A civil servant recalls with Tongue in Cheek

Jubilee Hills: Several senior serving as well as retired civil servants were present at the release of an illuminating book "with Tongue in Cheek - A Civil Servant Recalls" at Dr MCR HRD Institute in the presence of a stellar gathering of about 100 civil servants, including K Swaminathan, SV Prasad, K Pradeep Chandra, AK Goel and many serving and retired civil servants.

The book, penned by Shripad Bhalerao, IAS (Retd.), proves beyond an iota of doubt that the ever-busy civil servants can be witty and humorous too and that humor in babudom can always co-exist.

S K Joshi, the Chief Secretary of Telangana State, said that many humorous incidents happen during the tenure of a civil servant. He congratulated Bhalerao for writing a book based on his witty experiences aimed at leaving his readers enlightened and entertained, too. "Such incidents are not only a source of feeling good but also provide opportunities to learn about life and profession," he added.

A number of eminent civil servants, including K Padmanabhaiah, Umapathi Rao and others also spoke on this occasion. They unanimously said that people outside babudom are not aware that a lot of humor do takes place in the government files and in the day-to-day conduct of work of officials and politicians. "The book, which narrates these humorous stories, needs to be read for the sake of both enjoyment and learning," they added.

B P Acharya, Spl Chief Secretary and DG of Dr MCR HRD Institute, said that the ability to laugh at oneself and his colleagues in a non-offensive way is a challenging task and added that Bhalerao was the best at this craft. The book contains a caricature of Bhalerao drawn by Acharya.

The artists of Little Theatre, Hyderabad, read out some of the interesting events from the book. Shripad Bhalerao explained the context of the book. He served for 37 years, between 1975 and 2012 in the combined Andhra Pradesh, and retired as Special Chief Secretary to Government. Supriya Bhalerao published the book. She not only welcomed the gathering but also proposed a vote of thanks. Her lively anchoring of the event was an icing on the cake.