During the colonial days, there was direct control of the police by the collectors, and policemen were government servants acting as its sword arm and its role was mostly paramilitary. Independence did not change the scheme of things overly except that the political masters answerable to the people took over control of the police. In the early days, patriotic men driven by a sense of mission were in charge of the Republic, and to be in the police functioning under them was a matter of pride. That was when the Republic was born. The ministers were dedicated men and not ``men of straw of whom nothing would be heard in a few years'' as Churchill prognosticated. It was a joy to be in service in those days. It was the best of times but soon was to follow the worst of times; it was a spring of hope and as years rolled by, it became a winter of despair as our politicians soon deteriorated in their ethical standards. The police became an instrument for political work and for settling political scores. Vaikunth's work unfolds the story with rare candour seldom found in civil service literature.

                    Here is an unusual police officer, not the conventional professional detecting crimes and arresting marauders, but one with exceptional experience in public administration, not only in Tamil Nadu but stretching across the sub-continent to the Himalayas. The kaleidoscopic range of his postings included traditional policing, near military operations, an excise commissioner's work, a building society chief, a prison chief, a recruitment commissioner, organiser of civilians for home guard duties, planner of a modern metropolitan police force and to crown it all, the stewardship of a very large police force of over 70,000 officers and other ranks. Much more trying was living with prickly and venal political bosses who were always too short-sighted.

                    Late Justice A.S.P. Ayyar used to say that the hallmark of a good public servant is guts, character and dedication to service of the people. Other skills and talents were secondary. Vaikunth has that in full measure, a spine that showed its steel from his college days - recall the epistolary encounter with Panditji; bearding the lion in its own den by boldly walking into Periyar's room, an act that courtesy demanded but discretion frowned upon; and offering to meet Rajaji which in turn earned him a blessing that was so prophetic.

                    The way he defused the ``Vinayakar crisis'' is reminiscent of a Solomon. We read pages and pages of his encounters with the powers-that-be, but this man stood like a rock and infused a new professional culture in his officers and men. As Mr. N. Ravi puts it so beautifully in the foreword ``Vaikunth managed to turn typhoons into tailwinds, challenges into opportunities.''

                    We are reminded of the all time greats of the Indian Police Service, Mr. Malik, D. P. Kohli, Rustomjee, and back home, Mr. Parthasarathy, Ram Mahadevan and Singaravelu, when we see the work of Vaikunth as he revisits scenes with which we were vaguely familiar then and of which we have a clearer picture now. His finest hour was not when he lectured a whole Cabinet into surrender on the matter of an unethical interference with police recruitment (it also was Jayalalitha's moment of great statesmanship) but when the convict Paul Raj was fashioned into Dr. Paul Raj with a Ph.D. in Mathematics, another little Ramanujam teaching the theory of numbers but to the local people of Tirunelveli.

                    We also learn that other Chief Ministers and ministers, Mr. M. Karunanidhi and M.G.R., to name two, were not always unreasonable men or mere politicians. They have been more sinned against than sinning on occasions more than one. If there is a decline in police standards and integrity we now know that the fault lies not merely in the politicians but in ``ourselves that we are underlings'' who do not protest. The message is clear that professional integrity and ethical standards can be maintained by upright police officers if only they cease to be the boneless wonders that many are.

                    My only quarrel with this book would be that Vaikunth has dismissed his stint in North-East India without much elaboration. He had come into intimate contact with the local tribals and lived with them. He should have shared with us more about their culture that was supremely different from ours and what really stood in their way to integrate with the rest of the nation.

                    I am saying this because I had some experience with the Nagas in Kohima. It is not often that a police officer from the southern corner gets this kind of an opportunity. More on this would have certainly been of interest to his readers.

                    This is definitely a book that the public and students of public administration should read. Needless to say, it must be compulsory reading for police cadets and officers all over the country. It is full of wisdom distilled from experience, overflows with facts that are stranger than fiction and above all, Vaikunth has not sacrificed candour to court popularity or avert any embarrassment. He realises that half-truths are more dangerous than plain lies and he has told the whole truths though with anguished feelings.

                                                                                                             -- V. R. Lakshminarayanan

                 This is  a well written "life". Vaikunth's has been a well-spent career. Civil service literature in Tamil is rare. Many have very little that is worthwhile to share with others and literary graces are not the virtues of police officers. There are some exceptions. Arul wrote for magazine some years ago. It was rattling stuff and really enchanting. But then he was an extraordinary police officer with many gifts and sparkling integrity. It was a disappointment that this police officer did not produce a long book. That would have been great history.

                 Vaikunth's effort, a little too voluminous, makes superb reading. The author  is absolutely candid and has not pulled  any punches and nothing  is said in  hush and whispers. Here we have the political and service  history of Tamilnadu, spanning 35 recent years  and much of it, genuine inside stuff, narrated without  rancor. The career of Vaikunth has not been full of roses, His life illustrates the old saying that "when constabulary's duty  is to be done, a policeman's lot a happy  one. "But he met the challenges  and was rewarded with the "coronation" in a grand finale. Starting with his training in the picturesque hills  of Mt Abu, the flow runs gathering  momentum  and when we read about his  adventures  in the North-East  and his meeting Indira Gandhi, all regret  about the choice  of a police career vanishes. But that was not the end. Many minefields  lay ahead but fortune  smiles on the brave  and this brave son of  Tamilnadu  was not deserted  by Dame Luck  and many who gathered  around him  to scoff  and bark remained to praise  and raise  him  to the top.

