Somebody once told me that everyone has one book in them—their life story. But the question is, how many people will read your book? The thing about writing your own story is that it is so difficult to make it interesting to others. R.M. Rajgopal, an HR professional who has worked in many well-known companies, is a skilled raconteur and manages to avoid that problem. His exploits make you smile, not because they are unique or extraordinary, but because they have been written with a certain self-effacing humour.
The book spans more than 50 years, from his childhood in Kerala to life as an HR professional in Kota, Chennai and Delhi. The narrative flows smoothly, often punctuated by anecdotes.
As enjoyable as the anecdotes were the descriptions of the people in his life, like his uncle the politician, his father the professor, and his boss, who referred to himself as Pandeyji. Some of them, like Pandeyji, are caricatured in a gently mocking manner. Yet, with such realistic brushstrokes that you cannot but help think of all the Pandeyjis in your own life.
My only grouse would be that the narrative lacks a certain depth, perhaps because of Rajgopal’s style of writing, which is with lightness and levity. Incidents are faithfully conveyed, but emotions are mostly evaded.
The best-rounded part of the book is perhaps his childhood, although occasionally weighed down by long genealogies. Watching plays and performances while living at the house on Casa Major Road in Chennai; taking a road trip with his uncle across the length of Kerala, from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod; playing with the children of the Muslim family who lived in his neighbourhood…. The further he goes back in time, the more animated his story is, pervaded with a charming wistfulness. Is that true of life as well? As we grow older, is it that our senses grow duller with time or that our past gets mysteriously brighter?
RETRO INDIA
By R.M. Rajgopal
Published by
Manipal Universal Press
Price Rs350; pages 309
