My Years with Rajiv: Triumph and Tragedy

by Wajahat Habibullah

Wise, witty and intensely moving, the book brings to vivid life not just the personality of Rajiv Gandhi as a man and a leader but a whole phase of modern India s political history. The author narrates with total honesty and the most becoming modesty the story of promise soaring into achievement only to be cut down by destiny s inscrutable hand. Habibullah is to Rajiv what Abul Fazl was to Akbar. -Gopalkrishna Gandhi If you want to know who Rajiv Gandhi was as a person, a friend and a leader, and what his contributions as prime minister were, Wajahat Habibullah s thoughtful book, written with the sure hand of one who knew him from childhood and also served him professionally, is an unputdownable must read. -Pavan K. Varma On 21 May 1991, Wajahat Habibullah, then the commissioner of Kashmir (constituting the valley and two districts of Ladakh), had returned home after inspecting a mysterious fire at Dalgate, Srinagar. Much to his dismay, there had been another fire, one that left him an RDX explosion in the south Indian town of Sriperumbudur had taken the life of India s sixth prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. My Years with Rajiv is an endearing account of a friendship that turned into an administrative partnership, one that gave Habibullah an acute insight into Rajiv Gandhi s political life. But equally, in this lucid memoir, recounting his years in the Indian Administrative Services, particularly at the Prime Minister s Office, he walks us through the last three decades of the twentieth century in many ways, the most formative years of Indian history. Habibullah also seeks to demystify the workings of the Indian government and the modernisation of the Nehruvian nation, the turbulence of the Khalistan years in Punjab, the introduction of grassroots policies aimed at poverty alleviation in rural India, the beginning of telecommunications services, the Shah Bano case, the opening of the locks at Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi, Indian interventions in Sri Lanka, and much else. In this, the author, a natural raconteur, is more than successful, telling the tale in his inimitably candid and self-effacing manner.

Genres: Politics

Kindle Edition

Published October 26, 2020

About the author

Wajahat Habibullah, a former civil servant from the Indian Administrative Service, has spent much of his career in Jammu and Kashmir, most of it in the Kashmir valley. He held the post of minister in the Embassy of India, Washington DC. Subsequently, he was secretary in the ministries of textiles and Panchayati Raj, the department of consumer affairs, and was administrator of the island territory of Lakshadweep.

After retiring from the service Habibullah served as India’s first chief information commissioner. A former senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, Habibullah has been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in Secularism.

Reviews

[Sarthak Bhatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written book by a close associate of Rajiv Gandhi. It could be easily concluded after reading this book that wajahat was to Rajiv just as Sorensen was to Kennedy. Deals with everything that happened under the prime ministership of Rajiv Gandhi there were some victories like Mizoram accords and operation cactus and there were some major seminal disasters which even to this day India hasn't recovered from namely the opening of Babri masjid and ipkf involvement in Sri Lanka

The latter costing his own life in the end, Rajiv almost feels like a tragic hero through the book he was a pluralist and a modernizer giving India the means to enter the 21st century, panchayat raj and was somewhat successful in Kashmir too( his successor VP Singh was a disaster India should never have had!!!) But Rajiv was also a hopeless politician who tried to appease both Hindu and Muslims and lost most of his majority in the general elections of 89

It is almost tempting to think what could have been if he was not assassinated, he certainly would have come back to power since Chandrashekhar was as bad if not worse than VP Singh. And although Narasimha Rao worked wonders with the indian economy and made India a formidable power one could say it all started under Rajiv leadership.

I once heard an interview of a foreign correspondent who witnessed the assassination she said "his body was charred and they identified him by his shoes"(because they were European and uncommon in India). All he ever wanted was to fly planes but someone had to guide the country into the future and he did so with great courage, all of us can learn a lot from him.

[Pradhuman Bhati · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely interesting book giving details of the man called Rajiv Gandhi. It a book that takes you on a journey to understand the man and his thinking, which has been sullied but his detractors.

A must read and one will find interesting facts relating to conflicts etc with well researched historical narrative.

[Barun Ghosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been in close contact with many IAS officers since my childhood, I know how busy some of them are who leave a lasting print on the lives of thousands without anyone knowing about it. A must read for those interested in the period which initiated so much change the positive fruits of which we enjoy now.

[Sudarsan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative in patches. Needs better editing.

[M.S.V.V.Sesharao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and intresting