Mohana Makaranadam by Dr. Mohan Kanda in Great Andhra Telugu version (excerpted from forthcoming book)
You can either read or listen in Greatandhra website.
About the book:
Born three months prematurely in an era sans antibiotics or incubators, the author, in his own words, ‘has no business to be alive.’ But live he did. Three months later, a benediction in the hands of Gandhiji gave the child the name, Mohan Das.
Mohan was a radio and stage actor at age five and child film-star by six. As an adolescent he was drawn to the study of Mathematics and as a young man he was a researcher in Relativity. Soon after that he entered the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), in which service he had a distinguished career and rose to be Secretary to Government of India and Chief Secretary Andhra Pradesh. Then, upon retirement, he went on to join the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) at the rank of Union Minister of State.
This book “speaking of many things” (working title to be inserted) narrates carefully-selected incidents from this journey, bringing to the narration a style filled with joie de vivre and subtle, self-deprecating humor.
The book recounts events that are varied and surprising but always interesting. This range of experiences perhaps reflects the life of a bureaucrat living through interesting times. At one moment we read of the experience of handling mobs during the Separate Andhra movement of the 1970s, in the next we read of Chief Ministers unable to understand that a civil servant’s loyalty is to the government and not to them personally. We learn of Kanda’s experiences with Vice President Hidayatullah and Verghese Kurien, two men he admired and enjoyed cordial relations with, whom he was forced to stand up to in official matters.
The book deals with matters that are of particular relevance today, as it deals with issues that vex the bureaucrat—politician relationship. Kanda takes a nuanced approach, distinguishing between firmness and revolt, the following of protocol without surrendering self-respect, and taking a firm stand against unfair treatment.
Giving us an insider’s view on the way the governance mechanism functions, the author takes us into the midst of extraordinary situations a bureaucrat may suddenly find himself in. How to manage protocol when the King of Jordan insists on presenting an expensive gift, what happens when a file mischievously disappears from the President’s office, and what to do when a Minister vanishes from an Agriculture exhibition abroad!
This selection of events, however, is not just about the functioning of the highest levels of government. It is also about personal choices, values, and experiences that define an individual.
We see the dilemmas of an idealistic young man as he wonders if accepting lunch in a village compromises his integrity; we also observe difficult personal choices an honest bureaucrat must make, such as turning down his father’s claim to a property as a resulting land ceiling.
The book also deals with the amusing and the quirky twists of fate, such as landing in a job he disliked for the crime of having good dress sense! He speaks of his passion for Hindi film music and his love of pets. The book also evokes nostalgia as Kanda describes how the film director LV Prasad used to handle child artistes such as him.
On the whole, the life that emerges from these pages is one of unpredictable situations, dealing with interesting people and major responsibilities, and oftentimes surprising outcomes. Narrated with wit and keenness of observation, this would be a valuable book, especially to those interested in the workings of governance in India.
