Book Review: An Officer and a Gentleman

A Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer and 1957 batch topper, Rajendran was initially posted as Ramanathapuram Collector where he dealt with the ravages of the 1964 cyclone, which had a devastating impact on the port town of Dhanushkodi. Cyclones seem to have been a part of his career as he was also at the helm of affairs in Odisha when a super cyclone devastated the state. With an “inexperienced” Giridhar Gamang government ruling the state, Rajendran’s previous experience came in handy to lead the relief and rehabilitation work. 

For readers in Tamil Nadu, there are some nuggets that are of great interest as MM Rajendran was privy to some defining moments in TN’s political twists and turns. In his early career, he talks about his years in civil service where he worked closely with several chief ministers of Tamil Nadu including K Kamaraj to M. Karunanidhi. One particularly interesting chapter is his narration of visiting M Karunanidhi in jail, after which he says he went on to give a fair assessment of the events that transpired. However, the anecdote that he shares as a follow-up to that visit speaks volumes of the iconic leaders of Tamil Nadu. Two years later, when the DMK came into power, as per his narration, the DMK cadre believed he was close to Kamaraj, hence was a pro-Congress officer and sought his transfer. However, then chief minister Karunanidhi informed them that Kamaraj had no personal likes and dislikes, and only appreciated people on merit. His subtle endorsement and smooth handling of the situation were characteristic of Karunanidhi, an astute politician and people’s person. 

Some of the interesting chapters include the President’s rule in Tamil Nadu and the aggravation of the Sri Lankan Tamil’s issue where he describes in some detail the active role he played in trying to quell the militants. However, there are also some places where he appears to have chosen to skim over details, like his narration of the attack on then leader of the Opposition J Jayalalithaa. 

Among his several achievements, Rajendran has worked with a lot of charitable organisations like UNICEF, where he served as an executive board and vice-chairman of its program committee at New York. He was also instrumental in getting shelters built all along the coastal areas with the help of many organizations (German Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Ramakrishna Mission and many more). His experience in cyclone management helped save thousands of lives when Cyclone Fani made landfall on May 3, 2019. 

The memoir is an interesting contemporary record of history and is filled with many small anecdotes, but there is also significant space devoted to placing many matters on record, which slows the narrative a bit. Could Rajendran have been more candid about the many different incidents he would surely have witnessed first-hand? Maybe, but in staying restrained, he’s proved to be an officer and a gentleman.