Book review 'Venkat For Ever': A biographical tour de force

Books by retired civil servants from the Indian Foreign Service, recounting their experiences of serving in various countries, have been well received in India and sometimes abroad. Most of them are well-documented records of India’s relationships with countries and regions, different social, political and cultural settings which offer glimpses of leading Indian and foreign personalities.

However, a book which has been painstakingly compiled and devoted to a single person, who served with distinction in the IFS and occupied its highest office — in this case A.P. Venkateswaran (or Venkat) — is unprecedented and the first of its kind.

The two editors should be complimented for bringing together scores of recollections and tributes paid to Venkat. Some of these are from his peers, but majority of these are from officers who either served under him or were acquainted with him. These capture succinctly why Venkat was very popular and elucidate his multifaceted qualities. If confidential reports on officers in the government were written by junior officers, rather than the seniors, then no other officer would have got a more glowing one.

The foreword to the book is by K.S. Bajpai, a batchmate of Venkat’s. Mr Bajpai was ambassador of India to China and the United States, high commissioner to Pakistan and a secretary in the ministry of external affairs. Mr Bajpai refers to Venkat’s unflagging sense of humour, “the ready aptness of his sallies being born of a sharp mind quickly focusing on what mattered” and informed by a wide range of knowledge. He adds, “We have had many clever people in our service, but few could match Venkat’s gifts”. Dealing with the avoidable circumstance of the voluntary resignation by Venkat which was widely covered in the press both when it happened and in obituaries,

Mr Bajpai says that by his behaviour he made it his finest hour. He handed in his resignation at once, refused to accept any other post “and never even returned to those post-retirement fringe activities” relating to external affairs which quite a few retirees keep at. The chapter titled A life lived well traces Venkat’s life from his youth. He was the son of A.S.P. Ayyar who was in the Indian Civil Service (ICS), the predecessor of the Indian Administrative Service. Venkat inherited his sense of humour and the capacity for quick and apt repartees from his father. A graduate in chemistry from Madras Christian College, he took his master’s in economics from Presidency College, stood first in his class and got a Tata scholarship to pursue further studies at the London School of Economics. However, his father persuaded him to attempt the civil services examinations where he succeeded and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1952.

When Venkat returned to Delhi after his long stints abroad, the situation in former East Pakistan turned into a human disaster of epic proportions from 1971 with the Pakistan Army’s genocidal killings there. Being in charge of the East Europe Division he was required to travel to Moscow, often in the company of P.N. Dhar an adviser to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Frequent Indo-Soviet consultations led to strong Soviet support to India at the United Nations Security Council leading, eventually, to the Independence of Bangladesh.

One could take the Indian Foreign Service out of Venkat after his voluntary retirement, but not his deep passion for India’s domestic and external policies. Towards the late ’90s, Usha and Venkat decided to move to Bengaluru from Delhi. Here he founded the Asia Centre along with like-minded people in 1996. It became, under his guidance, a respected institution with thought provoking debates on contemporary issues of national and international importance. It continues to be active as a tribute to Venkat.

Another distinctive achievement for Venkat was the enthusiasm with which he participated in the closed IFS email group. It was brought into being by serving young officers to exchange views on international affairs, diplomacy and service trends, as a platform for privileged communications within an exclusive group. Venkat’s inputs inspired the younger officers to be fearless, patriotic and widened their horizons to look into the future.

In a tribute to him, former foreign secretary Sujatha Singh points out that “through his participation in the IFS email group, he allowed many younger colleagues, who may have never had the opportunity to meet him in person, to benefit from his wisdom and experience.” And it is this email group that is the source of many rich tributes included in this volume.

Also included are “Venkatisms” — Venkat’s precious and profound one-liners. The book is leavened by the reproduction of Venkat’s recorded oral history, where he frankly expands on the various stages of his career to his interviewer who is also a distinguished diplomat. Students of politics, international relations and India’s external relations would find this section illuminating. The book has a pictorial spread of Venkat in the company of leaders from India and abroad, and some family portraits.

To conclude, no review of a book of this nature can do justice unless it included extensive quotes attributed either to Venkat or to those who memorialised him. Perhaps one of the finest comments on his life were those made by his American son-in-law after the immersion of his ashes, in a short piece entitled, Swimming against the current. He says, “True to his nature, Venkat’s ashes initially travelled upstream against the current. After that initial act of mischief, the ashes, cajoled by the currents, sashayed along the water’s surface toward the sun”. The book is highly recommended to any reader with an interest the life of a career diplomat. It also has a blow-by-blow account of a major contretemps by a former Prime Minister by well-known journalists. The publishers should be thanked for this attractively produced edition.

C.V. Ranganathan is a retired Indian Foreign Service officer