A Story for Our Times

This essay begins with a story of construction delays at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Lucknow—and unravels into a deeper meditation on integrity, corruption, and the weight of individual conscience within bureaucratic systems. It travels through personal memories, administrative anecdotes, and historical horrors to arrive at a quiet question: what does it mean to act with integrity in systems built to reward compromise? A tribute to Dr. R.S. Tolia and the music of resistance.

Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai

The construction of the grand Taj Mahal Hotel, Lucknow, had hit an early roadblock. Key approvals from city building and development authorities were not forthcoming. It was not that regulations and norms had not been strictly adhered to. The problem lay with the concerned official insisting that the files would move ahead, and approvals granted, only on the blessings of Lakshmi ji, sought through prescribed means. He was, he insisted, not greedy, but merely protecting the interests of the many whose behalf he was `forced’ to act.

The project manager was a rather feisty young gentleman. He invoked the code of the Tatas and before you could say `kya hua’, the liaison manager, responsible for the requisite approvals, found himself between a rock and a hard place. The construction engineers were breathing down his neck and the concerned official was unwilling to budge. The flustered liaison manager was given what I still believe was a brilliant solution, appropriate for those gentler times.

He was advised to ensure that a telegram was sent, every hour, on the hour, with the regularity of a BBC bulletin addressed to the concerned officer, advising that the project was in compliance with all directives of the regulator and were now awaiting relevant approvals.

Old timers will remember the ceremony that surrounded the delivery of the now defunct telegram. The postman, would announce his presence loudly, whip out a form for the receiver to sign and stamp, (in case of offices), peer closely at the signatures to ensure all was right and then hand over the message, leaving the receiver to rejoice, regret or then slip into desolation. Imagine this process now being repeated ten times a day, causing consternation and confusion in a busy office.

What actually worked for the liaison manager will always remain in the realm of speculation. In three days when he visited the officer again for an update, the concerned officer shot up from his desk, grabbed his file, signing it with a flourish and urged him to please leave his office immediately, muttering, `kya aadmi hai yaar, bees telegram roz bhejta hai koi?’

All of us, living in India have been inured to the idea of dealing with people and situations which will demand compromising a sense of integrity. The invariable and inevitable outcome of corruption. At times we compromise with corruption for reasons that are petty and at times we are unwittingly part of situations and larger forces that change our future. It could be compromised examinations, collapsed financial institutions/banks or then even professional progress. Often, the only response open to us is a sense of helplessness, regret and shame.

Lack of integrity often grows in bureaucracies, where adherence to a rule has robbed us of a sense of logic and humanity. Bureaucracies promote a sense of detachment and even duty that has made incidents like the holocaust possible. The instruments of the holocaust, killing, or rather exterminating six million were not monsters, but ordinary folk from next door. Franz Strangl, a Nazi officer, was an Austrian police officer, who joined the Nazi regime for the possibility of career advancement. He ended his career as a Commandant of two of the most horrific extermination camps, Sobibor and Treblinka, located in eastern Poland. Between the years ’42-’43, close to 1.25 – 1.5 million Jewish prisoners were gassed to death in these two camps.

In a biography of Strangl, Into That Darkness, Gitta Sereny quotes him justifying his actions by saying that he saw himself as a professional administrator, executing tasks assigned to him. To the end of his time, he never accepted personal blame and maintained that he was part of a larger system that he had no power to resist, as part of a vast bureaucracy.

In my career of a little over forty years now, I have come across both, professionals who put integrity above all else and others, who are never corrupt, at least not openly or in the sense of breaking rules, but are more than happy to compromise their integrity to ensure survival and personal advancement. I really do not know which is worse.

The Arthashastra, (4th Century BCE – 3rd Century BCE), acknowledges the inevitability of corruption, and emphasizes on surveillance and accountability as a deterrent. How do you counter lack of professional integrity? That is far more difficult, if at all possible. 

Before I leave, I wish to share another story told to me by a senior administrative officer of undivided Uttar Pradesh. It is about Dr. R.S. Tolia who crossed over to the great beyond in 2017. He never did hang up his boots. His last assignment as a government officer was as the Chief Information Commissioner of Uttarakhand. Prior to that he was a Secretary to the Government of India and had also served as the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand.

As a young officer in undivided Uttar Pradesh, when assigned as District Magistrate of Benaras, Dr. Tolia was approached and informed by the Superintendent of Police (SP) of brewing communal trouble in the inner city, caused by a minor incident. The concerned SP, requested, for permission to open fire, in case of need. Dr. Tolia is believed to have made a counter request – for the area where the trouble was brewing to be cleared, and a stage and a public address system to be put up. Dr. Tolia is believed to have then requested Bismillah Khan Sahab, to start performing and keep playing till he was told to stop.

I was told that within a few hours or so, the tension had melted away. People gathered and listened to the music, enraptured, uplifted and spellbound. There are many stories I can tell you of my experiences of working with Dr. Tolia. He never let bureaucracy come in the way of being a fine bureaucrat. The finest perhaps.

I often recall my interactions with him, specially in these troubled times. A small town in western Uttar Pradesh is on the boil, with communal strife. I have often wondered what would happen if Prahlad Tipaniya and Shabnam Virmani, were to start their renditions of Kabirs Bhajans, in the troubled town, reminding residents of Kabirs timeless messages of love and introspection.

This morning, as I sat bundled on my terrace, I heard Tipaniya sing Kabirs timeless - Mo ko kahan dhundhe bande, Main to tere paas mein. Na mandir mein, na masjid mein, Na Kaaba Kailas mein. Do listen to it too please - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihntxi40ks8