Khairatabad: Chronicles of an AC Saab by Ratna Prabha unveiled

Khairatabad: 'Chronicles of an AC Saab', a collection of memories of former Chief Secretary of Govt. of Karnataka, Ratna Prabha, was launched at Indian Resilience Summit held at Taj Deccan here on Saturday. The book is a collection of memories of Ratna Prabha from her first posting at Bidar as Asst. Commissioner. The book was launched by Lekha Sishta and Megan Jing Li. The launch event was followed by Indian Resilience Summit where the speakers emphasised on different topics like challenges of higher education, Gender and resilience, future of global resilience, etc.

The book has characteristic moments on how Ratna Prabha moved amongst her co-workers and always maintained a low profile which surprised everyone who did not know her few fun times including her hiding in the kitchen and sending her mother to meet people who came to wish her and watching her mother respond to the conversations. Her stories concisely relay the difficulties of being the first lady officer among the male-dominated district and earning a name, fame and a position despite the hurdles she had to face. This book is a ready reckoner for the aspirants of civil service. The book gives an idea about how honesty and dedication of a civil servant towards duty can change the life of millions.

Speaking at the launch, Lekha Sishta, said, "I'm very happy to be a part of the launch of the book. It is an extremely well-written book. Ms. Ratna Prabha has penned down this volume which will be of great benefit to all the civil aspirants. It will help them understand the life of a civil servant and how the challenges are faced."

Author Ratna Prabha said, "This book is a nostalgic collection of pieces of my life starting from my first posting in the year 1983 in Bidar, one of the most remote and backward districts of Karnataka. I felt it would be interesting to put all those together."

Speaking in the summit on the topic, "Women Channel Leadership," Prabha said, "No one ever gives up leadership easily, but we achieve it with hard work, dedication, compassion, and competence. I think women leaders are more caring and compassionate. As a woman leader, my style always was to be inclusive, build a team and find how to solve the problem. The second quality is that women leaders are strong, sympathetic and can feel the pulse of the people better. Women leaders are emerging in all spheres like in politics, administration, IT sector, writers & several unconventional sectors, etc. However, women leaders have emerged more in the education and health sector compared to political and economic areas. In fact, every mother or grandmother is also a leader at home. Safety of women is a bigger issue now more than their education. Peaceful environment in society is imp for the economic growth and encouraging women to contribute to the nation's economy by facilitating their contribution should be the priority."