revolution shows how kindness, for the queer youth of Manipur, comes to the simple desire for a better future.
#KindnessMatters || Inspiring stories of empathy, compassion and kindness.
‘Kindness heals oneself and the world.’
In 2001, Bucharest’s mayor Traian Băsescu ordered all stray dogs to be killed. This was the moment that created Adăpostul Speranța. That night, the foundation rescued 300 dogs who would have otherwise been euthanized under the new orders. In 2020, twenty among those rescued dogs continue to live in, and because of, the shelter.
The shelter’s motto of Leave no dog behind inspires them to take care of every dog. Paraplegic and injured dogs, usually treated with despair, are taken care of by providing them with wheels and safe homes.
The kindness that the Speranța Foundation give their canine friends fuels more gifts of kindness from donations and volunteers. A New Lease of Life teaches us how one act of kindness can start a beautiful cycle of compassion, and save the lives of those who join it.
‘Our kindness towards others inspires them to be kind to everyone else.’
With COVID-19 enforcing lockdowns and restricting indoor dining in Barcelona, Faouzia Chati, the president of the Catalan Association of Moroccan Women, had to find alternative spaces for Ramadan prayers. It was then Father Peio Sanchez, Santa Ana’s rector, offered the Church’s open-air cloisters. This gesture of empathy encouraged many volunteers to come forward and cook the iftar (fast-breaking) meals for no less than Muslims, who were mostly homeless.
What started as a single act of kindness became the foundation for an inclusive community in the stone passages of Santa Ana. United by Religion echoes the tenet that is taught in all religions, across all languages: treat others as you want to be treated.
‘It makes me feel like a fellow human.’
At seventeen, Joséphine Yameogo did the unthinkable by refusing to marry the sixty-year-old groom chosen for her. Instead, she married a man of her own choice, facing banishment from her community. After becoming a mother of three, she picked up on the skills needed to become a mechanic and opened her own shop on the outskirts of the capital city.
Today, the Center Féminin d’Initiation et d’Enseignement aux Métiers (CFIAM) runs an organization helping girls and young women from disadvantaged backgrounds train in automotive electronics, bodywork, mechanics and more. For these women, technical education is a much-needed escape from coerced paths like forced marriage. They find it easier to be confident while seeking employment with such skills in hand and learn to establish financial security for themselves.
For young girls and women mentioned in Fixing Stereotypes, what the CFIAM did was not just about empowerment, but about emancipation. An act of kindness is the most important way to remind someone of their value as a human being.
Here’s an excerpt from Making a Difference by a successful retired IAS officer, Alok Ranjan, who served with distinction in various assignments in the State Government as well as the Government of India.
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Making a Difference || Alok Ranjan
Working with the State Government
A very revealing incident took place when I was the Principal Secretary Urban Development and the urban local body elections were to take place. They were thirteen posts of mayors and as per the act and rules, there was a clear roster system to determine which seat would be general, which reserved, which would go to women, etc. The CM wanted particular candidates to contest from specific municipal corporations and I was summoned by the CM Office and given the brief to prepare the roster accordingly. I explained that this is not possible as the rules and their interpretation was clear. The stratagem of taking legal opinion was then adopted by the CM Office and the Principal Secretary Law interpreted the rules differently which accommodated eight out of the thirteen proposed mayor candidates. I said that I did not agree with the opinion but if given in writing, I would abide by it. However, the CM was keen that at least three other proposed mayoral candidates should be accommodated in the roster. To my utter disbelief I was called and told by the CM Office in the presence of the Principal Secretary Law that for eight seats, the interpretation given by the law department should be used while for other three, my earlier interpretation should be employed. I had to show my dissent by saying that I could agree with an interpretation I felt was wrong if given in writing, but I had to be consistent and could not possibly choose different interpretations for different mayor seats. At my refusal, the officers present looked at me as they would at a goat about to be sacrificed and I realized that my goose was cooked and mentally began to prepare for my transfer. Imagine my surprise and amazement when the CM saw my point and agreed with it. It just shows that often the officers close to the CM try to be holier than the king. If they put up both sides of the picture to the CM they will invariably get to the right decision.