                Read the book and your time will be well-spent, Take it in doses  and that will do you good. Some  of the stories are  vintage Sherlock Holmes. The  print and the get-up are excellent and though the length may cause some anxious moments , the cartoons and the juicy stories provide the relief. A young  A.S.P. walks with uncertain steps and soon steadies  himself and turns imperceptibility into a hero. And he was carrying  in his knapsack  a General's baton  in the form of pure  integrity and love  of his fellowmen , his  affection not denied to even those who  were on the wrong side  of the law. A Gandhiji  would have hailed him  and no wonder the powers-that-be chose to heap  on him all the medals  possible , actually repeating the Distinguished Service Medal.

                 Vaikunth conveys a message to his colleagues and the young recruits  and shares the secret  of his success .It is a book that educates , entertains and appeals to the men  and women in uniform as much as to the public  at large. Once in a few years a real good book  hits  the stands. This one is a "MILLENNIUM GIFT".

                                                                                                                         --V. R. Lakshmi Narayanan

                    This is a splendid book , written with the utmost candour , by an outstanding  police officer  and public servant.Vaikunth won a place  in the  Indian Police Service  by open competition , and began his training in 1961.He was allotted to the Tamilnadu cadre. After undergoing training at Mussoourie , Mount Abu and Vellore , and practical training in the field,he was posted as Assistant Superintendent of Police,Virudachalam Sub-Division, in South Arcot district. During the following 32 years he served in  a variety of posts, some of which were  outside the regular police establishments. He retired as the head of the Tamilnadu  Police, as the Director general Of Police in 1995. He severed under  and had several encounters  with successive Chief Ministers from  K.Kamaraj,through M.Bhaktavatsalam,  C.N.Annadurai, M.Karunanidhi,  M.G.Ramachandran and finally Jayalalitha. He has recounted all these incidents  with complete frankness; and described their reaction to various situations. Political interference in the work of the Police is a common feature of  our public life.Vaikunth resisted every such attempt  with courage and conviction , and usually prevailed. He expressed his appreciation for  Jayalalithaa for  her non interference  in the Police administration of Tamilnadu under Vaikunth's leadership. In this sense, the book is for all practical purposes  a political history of Tamilnadu and its Chief Ministers for  some four and a half decades.

                    There are several references  in the book to the intrigues of his own colleagues in the Police department. The result was his posting  to a number of official positions on the periphery, and sometimes outside the department. Thus he did  two stints as  Deputy Inspector-General of Home Guards, and bagged two President 's Medals  for  distinguished service  in that capacity. twice  he was put in charge of Civil Supplies, once at the level of Superintendent, and later as a Deputy Inspector-General He did a lot to stop smuggling , both inter-district  and inter-provincial  , and to prevent hoarding   and price inflation. In late 1983 he became the Managing Director of the Tamilnadu  Police Housing Corporation and built a model Colony  in Navalpattu  in Trichy district. He was then  appointed  at the level of  Inspector-General as I.G. Vigilance  in the Tamilnadu Electricity Board, where he undertook a  major clean-up operation .In 1991 he was  appointed Director General of Police and Chairman of the Uniformed Services Recruitment board .He  undertook a major   recruitment drive  to appoint constables  and Sub Inspector  to fill existing vacancies  using the latest Techniques and making sure that appointments  were made only on the merit, with due regard to  applications from persons  from the reserved sections It was commended as a " fool-Proof  recruitment"  operation. his next appointment was  as director General Economic Offences wing. In this capacity he uncovered a well-established  conspiracy to steal and export  antique idols , mainly to united States, and instituted proceedings  for the recovery of stolen idols from that country. He served for some time as an Inspector-General of Police. When he was the deputy Inspector -General  in charge of Prohibition Enforcement, the prohibition policy was liberalized  by Chief Minister M.G.R. Vaikunth  dealt firmly with offences such as bootlegging.

                 In mid-1966,early in his career, Vaikunth was sidelined and packed  off as  the  Commandant  of a battalion of the  Malabar  Special Police  in the then North  East Frontier Agency. The area was so remote  that all supplies  had to be air-dropped. Even so Prime Minister Indira Gandhi visited the area , and accepted his hospitality having  idli, dosai and filter coffee . Vaikunth  calls  it a " most significant  event which I shall cherish  throughout  my life".

