From file notings to fine literature

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but why professional civil servants take to writing, especially after their retirement, perhaps like no other group of professionals, requires some introspection.

- AMITABHA BHATTACHARYA

Members of the All-India and central civil services, especially those from the IAS, have been writing all their working life, in the form of notings on files or drafting policy papers, executive orders, rules, regulations, and even legislations.

But their outpourings in the form of books or essays, once freed from the shackles of conduct rules and oath of secrecy, are of a different texture altogether.

In India the higher civil services have been aspirational, attracting a fair share of the brightest university products.

There has understandably been an old tradition of scholar-administrators.

If we look at Bengal, ICS officers such as Ramesh Chander Dutt, Annada Sankar Roy and Ashok Mitra have contributed immensely through their scholarly and literary works.

Administratively pecked at a lower order, Deputy Collectors like Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Nabin Chandra Sen and Dwijendralal Roy continue to be household names for their pioneering contribution to literature.

In some form or the other, this tradition continues.

There may be many reasons for the continuity.

Many of those belonging to the higher administrative strata are often propelled by the urge to express themselves to a larger readership, convinced that the wide experiences they had acquired during the discharge of their official duties - at the district, state and central levels - are important enough to be widely disseminated.

Shouldn't hard earned leisure, after a life-long grueling routine, be enjoyed in a manner that would be mentally fulfilling too?

For self-respecting civil servants, not lobbying for a post-retirement sinecure or other financially remunerative engagements, there can be two pro-bono options - take to writing or involve with voluntary constructive work.

For most, the former is often more convenient.