Secretariat working is all about files which are almost like living organisms having a life and energy of their own. A good Secretariat officer believes in not keeping files pending and he is proud to proclaim that his table is clear. However, this movement of files has little relation to actual decisions being taken and on closer examination, he will find that the files have been sent to law, finance or personnel departments for advice. The files move to and fro with volumes of noting which ensures that no accountability can be fixed on anyone at a later date. A close relative of this strategy is the formation of a committee to examine the matter which takes its own sweet time to give a voluminous report. Even developing a system of tracking files and prescribing maximum time limit for files to stay at a particular desk does not help.
The Principal Secretary of a department is expected to provide leadership to his team. He has to have the skill set to build the team which shares the objectives and goals of the department and works towards its fulfillment. The key task is to prepare the budget of the department, then release the budget to the field officers and monitor physical and financial progress. Above all, he has to assess the problems in his department, resolve them and achieve the required outcomes. Unfortunately, this does not often happen as the officers are more concerned about processes than giving results. Calling or attending a meeting becomes an end in itself and occupies the majority of the time of the secretaries and the heads of the departments. The job of a Principal Secretary is not only to assist in policy formulation but ensure implementation. Often we hear the rather unfair and incorrect statement that policies are good but implementation is poor. The reality is that policies are framed in the rooms of the Secretariat overlooking the harsh realities at the field level and a good policy must take into account how it can be executed…
To really play a transformational role, the officer must focus on results and outcomes but unfortunately, the officer is often more concerned about the process than delivering results. I have personally seen many brilliant officers mellow down in the Secretariat to the level of becoming ‘inaction wonders’. They disconnect themselves from the field and get mired in the rules and regulations with the results that the files become thicker, with no difference being made to the actual delivery of public services. For instance, if an officer is Secretary in the urban development department and is busy disposing of files while cities are full of garbage and filth rotting on the roads, then it implies that his working has no connection with the real issues confronting his department. Similarly, there is no purpose served by the Health Secretary clearing files on a daily basis if the quality of healthcare remains abysmally poor. Teachers remain absent from schools while the Secretary Education is busy issuing detailed guidelines and instructions which have a total disconnect with the realities in the field. This leads to discontentment amongst the people as they are receiving poor quality of public services. It is, thus, mandatory to make better outcomes the focus of each and every department and the performance of all the Secretariat, departments should be measured accordingly…
Working with the Government of India
The biggest attraction of a GOI posting is the international exposure. In simple language, it means the prospect of foreign travel and also a chance of a foreign posting. Ministries are categorized according to the avenues of foreign travel that they promise. That is why ministries like commerce are sought after and the competition to get into them is high. When the GOI officers meet each other, the common topic of conversation is the number of countries that an officer has visited. Some claim to have crossed the half-century mark whereas others make tall claims of having scored a century. I happened to go as JS Defence and defence was a ministry which had very few opportunities for foreign travel. If at all they travelled, it was mostly to Russia. Many of my colleagues looked sympathetically at me and said ‘could you not manage a better ministry? ’I was told that most officers avoid PHD ministries – personnel, home and defence – as they have the least chances of foreign travel. So, defence, despite being such an important strategic ministry, has few people opting for it. Within the ministries too there is intense competition for the international co-operation desk. A foreign posting or deputation to an international organization is highly coveted. This is despite the fact that these assignments do not give great opportunities for doing challenging work. Late T.S.R. Subramaniam who retired as Cabinet Secretary and had served in the state, center and in an international organization, had commented in his book that the maximum work is done in the districts, then the state government, then the GOI and finally the international organization where you have a lot of time on your hands. Still, the lure of the international posting is there.