                There are so many incidents  in the book  which attract one 's  attention  but I  shall  content   myself with two of them. "The Skeleton Spoke" , the skeleton had been discovered  in a long vacant  Sub Inspectors  official quarters , when a flower-bed was being excavated , like the ghost in Hamlet, the skeleton  appeared in Vaikunth's dream, and detailed the circumstances of his murder. Although  the murderer was identified, she escaped  justice because  the only witness was  a young girl, who was in a state of shock. In another incident , an over -zealous  Hindu head constable , whose  nickname was " Om  Namasivaya", planted an earthen  Vinayaka idol  in an area  which had been earmarked for the building of a Mosque , and pretended  that it was a "Swayambhu idol", which had surfaced  from underground. This hoax was also exposed  by Vaikunth.

                On two occasions when the government in power wanted the police to arrest leading  political figures for its own reasons, Vaikunth stood up for his principles, and was able to get the government to change its stance.

                  All through his official life, Vaikunth took a parental interest in the welfare of the human beings constituting the police force.  this endeared him to his subordinates.  But when individual policemen misbehaved, he came down on the offenders with the full weight of his authority , as can be seen from the chapter dealing with 'The violence at Kodiyankulam'.

                  In every posting that he held, Vaikunth applied the most advanced principles of 'O&M' - organization and method.  He systemtised procedures and practices and left the unit under him operating at a higher level of efficiency than earlier.  His final posting, as the Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu was the culmination of a long and splendid career, marked by distinctions galore, and an enviable record of achievements.  In the course of his book with his characteristic candour he has bestowed praise liberally on many of his police service colleagues and has been openly critical of some of his other colleagues, especially those whom he believed to be seeking official advancement by propitiating the powers that be.  His comments on a former Chief Secretary are very strong.

                    Apart from its general interest, this book, and especially its last chapter 'Promises to keep', should be required reading for every newly appointed police officer.

                                                                                                                  -- C V Narasimhan

                                                                                       Former Under Secretary General of the United Nations

                                     -by Malini Srinivasan

                  Police officers who retire from key positions often  have great  tales to share. Many do it in private. Some find handy publishers  to release  a kiss-and-tell-all  kind  of book. Still others share their tales and attempt  to contribute useful experiences.

                 V. Vaikunth, the retired Director-General of Police  of Tamil Nadu, had lots  to share  for a purpose. So he kept diaries  to put them all into a book. Recently he released  that book called “ An Eye To Indian Policing-Challenge and Response” ., the book is huge narration  and throws and light on  many issues that  he confronted  during his  long career as a office.

                 The man  has earned a name  for being an upright  officer. And the book expands quite  a bit in many places on circumstances  which morally challenged him. One such was a note  sent by his superior  to try and influence the fortunes   of a local politician. He tells us that he  chose  not to compromise . 

                  As he says,” For a police official, it is wrong to support one candidate against "another” The book is a big tome with many photographs  that are a photo album  of sorts of the officer, through  different stages of his career. 

                 “I had to withstand  the pulls and pressures  of  office, unmindful of the consequences that might have marred  my career prospects .”he says.” Despite being in a position where I had to keep happy the powers that be, I didn’t hesitate to express my views , however  unpalatable  they might  have  been  for that occasion.” 

                 Even while pointing  a finger at  flaws, and drawbacks that he had  noticed in the men he worked  with, he  does not deny the pat due  to them. And according  to him, former Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa  was not ‘vindictive’. And he considers Tamilnadu Police to be one of the finest  forces in the country. 

                “In a basket of fish, if one fish stinks, the whole baskets stinks! Similarly, one bad police officer can do a lot of damage to the image of the police, and they are a branded a bad lot. Image building of the police doesn’t come by recruiting and adding  on the physical strength of the police  force or by passing resolutions,” he says.   Having had to deal with politicians all the time, what does he make of them? 

              “It is not just the politicians who  were bad. There were senior officers too who failed to set  an example  to  the juniors which actually spoils the force ,” he says. Some chapters  are colourful .the one called” Thus spake  Lord Vinayaka” focuses on the huge response  to the day when Vinayaka idols had this huge thirst  For milk and devotees  across the country  went crazy feeding the idols.  Here Vaikunth’s  outlines  his professional response to a complicated religious issue , bearing  in mind the religious  sentiments of the peoples. 

                 Vaikunth feels , that the policemen  nowadays  should  be Jack-of-all-trades and also a  master of these  trades,” On the one  hand  you must know  how to  deal  with  religious  crowds   at temple festivals  while  on the other  you may need to attend to the delivery  of a baby and the next day, go after a forest brigand like Veerappan.”

On this one of the readers of “Mylapore Times” said this as,  

Policeman’s Memories and Lessons:

                Sir, Adverting to Malini Srinivasan’s article, V. Vaikunth deserves accolades for his excellent book ‘An Eye To Indian Policing-Challenge and response ‘I have also read this and  it is a masterpiece. Mr Vaikunth has comprehensively  brought out the trials  and tribulations  he had encountered  during his illustrious career, spanning  35 years. It also reiterates his firm resolve and conviction and how a person can rise  to the occasion  under trying circumstances. It is  a good book for all and especially budding officers  of the force  as they can  take a leaf out of it.

It is a wholesome recipe for success.

                                                                                  R.K.Sridharan, 2,East Circular Road, Santhome.