Power plays

The Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie, the premier training institution for the civil services, is a place where one would find a lot of young faces lit with idealism and confidence. But then how do many of these bright minds, within just a few years of engagement with the actual reality in the services, become part of the problem—corruption and subservience—that taints the bureaucracy? Though a work of fiction, Achala Moulik’s Rogues Among the Ruins tries to answer that question. It tells how things really work in the corridors of power.

This is a book that creatively places historical figures and events into fiction to make the description believable. Indirectly, it covers the tumultuous political history of the first five decades of independent India.

The book has a unique narrative structure. In the first part of the book, the narrator is a scholar working with the Archaeological Survey of India. In the second part, the scholar’s son, a bureaucrat, takes over the narration. Through them are revealed the “administrative acrobatics” and tawdry dramas in the Indian civil services. The novel takes a sarcastic take on the system in which “skipping over landmines without detonating any” is the mantra for survival. The novel addresses the deep rot in the system, and shows how principles and ideals are seen as an impediment to career growth. The novel also highlights the cover-up culture inside top institutions.

The novelist herself is a former bureaucrat who held various positions—including being director general of the Archaeological Survey of India—and she brings her experience with different departments to depict the working of the system. Though the novel tells the stories of many in power positions, it is ultimately about the fight of Subhash Chowdhury, a morally upright civil servant, against a coterie of corrupt officers in the bureaucracy. The book takes the stance that dharma will eventually prevail over evil forces.

Rogues Among The Ruins

By Achala Moulik

Published by
Niyogi Books

Pages 311, Price: Rs495

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