The GOI concerns itself with policy formulation at the national level and is generally not involved in the implementation aspect, which is the responsibility of the state governments. In some departments like defence, external affairs and commerce, all the action is at the GOI level. There are, however, huge GOI bureaucracies dealing with subjects on the concurrent or the state lists. Sometimes, one wonders whether it is necessary at all. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture in the GOI has ten Joint Secretaries whereas agriculture is a state subject. There is a serious case for reduction in the size of certain ministries at the centre and also of clubbing several ministries together as it is strange that the Ministry of Agriculture is not involved with issues related to fertilizer, water or agriculture credit.
The ministries of such size at the GOI exist because of political reasons and also the bureaucratic culture of creating work to perpetuate work and justify itself. The major mechanisms for this are the centrally sponsored schemes where the major financial contribution (60 per cent or 75 per cent) is done by the centre and schemes are formulated at the GOI level with detailed guidelines. The problem arises as no two states are alike. The same schemes will succeed in one state but the conditions in other states will not favor its implementation. Thus, the states constantly argue that funds should be transferred to them and they be left free to design schemes. However, there is no denying that there is greater wisdom available at the GOI due to its knowledge about the best practices in the states, presence of experts and availability of international inputs. The GOI involves stakeholders, specialists and consultants in designing policy and the due diligence done is of a very high order. Yet, there cannot be a universal policy looking at the extreme variations between states. The solution, as usual, has to be in between…
To succeed in GOI, one needs to study the department in detail, understand crucial issues, articulate your viewpoint and have the ability to carry officers of other services and specialists along with you. It requires great qualities of leadership to set the goals and milestones for your departments and then lead the entire team towards fulfilling them. A dedicated officer will always find working in the Government of India to be a transformational opportunity.
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For all IAS aspirants, Making a Difference will prove to be a book of great significance.
In the second volume of his landmark book, Discordant Notes, Rohinton Nariman brings to light ground-breaking cases and judgements which made remarkable additions to our Constitution, improved and improvised some laws and most importantly, gave the space to the citizens of this country to be able to think, re-think and re-learn freely.
Charting out the history of the dissenting judgements in the history of the Supreme Court of India, Nariman begins by quoting Professor Allan Hutchinson’s Laughing at the Gods: Great Judges and How They Made the Common Law, where he speaks of ‘judicial greatness’ as:
‘Great judges seek to make a critical accommodation with the legal tradition by combining heresy and heritage in a playful judicial style; they refuse to be hampered by customary habits of judicial mind. For them, law is not something to be mastered. It is a sprawling tableau of transformation in which experimentation and improvisation are valued as much as predictability and faithfulness to existing rules and ideas. They see possibilities and make moves that others overlook. Great judges flaunt conventional standards in the process of remaking them; their judgements are the exceptions that prove the rule. And, once they have done what they do, others are less able to view the world in the same way again.’
Discordant Notes || Rohinton Nariman
He then mentions that it is in this sense that he chose the four great dissenters for this book. Overlooking other prominent judges who wrote numerous dissents in their lifetime, he chose to write about the ones who might have given only six dissents, for example, but had brilliant oversight packed in them, insights that changed the course of future judgements in India.
Nariman named these four dissenters, the ‘Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ because just like in Book Six, ‘Revelation’ of the New Testament in the Bible, these are the people who give the world a chance to repent before they are consigned to the ashes. He states how each one of these four dissenters fulfills this role, some of them prophesying doom if their dissents do not become the law, and others offering a chance of redemption, if in the future, their view is accepted in preference to that of majority.
One of the first cases discussed in the second volume of Discordant Notes is the Keshava Madhava Menon v. State of Bombay (1951) case dissented by judge Sir Saiyid Fazl Ali. What came up for consideration before the Supreme Court was the interpretation of the expression ‘void’ contained in Article 13 (1) of the Constitution of India. The majority judgement, delivered by S.R. Das, J., on behalf of the three learned judges of the court, held that Article 13 (1) does not make existing laws which are inconsistent with fundamental rights void ab initio, but only renders such laws ineffectual with respect to the exercise of fundamental rights on and after the date of commencement of the Constitution, Article 13 (1) having no retrospective effect. Therefore, if prosecution for a criminal act was commenced before the Constitution came into force, it can be proceeded with according to that law, even after the commencement of the Constitution.
