Crossing paths after 50 years

P Lal

Shyamala Balasubramanian was the topper of the 1969 batch of Civil Services officers. Toppers those days preferred the Indian Foreign Service, unlike now when they choose the IAS. I had been allotted the Indian Police Service, lower in the pecking order.

New entrants had to undergo a four-month foundation course at the National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, as it was then known. Shyamala, lithe, tall and generally attired in South Indian saris, was the cynosure of all eyes. Probationers vied with one another to interact with her, for her qualities of head and heart. Many, however, held her in awe, she being the topper! I, too, had the occasion to sit with her at the dining table on a few occasions in the officers’ mess.

At the end of the course, officers of different services went their respective ways, most of them losing contact with one another in the long service spread over decades, and in many locales in India and abroad. Shyamala rose to become the ambassador to various countries. All of us superannuated after attaining the age of 60.

The National Academy of Administration had, meanwhile, been rechristened as Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. It’s a tradition for it to organise the golden jubilee reunion for each batch. Ours was organised in 2019. To facilitate the matters, it created a WhatsApp group of all officers of the batch. And thus, I came in contact with many, including Shyamala, after a gap of about 50 years.

While being in service, I essayed a piece for The Tribune. To my happiness, it was published in 1992. Other publications also carried my articles. In September this year, a compilation of articles and poems in English and devotional songs in Hindi was published as a book From the Pen of a Cop. I shared the copies of the book with those who desired them, including Shyamala.

On October 25, I received a message from her on WhatsApp: ‘For us, the Navami is Saraswati Puja, when we worship books. So, a selection of books belonging to or used by various family members is arranged in the front part of the puja niche, small rice flour rangolis are drawn on the book piles and elsewhere, and the aarti is followed by the prasad… You would be pleased to know that as my book, I put your book there.’

No better tribute to my book than being placed in front of the Goddess of Learning. Thank you, Shyam!