Adheer watched as the truck
pulled out of the drive way. That was the last of his belongings, all packed
and set. Another move, another destination, another chapter in his life. He
turned and walked back into the empty house, taking a last look at the bungalow
that had been his home for two years. He paused at the window in his
erstwhile study and looked out, his thoughts taking him back to the last ten
years.
He had been on top of the world
when he had qualified for the Indian Administrative Service. His grandfather, a
doctor by qualification, had been a freedom fighter. His father, also a doctor,
had been disappointed when Adheer had not chosen to follow in his footsteps.
But he had been proud that his son was entering the civil services after
securing the fifth rank at an all India level. Adheer remembered the
day he left home to take charge of his first posting in Rajasthan. He had been
raring to go and impatient when his father had wanted a word with him.
“Son, it is not an easy path
you have chosen for yourself. Everyday will be a test – of your intelligence, tenacity
and ethics. There maybe times when you will be overcome with self doubt. When
your trust is shaken. Consider your choices carefully. And whatever decision
you take, be sure that you can look yourself in the eye after that”. Those
were the last words his father had said to him. Less than a month later, the
good doctor had died of a massive cardiac arrest.
As it turned out, his father’s
words had been prophetic. The last ten years were proof enough. Right from his
first posting, Adheer had courted controversy.
Banswara, a district in southern
Rajasthan, had been picturesque, with its jungles and hilly terrain. He took
charge as the Assistant District Magistrate there, under the supervision of
P.C. Rathod, the District Collector. For all his lofty sounding Rajput name,
Rathod was a boulder. Nothing moved on his watch. Which meant that files did
not move. Decisions on development works were kept pending, although funds got
mysteriously spent. He tied Adheer’s hands with rules and procedures. Adheer however,
was the irresistible force that toppled the immovable object.
When Rathod was sent for a two month training programme to the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration
in Mussoorie, Adheer was left in charge as the acting district collector. Not one to let a golden chance go by, Adheer
put the power vested so temporarily in him to good use. Cracking the whip, he
opened closed files, initiated enquiries and slapped vigilance cases left right
and centre. Clerks, officers, executives, MLAs, MPs, he did not spare anyone. When
Rathod returned, he was confronted with a battlefield. People he
usually shielded and protected were up in arms. But the damage had been done. Adheer
had to be taught a lesson.
The MP from that constituency was
a master strategist. It was mostly his party workers that Adheer had thrown
behind bars on different cases. He knew that harming Adheer in anyway would
create a furore. An aspirant to Prime Ministership, he had to tread carefully
in order to protect his image. Apart from the fact that Adheer had won the
hearts of the local population, he was also the scion of a freedom fighter. So the
MP did the only other thing he could. He rewarded Adheer for his exemplary work
in bringing the corrupt to justice and recommended him for a promotion. At a
public ceremony organised to honour Adheer, he praised him for his honesty and
sincerity, thereby showing himself to be a man who defended and supported the
upright. He then went on to ensure that Adheer was transferred out of Banswara,
never to return.
The next ten years saw Adheer
gaining the reputation of being a ‘tough
nut to crack’. An honest and upright civil servant, transfers became a way of
life. Every now and again Adheer packed his bags and moved mostly because he
had stepped on some important toes. Six transfers in a tenure of only ten years
was a record of some sort.
Adheer guessed he should be happy
that he was being true to himself and his conscience. He understood now what
his father had tried to explain to him all those years ago. And yet, he was beset with a
strange feeling of disquiet. A feeling of restlessness that did not go away no
matter how many transfers or new places he went to. Was that why his parents
had named him Adheer? Or had he taken on the qualities of his name? Adheer, the
restless one.
(to be continued....)