Fazl Ali, J., joined Mukherjea, J., dissented. For reference, Article 13 (1) reads as follows:
‘All laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution, in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void.’
Fazl Ali, J referred to the original draft of the Constitution, in which the words ‘shall stand abrogated’ were used instead of ‘shall be void’ in Article 13 (1). He then observed that the Constitution makers used various expressions to convey precisely and thoroughly what they meant. While some articles used ‘invalid’, ‘ceased to have effect’ and ‘shall be inoperative’, ‘void’ is used only in two articles 13 (1) and 154 – and both of them deal with cases where laws are repugnant to other laws. Hence, the learned judge concluded that there is a precision and thoroughness of the framers of the Constitution with the strong sense in which the word ‘void’ has been used and cannot be completely ignored.
Nariman noted that this case is an important judgment, which was later followed in Behram Khurshid Pesikaka v. State of Bombay (1955) and Bhikaji Narain Dhakras v. State of M.P. (1955), as forming the foundation for what became known as the ‘Doctrine of Eclipse’, i.e. that pre-constitutional law cannot be said to be void from inception, but only ineffective if it violates a fundamental right, the fundamental right casting a shadow over such law.
Rohinton Nariman discusses and analyses many more such interesting cases and judgements and enlightens us with the kind of roads they fractured, mended and laid the foundation of, in this remarkable book. It speaks to anyone who decides to speak for themselves or for others, who decides to obtain knowledge in multi-dimensional spheres and most notably, for someone who decides to learn and re-learn.
December is already here and it feels like it’s getting colder day by day. As daylight wanes faster and our breath spews fog like dragon breath, there’s nothing that distracts us from the winter quite like the perfect read.
Wrap your hands around a cup of your favourite hot drink, tuck yourself into your favourite blanket, and scroll through to find your next favourite book!
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Swami Vivekananda || Sankar
What did Swami Vivekananda recommend about the eating of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food? Which of these did Swamiji enjoy the most: his mother’s chorchori, his father’s pulao or his own khichuri? Was he fond of spicy food, sweets, or ice cream?
While many thinkers wonder at Swamiji’s immense enthusiasm for teaching Indian cooking, yet it is not quite clear why no complete book about our culinary-enthusiast monk Vivekananda has ever been published in any language. Swami Vivekananda: The Feasting, Fasting Monk is the humble, illumination of a thousand faceted diamond by Sankar.
Madam Prime Minister || Seema Goswami
You probably know Seema Goswami from her weekly columns for the Brunch and Hindustan Times. In Madam Prime Minister she imports her witty style into a novel centring on Asha Devi, a 29-year-old woman who becomes the leader of the country. Her predecessor’s (who is also her father) assassination, a volatile coalition and inevitable sexism are only some of the shadows hanging over her legacy as India’s youngest Prime Minister. Madam Prime Minister is a must-read for those who enjoy political drama with high stakes.
A Venetian at the Mughal Court || Marco Moneta
Originally written in Italian, Marco Moneta’s book is a unique work of non-fiction about an intriguing figure from Indian history. Venetian Nicolò Manucci’s life in the subcontinent is a chronology of seminal events. From being a chief artilleryman in Dara Shukoh’s battle against Aurangzeb to joining Rajput general Jai Singh against Shivaji, Manucci shifted gears when he became court physician for Aurangzeb’s son, future Mughal Emperor Shah Alam. Later in his life, Manucci’s in-depth knowledge regarding the Mughal Court would serve him as playing a crucial role in diplomacy between the Mughals and European authorities. A Venetian at the Mughal Court offers a fascinating perspective into a famous historical period, with its focus on an unlikely protagonist.
