Memory Bytes

What is the highest civilian honour in India?”, that was my father asking me in 1957 when I was studying in the third form or the eighth standard as they call it now. “IAS”, I replied and I saw my father turn away in utter disgust, disappointment and anger. He didn't ask me anything further, nor did he say anything then, but that silence was too eloquent for me....I retired in 2007. What follow in this book are my random reminiscences and recollections of what had happened to me in those forty years of mine in govt. service. I have written them down as they popped up in my mind and hence the chronological disorder of the events narrated. I have tried to tell them as they had happened, unembellished and just as I remembered them, with neither malice nor apologies. I know I might have sounded rather harsh in my depiction of a personality or two. They were 'memories of those worser hours' still gnawing at me after all these years. If I didn't include them here, I would have been guilty of being dishonest to myself and that would have been sheer sacrilege, for, honesty was one quality that my parents had tried hardest to instil in me and insisted on....________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ContentsAcknowledgement —Pgs. 7Foreword —Pgs. 9Prologue —Pgs. 111. From the Scratch... Almost —Pgs. 132. Back to Basics —Pgs. 233. Life's Like That... Even Official!! —Pgs. 304. By the Skin of My Teeth... Thanks to My Friends Indeed —Pgs. 415. One for the Road... and the Rail Too! —Pgs. 446. The Tennis Racket —Pgs. 617. Looking Back...In Nostalgia, with no Rancour —Pgs. 668. Gone with the Wind... Almost! —Pgs. 769. A Slip 'Twixt, the Cup and the Lip-Literally —Pgs. 8910. Fitting Finale —Pgs. 9311. The Booby Trap? —Pgs. 10212. Neither Anglo Nor French: 'The Anglo-French' —Pgs. 11013. Mid Summer Days' Nightmares —Pgs. 12814. All's Well That...! —Pgs. 13815. How Innocent... How Graceful! —Pgs. 14216. No Joke... Nonsense?... No —Pgs. 14917. Defence Production... At Last! —Pgs. 16218. The Icing on the Cake —Pgs. 176Epilogue —Pgs. 202