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P.M. Nair

It is not at all difficult to be an honest person in this country, insists P.M. Nair, a 1967-batch IAS officer, “if you have a certain faith in yourself and in God”. Such indefatigable optimism can pale only next to the insuperable optimism of one person: former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. No wonder Nair, who criss-crossed the country on a range of assignments, culminating in Rashtrapati Bhavan, was chosen by Kalam for the post of his Secretary.

So in choosing Nair for the post,the Missile Man of India seems to have been bang on target. Modestly, Nair protests, “I cannot judge myself.” Now readers can judge for themselves, though, as Nair’s memories of those five whirlwind years, where the nights were short and days eventful, morning meetings were held in the afternoons and dinnertime was well past midnight, have just hit the bookstands. The Kalam Effect — My Years with the President, published by Harper Collins, was written by Nair in 12 days flat, says the author.

Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Reflections of greatness Former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam caught in a pensive mood at a conference in 2006

A thorough bred Civil Servant to whom this job was initially like any other — the book starts with his vacillation on whether to accept the assignment or stay on in the Ministry of Defence, where he was enjoying his posting — Nair admits that he did not keep a diary as he never intended to write a book.

But while the experience was unique enough for the memories to be vivid, he reiterates that Kalam was not the only boss who gave him freedom and comfort to work. “I was always lucky to have bosses who were very good. Nobody muffled me. Then I got Kalam. This was the icing on the cake.” If Kalam proved wrong everyone who thought he would be a rubber stamp President, Nair was no yes-man either. He is proud to say the President “could take no from me,” but notes that others, like former Arunachal Chief Minister Mukut Mithi also did. To have a boss listen to his arguments and note down his comments in the file, says Nair, is “the greatest thing a civil servant can ask for”.

Nair’s descriptions of the work schedule, the meticulous attention to every petition received by the President’s office, the personal interest Kalam took in a staggering range of activities, would tend to raise the former President beyond the ken of mere mortals. But, notes the author, the President had his flaws. Even surrounded by trappings of protocol, he managed to be unpunctual most of the time. Of course the delays were surely because of an impossibly packed schedule, but delay he did, despite valiant attempts not to. His Herculean timetable too, seems to be because the man is compassionate and generous to a fault. Even his patience, the author recalls in the book, seems to have tried the patience of his staff less well stocked with the virtue. However minor, these drawbacks have been candidly expressed in the book. “If he didn’t have these flaws he would not have been human.”

The “People’s President”, as we still love to call him, revealed his mission regarding India to Nair during their very first meeting in office. How far did he feel satisfied with the progress of his plans when he left Rashtrapati Bhavan? “He had an agenda for the nation to be a developed country by 2020 or earlier,” says Nair. “I don’t know whether he was satisfied, because it was not supposed to be by 2007. But I am sure even now he is working towards it. He always used to say one doesn’t have to be the President to work for the country. He is telling youth all the time to work for the country, to do now what can be done tomorrow.” Kalam is convinced, says Nair, that “truth and youth energy can be utilised” to achieve India’s development goals. He may no longer be India’s President. But the Kalam effect continues.

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