Yuktahaar, the Belly-Brain Diet || Munmun Ganeriwal
Is it even the holiday season if we don’t feel guilty about eating Christmas plum cakes? Award-winning nutritionist Munmun Ganeriwal would say otherwise. In Yuktahaar: The Belly and Brain Diet, Ganeriwal argues that the reason why none of the diets in the past have seemed to work is that they focused on the wrong cause—you, the reader. While we may continue to have a fling with low carb diets, vegan diets, low-fat diets, and everything in between, a long-lasting solution will be far from our reach until we shift our focus from ‘you’ to ‘them’ I.e., the human-gut microbiome connection. Munmun gives an actionable 10-week holistic program that encourages a gut balancing lifestyle, mainly consisting of food, exercise, sleep hygiene, and neural retraining. It is a three-phased program that focuses on improving the balance and diversity of our microbial community. This book will make sure you have your cake and eat it too!
More Than Just Surgery || Dr Tehemton Erach Udwadia
Awarded the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and the OBE, Dr Tehemton Erach Udwadia is widely regarded as the father of laparoscopy in India. From 1951, during his years as a medical student, to the present day, he has not only witnessed first-hand the avalanche of surgical progress but has also seen lives saved as a result of these advances, be it a disposable plastic syringe or a liver transplant. More Than Just Surgery is a warm personal account of people, incidents, mentors, failures and absurdities against the backdrop of surgery.
Adam || S. Hareesh
Four Belgian Malinois puppies raised by an ex-serviceman, N. K. Kuruppu, who end up in four different life situations; an old man and a younger man who play a game of death notices cut out from newspapers; two men who argue about the inexplicable change of character of an old-time rowdy with fatal consequences; a nurse and her boyfriend who travel to Kerala with the body of her father who died in Bangalore. Hareesh’s Adam presents nine unusual stories that explore the more difficult of human emotions—lust, anger, jealousy, vengeance, greed—in a non-judgemental yet detached manner. With an irreverent and sarcastic tone, Hareesh makes these stories invigorating and pushes the craft of the short story to new and refreshing realms.
A Place In My Heart || Anupama Chopra
A Place in My Heart is a blend of recommendations and remembrances, nostalgia and narratives. National Award-winning author, journalist and film critic Anupama Chopra writes about fifty films, artistes and events that have left an indelible impression on her and shaped her twenty-five-year-long career. Including stories about, Super Deluxe and the Cannes Film Festival, this memoir is a testament to Chopra’s enduring love for all things cinema.
Forgiveness Is a Choice || Kia Scherr
A month or so before Christmas 2008, Kia Scherr lost her husband and teenage daughter to the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack at the Oberoi. In a second, her life was clouded with grief, and since then, it has been a convoluted journey of resilience and recovery. In Forgiveness is a Choice, Scherr peels back the many layers of personal bereavement. She moves beyond the incident, focusing on the reality of dealing with sorrow that rears its ugly heads in myriad forms. A tender and understanding guide on getting a grip and taking life one day at a time.
1971: Charge of the Gorkhas and other stories || Rachna Bisht Rawat
Why do the Gorkha soldiers of 4/5 GR attack a heavily defended enemy post with just naked khukris in their hands? Does Pakistan find out the real identity of the young pilot who, after having ejected from a burning plane, introduces himself as Flt Lt Mansoor Ali Khan? What awaits the naval diver who cuts made-in-India labels off his clothes and crosses into East Pakistan with a machine gun slung across his back?
1971 is a deeply researched collection of true stories of extraordinary human grit and courage that shows you a side to war that few military histories do.
The Burning Chaffees || Brig. B S Mehta
The C Squadron 45 Cavalry waged an attack on the Pakistani army that brought the latter to its knees. On 21 November 1971, the two warring armies clashed in a tank versus tank battle at Garibpur. In one fell swoop, the 3 (Independent) Armoured Squadron, consisting of fourteen American M-24 Chaffee tanks, was destroyed and two infantry battalions badly mauled, followed by the shooting down of three Sabre F-86 jets for the loss of two PT-76 tanks. The biggest attack planned by General AAK Niazi to teach the Indians and the Mukti Bahini a lesson had gone up in smoke. The Burning Chaffees is a thrilling war account of the victorious battle by Brigadier BS Mehta.
