Rise Beyond

My earliest memories of Independence Day go back to school mornings filled with patriotic songs playing on loudspeakers and streets decorated with small tricolours.

After our school programme, Dad would take us on his Priya scooter to the larger celebration at the central playground. Standing on the footrest, I would often return home with a tricolour balloon or pinwheel.

As I grew older and read more history, I discovered many interesting details behind the ceremonies we see every year.

Hoisting or unfurling the flag?

A traditional distinction is made between the two ceremonies. On Independence Day, the flag is raised from below, symbolising a nation rising out of colonial rule. On Republic Day, it is already at the top and is opened or unfurled, representing an established republic functioning under its Constitution.

Why the Red Fort?

The Red Fort long symbolised sovereign power in India. The exile of Bahadur Shah Zafar after the revolt of 1857 marked the final collapse of the old imperial order, and the later trials of INA officers within the fort turned it into another powerful symbol of resistance to British rule. The Prime Minister addressing the nation from its ramparts therefore represented the return of political authority to Indians.

When was our Constitution adopted?

This is often confused. India became independent on 15 August 1947, but the Constitution was adopted and enacted by the Constituent Assembly on 26 November 1949. Most of it came into force on 26 January 1950, when India formally became a republic.

Why the Prime Minister on Independence Day and the President on Republic Day?

On Independence Day, the Prime Minister leads the principal celebration and addresses the nation from the Red Fort. It reflects the elected political leadership that emerged after the freedom struggle.

On Republic Day, the President, as the constitutional head of the Republic and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, presides over the national celebrations.

Freedom arrived on a date. Building a republic has taken generations and that work continues.

यूनान ओ मिस्र ओ रूमा सब मिट गए जहाँ से
अब तक मगर है बाक़ी नाम-ओ-निशाँ हमारा

कुछ बात है कि हस्ती मिटती नहीं हमारी
सदियों रहा है दुश्मन दौर-ए-ज़माँ हमारा

सारे जहाँ से अच्छा, हिन्दोस्ताँ हमारा

Wishing all of you a very Happy Independence Day! 🇮🇳

The photographs are from the Independence Day celebrations in 2018, when I was serving as District Magistrate of Purba Bardhaman. By then, participating in these celebrations had become part of my official responsibility. But somewhere beneath the ceremony, the child standing on the footrest of his father’s Priya scooter was still very much there :)

PS: I have also posted a new video today on a very different side of public service: how the civil service gradually enters the personal and social life of an officer’s entire family. You may like to watch:

When the Civil Service Follows You Home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAUFy...

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1 month ago | [YT] | 133

Rise Beyond

2008. A village deep inside the jungles of Dantewada.

We were a group of IAS probationers on Bharat Darshan, the seven-week journey across India that forms one of the most unique parts of LBSNAA training.

We were sleeping on charpais when, late at night, we suddenly heard gunshots. We had no armed security with us, and spending that night in the village was an experience I have never forgotten.

Over the next seven weeks, Bharat Darshan took us from Naxal-affected villages to Army attachments in Arunachal Pradesh, a naval ship in the Andaman Islands, underground coal mines, municipal administration, PSUs and many parts of India that most of us had only read about.

Looking back after almost twenty years, I believe those seven weeks taught me more about India than many months in the classroom.

This Saturday, I'll share those stories, and what they taught me about India, institutions and people.

The full video is live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc1Ln...

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1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 83

Rise Beyond

The images over the past few days have been truly disheartening.

I look at my teenage son and cannot help but think of the thousands of students who felt compelled to come out in protest because they had not been heard. I sincerely wish this situation had been handled with greater sensitivity. I also wish a greater effort had been made to address their concerns before it reached this stage.

A nation's greatest strength is not just its economy or its military, but the confidence its young people have in its future and in its institutions.

I hope the government finds a way to restore the confidence of these students so that they continue to believe they have a future in this country, and that our institutions have the wisdom to listen.

I also hope this serves as a reminder that accountability is not charity; it is a responsibility. Whenever students or citizens suffer because of a systemic failure, accountability should be swift and certain.

