The pen may be mightier than the sword, but why professional civil servants take to writing, especially after their retirement, perhaps like no other group of professionals, requires some introspection. Members of the All-India and central civil services, especially those from the IAS, have been writing all their working life, in the form of notings on files or drafting policy papers, executive orders, rules, regulations, and even legislations. But their outpourings in the form of books or essays, once freed from the shackles of conduct rules and oath of secrecy, are of a different texture altogether. In India the higher civil services have been aspirational, attracting a fair share of the brightest university products.

There has understandably been an old tradition of scholaradministrators. If we look at Bengal, ICS officers such as Ramesh Chander Dutt, Annada Sankar Roy and Ashok Mitra have contributed immensely through their scholarly and literary works. Administratively pecked at a lower order, Deputy Collectors like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Nabin Chandra Sen and Dwijendralal Roy continue to be household names for their pioneering contribution to literature. In some form or the other, this tradition continues. There may be many reasons for the continuity.

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Many of those belonging to the higher administrative strata are often propelled by the urge to express themselves to a larger readership, convinced that the wide experiences they had acquired during the discharge of their official duties – at the district, state and central levels – are important enough to be widely disseminated. Shouldn’t hard earned leisure, after a life-long grueling routine, be enjoyed in a manner that would be mentally fulfilling too? For self-respecting civil servants, not lobbying for a post-retirement sinecure or other financially remunerative engagements, there can be two pro-bono options – take to writing or involve with voluntary constructive work.

For most, the former is often more convenient. When I look at my friends and compatriots in Bengal where I hail from and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh where I had worked much of my life – I find their writings can be broadly categorized. The first category is of memoirs and recollections that are largely autobiographical. The second comprises books written on the basis of the author’s expertise in a particular field. The third category consists of essays on diverse topics compiled in the form of a book, and the fourth of writings which are wholly literary in nature – poems, short stories, criticisms, plays and novels – often enriched by real life experiences.

In Bengal, especially in recent decades, some powerful literary figures have emerged. Besides Anita Agnihotri from the IAS, there are about half a dozen award-winning authors from the state civil services. Less known, but perhaps the most versatile and original amongst this crop, is Ramchandra Pramanik of the Indian Revenue Service, whose autobiographical work ‘Hathak Darpan’, collection of short stories like Abahaman Bharatkatha and Agunkhaki, and plays like Kalpakka and Akshahriday are amongst the finest in their class. Alapan Bandyopadhyay’s insightful essays collected in Amlar Mon (Mind of the Bureaucrat) and his co-edited work (with Anup Matilal) titled Philosopher’s Stone: Speeches and Writings of Sir Daniel Hamilton deserve mention. The story is somewhat different in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The outputs seem to be more focused and work-related. Two former Reserve Bank Governors, Y.V. Reddy and D. Subbarao, have brought out authentic tomes on their tenures at the Bank which are widely read and appreciated. K. Sujatha Rao’s book on our indifference to the public health system belongs to this exclusive category. (Among serving officers, T.V. Somanathan’s works are of very high merit). But Subbarao’s latest one on the lessons he had learnt from his career in the IAS is also a very readable account. Two former Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, K. Pradeep Chandra and K. Madhava Rao, had earlier authored books on their interesting lives.

Narendra Luther’s books on the heritage of Hyderabad are well known. But a tome like India: The Road to Renaissance, A Vision and An Agenda brought out by Bhimeswara Challa, who had served both in the IAS and in the United Nations, proposing ‘a package of radical reform intended to shift the very epicentre of political and economic decision-making to the level where the people lead their daily lives’ may be less focused, but it exhibits a kind of enthusiasm that prompted Challa, at the age of ninety, to chronicle his frank views, without losing optimism about the nation’s future.

In similar vein, Parimal Brahma of the Indian Audit & Accounts Service, has been writing incessantly, airing many of his bold views. What becomes evident is that most of the authors effuse hope, not despair. Despite projecting the ills that plague our governance system and machinery, sometimes with exaggeration and often with sarcasm, the central tenet, even for the most ‘retired radicals’, is a longing for a brighter future and a yearning for a more just and inclusive society. Many such officers are mature enough to know that their outputs may not see a second edition, and a few would have been produced at the authors’ own cost.

The younger civil servants may not keep track of the plethora of books coming out in this genre. Only merit and readability will decide how many of such books will survive the test of time. Coming to specifics about those I know personally, authors like R.N. Prasher, Jawhar Sircar, Abhay Shukla and KJ Alphons are widely read. Irrespective of their political perspectives, they are first-rate writers. Who does not know of Upamanyu Chatterjee as a noted literary figure? Others of my acquaintance include Aloke Lal of the IPS, besides M. Ramchandran, Alexander Luke, Priyadarshi Dash, N.K. Raghupati, S. Bhalerao, S. Manoharan, P.K. Basu, (late) Keshav Desiraju, Satya Mohanty, and Bibhu Acharya from the IAS. I may have left out many others, but this example would only illustrate how intellectually fecund this class has been. ‘Publish or perish’ is a term used in academic circles. Is this going to be true for the higher civil servants too? This seems to be a healthy trend that deserves some applause.

(The writer is a retired IAS officer.)