Furrows in a Field || Sugata Srinivasaraju
Even twenty-five years after he stepped down as prime minister, H.D. Deve Gowda has remained relevant in Indian politics. Despite this long, arduous yet fascinating journey that began in a poor peasant household in the plains of Hassan, there has been no comprehensive assessment of his life and work. This biography endeavours to professionally fill the gap. The book’s narrative is instructed by Gowda’s rich parliamentary record, archival material and interviews conducted with people associated with him at various stages of his life. The layered narrative is further nuanced by Gowda’s own voice and gargantuan memory. When Gowda became prime minister, many people intuitively registered that Indian democracy had not been rigged or captured by elites and dynasts, and there was indeed space in the system for a self-made person, with no godfathers, to rise. Gowda’s story generated hope then and continues to do so today.
EDEN || Devdutt Pattanaik
Eden is the garden of happiness that humanity was cast out of when Adam and Eve, the first human couple, disobeyed the one true God and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree. This is the essence of Abrahamic lore that emerged over 3000 years ago in the Near East, blossomed in the Middle East, and has since spread to every corner of the world in three forms: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. In his uniquely Indian style of storytelling, intimate but not irreverent, Devdutt Pattanaik introduces the readers to the many tales of angels, demons, prophets, patriarchs, judges and kings. It also retells stories from Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Zoroastrian mythologies that influenced Abrahamic monotheism in its long 5000-year-old history.
The Girl in the Glass Case || Devashish Sardana
Simone Singh, assistant superintendent of police, would rather spend her days locking up criminals than apologizing for her lack of social skills. And she refuses to let anyone stand in the way of her pursuit of the Doll Maker, a ruthless serial killer who dresses up little kids as Barbie dolls and displays their bodies in glass cases. Another serial killer, the Clipper, who enjoyed nine years of infamy as India’s most notorious butcher, erupts into an all-consuming rage when he is cast aside by the media in favour of the sick new slayer-the Doll Maker. The Clipper turns his fury into blood-soaked revenge to capture the top spot. As corpses start to pile up, Simone fights to manoeuvre the Doll Maker into a clever trap. But the Clipper is hell-bent on striking first and regaining the crown with his most grisly murder yet. Can Simone take down the two serial killers and stop the psychotic competition before it gets out of hand? The Girl in the Glass Case is a jaw-dropping psychological crime thriller. If you like determined heroines, nail-biting twists and chilling serial murderers, then you’ll love this rollercoaster ride.
Karnali Blues || Buddhisagar
Karnali Blues, the first novel by the Nepali writer Buddhisagar (b. 1981), was published in Nepali by Fine Print in 2007. The story draws us into young Brisha Bahadur’s world, a backwater district of a country that is about to undergo radical social, political and cultural change. We share his dreams, his games and his mischief, his loves, his hopes and his fears. We meet the wealth of characters who surround him: the schoolmates, shopkeepers, tea sellers, teachers, policemen, porters, drunkards and rogues of his childhood and youth, and the staff and patients of the hospital where his father lies dying. With some of the most authentic characters captured by prose, Karnali Blues is a father-son narrative that transcends time and language.
Barkat || Vikas Khanna
‘Barkat’ means abundance. An abundance of blessings and auspiciousness. Where there is no dearth and there is no scarcity, a much bigger word that cannot be done justice in translation. Born in the small town of Amritsar, Vikas Khanna grew up to be an international chef and fulfilled his dream of getting a Michelin Star. He narrates how his grandmother infused in him the values of sharing food, while the langars of the Golden Temple showed him that community kitchens are perhaps the only way to ensure no one goes hungry. From these values developed around food, he got the goal and the grit to build one of the world’s largest food drives called ‘Feed India’ during the COVID-19 lockdown. This deeply personal and heart-touching narrative is a testimony of one man’s vision to showcase Indian culture and the intrinsic value of sharing food to the world.
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We hope you found something to keep you busy this holiday season!
Alok Ranjan, the former Chief Secretary of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, has had the career that most people dream of. So, he has put together the information that every aspiring officer should know. While sharing his own experiences, he has provided a deep understanding of the IAS as an institution, valuable tips and insight for cracking the daunting UPSC exam, and how to build a successful career in the services.