Above all, I sincerely hope this is resolved soon. I hope the students' concerns are addressed with empathy and wisdom, and that this ultimately strengthens our nation rather than weakening young people's faith in our country and its institutions.

2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 53

Rise Beyond

A podcast has been making the rounds recently. In it, a speaker claims that IAS officers can make hundreds of crores for their friends. Friends keep forwarding it to me.

My reaction? Amusement. And frustration.

Amusement, because after 16 years in the IAS, I can immediately see how incomplete many of these claims are.

Frustration, because I believe we are debating the wrong questions entirely.

It reminds me of the old story of the blind men and the elephant. Each one touches a different part. Each one is right about what they feel. But none of them sees the whole picture.

This Saturday: ₹100 CRORES? WRONG DEBATE.

This is neither a defence of the IAS, nor an attack on its critics. It is simply an attempt to step back — and look at the whole elephant.Watch it. And tell me where you agree, and where you think I am wrong.

Video released this Saturday: https://youtu.be/YCPLKk-Aav8?si=vUe0m...

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 125

Rise Beyond

People preparing for the UPSC spend an extraordinary amount of time worrying about cadres."Is this a good cadre?"

"Is that a bad cadre?"

"Should I prefer my home state?"

Very few people ask a different question:What is it actually like to spend 15–20 years serving in a state that is not your own?

I was born in Kanpur. Studied at IIT Kanpur. Allotted to West Bengal.My first posting was Bankura — a place I had never even heard of.

I had to learn a new language. Understand a new culture. Slowly become part of a society that was completely unfamiliar to me.

Sixteen years later, I look back very differently.West Bengal gave me another language. Another culture. Lifelong friendships. And a much deeper appreciation of India's extraordinary diversity.

It taught me that sometimes the places we know the least about become the places that shape us the most.

This Saturday's video is about the insider-outsider cadre system in the IAS — but it is not a policy debate.

It is a story about discovering another India. And, in the process, discovering another part of yourself.


🎥 Now live: https://youtu.be/YFRYSpPlJoY

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2 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 157

Rise Beyond

Are IAS officers always busy?

Do they get time for their family?

Can they pursue hobbies?

What is their work-life really like?

Having spent 16 years in the IAS, I’ll share my honest experience—the good, the difficult, and the realities that most people never see.

I’ll answer these questions in this Saturday’s video. Hope to see you there.

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2 months ago | [YT] | 143

Rise Beyond

Can Government Actually Deliver? What do you think?

(Full video drops Saturday 9 AM - 16 years of inside truth)

2 months ago | [YT] | 3

Rise Beyond

One of my earliest memories of transitioning from the IAS to the private sector was a salary negotiation. The recruiter asked me a simple question:

“What is your current CTC?” And I honestly did not know how to answer.

I knew my monthly salary. But I did not know my “CTC”. More importantly, I realised that my salary appeared much lower than what people with similar experience and seniority were earning in the private sector.

That got me thinking. How do you compare a government salary with a private-sector CTC? How do you value government housing, job security, leave, study leave, official support, and other benefits that never appear on a salary slip?

And on the other side, how do you value bonuses, variable pay, stock options, and the much higher upside available in the private sector?

This week’s video explores a question that genuinely confused me when I moved from the IAS to the private sector:

How do you convert a government salary into an equivalent private-sector CTC?

(Photos from my first day in the private sector.)

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3 months ago | [YT] | 164

Rise Beyond

Some images never leave you.

Years pass. Jobs change. Life moves on.

But a few memories remain.

This Saturday, I’m starting a new series: Stories from IAS.

The first story is about a tribal woman who was declared a Daayan and tied to a tree in a remote village.

And even today, I am not sure I fully understand what happened in that village.

See you Saturday.

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3 months ago | [YT] | 130

Rise Beyond

Across different postings, senior officers often told me: "You are too soft. People will not listen to you."

I refused to change.

This Saturday: the full inside story.

Are IAS officers naturally arrogant — or does the system make them that way?

3 months ago | [YT] | 11