How to Placate an Angry Naga: Finding One's Feet in the IAS

Numerous books have been written about the lives and experiences of management gurus and corporate honchos. But books on the lives of IAS officers are a rarity.

Written by Leena Nandan and Jiwesh Nandan, both career bureaucrats with a lot of experiences to their credit, the book gives an insight into the lives of IAS officers and the challenges and responsibilties that they have to go through in the course of their careers.

What does it feel like to be part of an elite service, usually referred to as the steel frame of India? What goes on in the lives and careers of this so called prestigious service? The book explores these questions in some detail.

The training they had to undergo at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussorie where they are taught the nuances of being a bureaucrat and to inculcate Officer-Like-Qualities (OLQ). That every morning, at half past six, irrespective of the season, they had to go for PT, followed by half an hour of jogging is perhaps a fact known only to a few of us.

From their first posting as Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) to the higher rungs of the career ladder the book recounts the experiences of the authors and other officers in a sometimes humorous and sometimes sombre tone. The book delves into the relationship between the District Magistrate and the SP (Superintendent of Police) of a district, between a junior and a senior official, between an officer and a politician and between an officer and the media.

If you are interested in knowing what really goes on in the lives of our IAS officers, then this is the book you are looking for. It is priced at Rs 195 and available at all leading bookstores.