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Making a Difference || Alok Ranjan
Dear Readers,
It was a difficult decision after having done my MBA from IIM Ahmadabad to resign from my job and write the IAS examination. I was fortunate to succeed in the exam in my first attempt and secured 4th position in India in the IAS and was allotted to the Uttar Pradesh cadre. I retired in 2016 after 38 years of a very fulfilling and satisfying career. I can say with complete confidence that no other service or job can provide the diversity and richness of experience that a career in the IAS provides.
I often meet young boys and girls embarking upon a career and find that most of them have dreams of joining the IAS or the civil services. Despite the numerous alternative career opportunities that are available, civil service is still the preferred choice of many. Students prepare for years to get through the hallowed portals of the civil service. For those who succeed it is a realization of their cherished aspirations while others keep making honest efforts year after year hoping that one day they shall succeed.
This book is for those young boys and girls who nurture the desire to join the IAS. I want to communicate through this book that it is possible to get selected in the IAS provided you have the right kind of motivation and are prepared to put in the requisite amount of dedicated hard work. This book is also about the challenges and opportunities that an IAS officer faces during his service period. it is not an autobiography but I have used interesting anecdotes from my career to illustrate the situations that an IAS officer faces and the leadership principles which are essential for him to ensure quality public service delivery and good governance. It is for this reason that this book would be of interest to the serving IAS officers as well as all those who are concerned in any way with issues related to public policy. A student must think of joining the IAS if she wants to bring about a positive change in society and contribute to the development of the country. Issues of power, position, and status cannot be ignored but they should not be the prime motivation for joining the IAS. This service gives you the opportunity of touching numerous human lives. You can bring about a transformation in the quality of life of the citizens. This book is all about making a difference to society which should be the main goal of an IAS officer.
A person interested in joining the IAS should prepare herself mentally for at least three to five year before the IAS exam. He should take a keen interest in current affairs and also read widely on all possible subjects. This is an extremely tough exam where you have to compete against thousands for a hundred seats and therefore your preparation has to be that much more solid and deeper. It is best to devote at least one year of single-minded focus and effort to this exam. You need to develop your personality as well as your communication skills as well as a logical and analytical way of thinking. This book will give those preparing for IAS some very useful tips for both the written exam and the personality test. I have talked about the experiences of an IAS officer as a District Magistrate which is, perhaps, the most rewarding and exciting posting in the service. A young IAS officer gets the opportunity of leading the entire team at the district and he is the voice of the government at the District level. Any scheme gets implemented if the District Magistrate takes it up. There is tremendous authority attached to this post but along with this comes a great sense of responsibility and accountability. It is, indeed, a thrilling assignment and most IAS officers never tire of talking about what they achieved in the Districts.
State Government provides a tremendous opportunity to make policies that could influence the life of the ordinary citizen. You could be looking after education and make a mark by improving the quality of education or you could be looking after the health and can make a difference by reducing infant and maternal mortality. Every post in the IAS has the potential of giving you an opportunity to bring about a positive change in the lives of people. A great experience at the State level is the post of the Chief Secretary who leads all the government officers and employees in fulfilling the ideal of good governance. IAS gives an opportunity of working with the Government of India where you get National and International experience and the policies you make impact the entire nation.
I have also discussed some of the common myths and beliefs about the IAS like the need for domain specialization, promotion on the basis of seniority, political interference, corruption, professional integrity, and lack of promptness in decision making. I have tried to show how some of these could be individual attributes but the system also plays a great role in molding the personality and administrative style of an IAS officer.
It is my fervent belief that a career in the IAS can be hugely satisfying but the relevance of the IAS for the future requires the service to introspect and reinvent itself and for this, it has to look within and make itself responsive to the changing needs of the 21 st century. The IAS is not merely a job but is a service to society and the Nation. The greatest reward that an IAS officer can get is when the common man on the street feels that a positive difference has been made in his life.
All the best!
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Read Making A Difference to know more about IAS from an insider.
