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How to Placate an Angry
Naga: Finding One’s Feet in the IAS
How to Placate an Angry Naga is a laudable effort by Leena Nandan and Jiwesh Nandan. This IAS couple has been through it all, and their first-hand account is very engrossing. They are the Director, Ministry of Tourism, and Director, Ministry of Power, Government of India, respectively. Through this book they strive to present an authentic account of the enigmatic life of an IAS officer. It is retrospective, yet not melancholy; true to life, yet it does not sermonise. Apart from being all that it is, this book is a tribute to the die-hard Indian spirit. The authors put forth the omnipotent question—Is the Government working because of the civil servants or despite them?—and play on that under current. They put forward the human aspect of the story that tends to get lost in the volley of negatives that everyone associates with the services. A very few of us take time to think that they are also flesh and blood people who make mistakes and learn from them. At the same time, a few words of praise at a job well done could greatly lift their spirits. The Nandans talk about the benefits that a future officer derives from the academy and also a lot that it just cannot teach, which every officer learns in due course. Depending solely on the training would be like sitting in an aeroplane with a pilot’s instruction manual and trying to somersault. In this book, the importance of maintaining good working relations with seniors, subordinates, politicians, the media and also visitors from the other world have been given due coverage and importance. From deciding who should sit in which seat of a car to dealing with spooky visions, they have tackled every issue with a pinch of salt. Over several anecdotes, the writers have successfully established that even bureaucrats have a funny bone and they sure know how to tickle it. The narrative dealing with the Maha Kumbh Mela is a revelation for those who are best at pointing out the flaws in the management of crowds. Dealing with such a huge number of people, taking care of the law and order situation, anticipating trouble, briefing the media and not losing your cool is no piece of cake. They acknowledge that at times it becomes difficult to be emotionally detached from the situation, especially when tragedy strikes. At the same time not letting the emotions take you for a ride and keeping a level head at all times is most imperative. An observation that to come to terms with the stress, you have to make it the impetus to go on performing rather than letting it settle down on the mind like a leaden weight, rings true irrespective of your occupation. Written in a very lucid form, the prose flows unhindered and has the warmth of letters from dear ones. The authors don’t try to highlight their achievements and neither do they shy away from narrating incidents that have them goofing up.
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YOU can be in awe of them,
you can loathe them, but you just can’t ignore them. Think of the word
bureaucrat and a variety of images pop-up in the mind. These range from
the very glamorous to the downright disgusting. Who doesn’t envy the
regal treatment meted out to them? But it is equally true that all of us
have at one point of time or the other been pushed to the edge by an
endlessly annoying bureaucrat who seems to be oblivious to all
references to a certain problem at hand that has to be sorted at the
earliest.