The memoirs of civil servant and Padma Bhushan recipient, SK Misra, Flying in High Winds was released here on Friday at a function organised by Chandigarh literary Society and Rupa Publications.
Flying in High Winds chronicles a life well lived, revealing unknown facets of the prominent personalities with whom SK Misra interacted, such as Jawaharlal Nehru, MF Husain, Prince Charles, Sanjay Gandhi and Ebrahim Alkazi, and behind-the-scenes history of major events in which he played a key role.
Candid, enlightening and with doses of tongue-in-cheek humour, this book showcases Indian bureaucracy in a new light, said Dr Sumita Misra, chairperson of the Chandigarh literary Society.
Former Union Minister Perneet Kaur formally released the book in the presence of former bureaucrats R.S.Verma, Geetika Kalha, CRRID Executive Vice Chairman Rashpal Malhotra, and Kapish Mehra, managing director of Rupa Publications.
S.K. Misra, after his masters from Allahabad University and joined the IAS in 1956, and throughout his career, he has flown in high winds, sometimes with them and sometimes against.
As principal secretary to three chief ministers of Haryana, including the formidable Bansi lal and Chaudhary Devi lal; principal secretary to Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar; and secretary in the Ministries of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Agriculture, he worked closely with strong political leaders.
He served with the UPSC, and as chairman of INTACH and has created and nurtured numerous institutions, including the Punjab Agricultural University, the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), the International National Trusts Organisation (INTO) and, currently, the Indian Trust for Rural Heritage and Development (ITRHD).