Go Softly In A House Of Spies

A comprehensive and crisply-written biography of R.N. Kao mirrors the warm individual, his formative assignments and the fine webs he’d later weave

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Anglo-Indians in 1940s
The Anglo-Indians Of Mhow

There was a time in the 40s when many Anglo-Indian families moved to Mhow. Most of them worked as railways personnel. But now, most of the families have moved abroad

Denzil Lobo
Anglo-Indians In Whitefield: Preserving The Present

Established as an Anglo-Indian village in 1800s, Whitefield in Bengaluru is now an IT hub. However, in some lanes, one can still find ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Perfect Peace’—names of houses of Anglo-Indian families

Anisha Reddy
A Novel On Anglo-Indians
The Story of McCluskieganj

Journalist Vikas Kumar Jha first visited McCluskieganj in 1990 to write a story for a magazine. But he fell in love with the unique Anglo-Indian town and ended up writing a novel that has won many awards and accolades

Vikas Kumar Jha
McCluskieganj
Heterotopia

A world within a world is running out of time. But the voices of McCluskieganj’s past continue to resonate within its ruins, even as development takes over

Chinki Sinha
Opinion
The Future Of Anglo-Indians In India

Where are Anglo-Indians, as a community, heading? What does the future hold for them? Will they be around or would they be relegated to the pages of history books?

Harry Maclure

Vappala Balachandran

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Updated: 29 Jan 2020 4:02 pm

I started knowing well the late Rameshwar Nath Kao after 1977, when his erstwhile bureaucratic entourage deserted him to loneliness. I also witnessed the same circles flocking around him in 1981 on his appointment as ‘senior adviser’, only to abandon him in 1984 after Indira Gandhi’s assassination.

A secret of his success was his disinterest in projecting personal power and achievements despite the extraordinary aura related to his position in those days. He thought big for the country, chose suitable means and persons for reaching the highest foreign echelons, and delegated without obsessive supervision. He was elegant without being ostentatious, affectionate without being haughty. He did not splurge on secret funds nor did he create a huge supervisory security structure in his second assignment, which he could have. Above all, he was always a warm and kind man.