Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Head over heels
|
P.M. Nair talks about his boss
|
Photos: Sandeep Saxena
greatness reflects: APJ Abdul Kalam caught in a pensive mood in 2006 and (above) P.M. Nair, the author of “The Kalam Effect”
No doubt corruption and inefficiency make news, as do miscarriage of justice and abuse of powers. Compared with the occasional happy victory of a David over Goliath, these issues get far more media space. In this scenario, it comes as a surprise to hear a senior officer of the Indian Administrative Service declare, “I’ve had no grievances at all in my 40 years of service.”
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 APJ Abdul Kalam. No wonder Nair, who criss-crossed the country on a range of assignments, culminating with Rashtrapati Bhawan, was chosen by Kalam for the post of his Secretary.
Now 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.
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 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.
He may no longer be India’s President. But the Kalam effect continues.
ANJANA RAJAN
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
|
