Portraits of Power by N.K.Singh ; Published by Rupa ; Pages 384 ; Price Rs 595/-- ***************************** As we read this book under review--- the fascinating autobiography of Shri.N,K.Singh (NKS hereafter) we are stunned to read the wealth of talent in the NKS family from the beginning. His father Shri.T.P.Singh was a member of the ICS. He had six children. NKS was the first son who passed both IAS and IPS. Two sisters also got into IAS. A veritable gathering of civil servants! .The patriarch Shri.T.P.Singh ,who was the first full time Secretary of the Planning Commission, served as Finance Secretary during the electrifying time of bank nationalisation. However, he left no record. His distinguished son more than makes up. The volume offers us an opportunity to comprehend the mysteries of the functioning of Government of India from the 1970s till the early 2000s. We have brief glimpses of the preceding years through the occasional writings of the elder Singh. The book starts with an eloquent recounting of his roots – the migration of his ancestors from Rajasthan to Banka in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district, where his paternal grandfather was a school headmaster. The difference with his maternal side was stark as his maternal grandfather was one of the richest zamindars in north Bihar. The book is bursting with interesting anecdotes. Three are given at the end of the review. NKS was a brilliant student. Immediately after he obtained his Master’s Degree at the Delhi School of Economics, he joined St Stephen’s College as a lecturer. However, his family compelled him to appear for the civil service examinations. He got selected for both Indian Foreign Service and Indian Administrative Service at 23 in 1964. He chose IFS, but the family once again ensured that he opted for IAS. His marriage in 1967 was simply stepping into wealth. He tied the wedding knot with the granddaughter of the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Umaid Singh, Prem Kumari. For the princess the change from vast riches of the Jodhpur palace to the rugged terrain of drought-prone Danapur in Bihar, where NKS was posted, was quite a tough transformation. More intensely shocking for the bride was to learn one day that her husband’s monthly salary was a measly sum of Rs 750/-. Her junior assistants in Jodhpur palace drew many times more than that measly amount !. Life altered quickly as NKS got appointed as undersecretary in the Ministry of Commerce and the young couple moved to Delhi. From there, NKS went pursued a phenomenally successful career in civil service, culminating in his appointments as Secretary in all three departments of the finance ministry in existence at the time: Economic Affairs , Expenditure and Revenue . The crowning glory was his final appointment as Secretary to Prime Minister Vajpayee. NKS had a glorious term as the Economics and Commerce Minister in the Indian embassy in Japan. He helped bring about successfully the Maruti-Suzuki NSE -1.15 % collaboration. The Japanese held him in total awe and conferred on him one of their highest honours, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star. The critical years of economic reforms in India were from 1990s to early 2000s and during this crucial time NKS fully used his talents in diplomacy, knowledge of economics, and training as a bureaucrat . The most gripping chapter of the book is “Vajpayee, As I Knew Him”. NKS provides a succinct analysis of how, assisted by an able team, Vajpayee navigated the complex telecom sector reform, ensured his signature Golden Quadrilateral road project was cleared , and made a sea-change in India-US relations by undertaking the nuclear tests quite early in his term. NKS is famous for his infinite capacity for hard work , tenacity and drive. He laid down his Office as Secretary to the PM and promptly went on to serve as Member, Planning Commission; Member, Rajya Sabha; Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Committee; and presently he is Chairman, 15th Finance Commission. For nearly two decades,he played a commanding role in the annual conference on Indian economic reforms at Stanford University and his was an undisputed position in Davos. Since all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy NKS turned into an accomplished photographer, cultivated an ear for classical Indian music and practises homoeopathy as a hobby. It is pertinent to quote a scintillating paragraph from the Epilogue to the book : “This will be a decisive decade both for India and the World. The ongoing pandemic triggered by COVID-19 has few parallels in history. Apart from inflicting incalculable human misery and death, it has significantly altered, perhaps forever, several important paradigms; the nature of social behaviour, the pattern of economic activity and the acceptance of technology more decisively in the future conduct of our lives. Nations that master these challenges are destined to both guarantee greater prosperity to their people and become important stakeholders in the global recovery process.” The autobiography brings out the multi-faceted personality that is NKS-- a successful bureaucrat, economist, politician and author. NKS has provided a remarkable account of India’s political-economic history during the last 75 years. This is one of the finest autobiographies to emerge from the Indian sub-continent. Anecdote One How rich the Singhs were becomes clear from one anecdote. NKS recounts the incident of how his maternal grandfather was taking Jawaharlal Nehru on a tour of Purnea and the adjoining districts in Bihar in his Pontiac. When the tour began, Nehru asked who the owner of the vast land around them was. Grandpa declared that he was the owner. As the tour progressed, Nehru dozed off and, waking up a couple of hours later, repeated the question. To his horror, he got the same answer. That led Nehru to resolve then and there that he would impose a ceiling on land holding when he came to power. Anecdote Two-- A classic one is the instruction to NKS by a superior to create grand confusion in the brief on commerce-related issues for the NAM summit in Zambia: “Till you create enough confusion, there will be little scope for me to sort out the mess!” Anecdote Three I was appointed additional finance commissioner on 1 January 1986 and was to take over from my younger sister Radha, who was moved up as divisional commissioner at Chotanagpur. She,in turn,took over the assignment from my brother-in-law,N.P.Singh who came back to the Education department, even while my other sister, Krishna,continued to stay as commissioner of the Patna division.The local newspaper headlines read “Cabinet Meet to Decide Singh Family Posting”. P.P.Ramachandran. 15/11/2020.