How top civil servants let off steam

Dr. Sanjay Mukherjee, MMRDA commissioner, is known as 'Project Man of Maharashtra' for overseeing major infra projects. His passion for singing has led him to perform at various events and maintain a YouTube channel.

Maha Project Man is on a song

Top bureaucrats take time out for their passion out of their busy work schedules. (HT Photo)

In bureaucratic circles, especially among his peer group of the 1996 batch of IAS recruits, Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, 52, commissioner of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), has earned the moniker of ‘Project Man of Maharashtra’, as he oversees top infra projects in the state from the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link and Mumbai Coastal Road to Metro and Navi Mumbai airport. Although his vision is to “transform MMR and its suburbs into thriving and sustainable metropolises through a plethora of innovative infrastructure projects”, his passion lies elsewhere – in singing.

Mukherjee’s interest in music goes back to his early school days, listening to his father and uncle sing at local functions. Their hobby was passed down to him and Mukherjee’s performances became a mainstay at family functions. Although untrained, the interest sustained and today the bureaucrat has his own YouTube channel, started a few years ago, where his live performances “mainly at social and charity events” are uploaded.

At a state government organised event titled ‘Maha-Utsav’ at the Jio Convention Centre in 2022 he performed for an audience of 5000, while at Navi Mumbai’s CIDCO Exhibition Centre, where the Durga puja is held, he sang for an over 20,000 strong audience in the last two years. He has also performed at Dinanath Ranga Mandir, Rang Sharda, Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Vishnudas Bhave Natyagruha, apart from the India Habitat Centre, in New Delhi, and Vasantrao Naik Sabhaguha, in Nagpur.

His choice of music ranges from Bollywood retro to Rabindra Sangeet; he sings while playing the harmonica, which adds “a unique dimension to the songs as it is a versatile instrument”. He earlier recorded his songs on Star Maker and subsequently moved to Garage Band using an Apogee mike and Bose earphones.

“I record when I am in the mood. I normally take a track of a song that’s been haunting me and paste it on Garage Band, and then record it in the silence of my study,” he said. “My favourite song is R D Burman’s composition ‘Zindagi ke safar me guzar jaate hai jo makam...’ sung by Kishore Kumar. Another favourite is ‘Main aur meri awargi...’ by the same singer, which I recently recorded but I am yet to post.”

He said he is able to indulge in his passion despite a hectic schedule as it is a stress buster. “Also, music does not require any special preparation, as it naturally fits into my life. I record most of my songs on the iPad. When you truly enjoy something, you make the time for it,” he said. “It’s a companion that understands and resonates with every mood; in fact it is a great companion during tough times.”

Although there are no plans to create an album, Mukherjee does not rule out the possibility in the future, after retirement. “That’s when I would have the time,” he said.

Poetry leads the way after personal loss

The CEO of Khadi and Village Industries, R Vimala’s social media handles go by the name Vimshine. It sums up her outlook of life - shine through the clouds that threaten to dim your light - which also reflects in her poetry. A prolific Hindi poet, she is a regular at kavi sammelans. from Mumbai to Panipat.

After her mother unexpectedly passed away in 2018, Vimala, 58, turned to creative writing as a coping mechanism. She was soon expressing herself through the written word, which was to eventually lead her from death and sadness to hope and optimism.

“At the time, I was battling sleep issues. When I could not sleep at night, I used to put pen to paper and start writing. It kept me grounded,” she said. In 2017, when she was undergoing the IAS induction training at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, she found a breathing space through blogs. At the academy, she met an IAS officer of Haryana cadre, Sumedha Kataria, who was a published Hindi poet. The two struck a bond and when her training ended, Vimala stayed in touch with the officer, writing long letters in Hindi.

“Through our communication, she encouraged me to start writing poems in Hindi, as she thought I had the flair for it,” she said. She started with baby steps and three years ago, published her first book of 50 poems. “Titled ‘Mann Rachanaye,’ it was launched at a function of family and friends,” said Vimala. One of her published poems, ‘Mann jago subah hui hain’, was also struck to music, which she posted on her YouTube channel.

A recurring theme in her poetry is suicide (she lost a loved one to an untimely death). “All of us have problems. I try to show that life does not have to end with the end of a dream; and suicide certainly is not a solution. One considers taking their own life would end all their problems, little realising that they leave much bigger problems for those that are left behind, who are left wondering what went wrong,” she said.

Lately Vimala has been uploading her poems in her YouTube channel and blogging site for a wider reach. These days, after each hectic day at work, as another long night stretches before her, she gets down to penning her flow of thoughts if only to rest her uneasy mind. She writes quietly in silence, dipping into the wellspring of hope. “I am a die-hard optimist. I keep a sunny side up even in the worst of situations. My poems reflect that spirit.”

Staying in tune

What started as a fleeting interest in childhood turned into a steady romance as Manu Kumar Srivastava, 61, reached adulthood. Srivastava is the former chief secretary of Maharashtra and is now posted as chief commissioner of Right to Guarantee of Services (RGS).

It began with his mother encouraging him (then a five-year-old) to sing at home in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, especially when her friends dropped in. Word about his talent spread and soon he started getting invited to sing in social gatherings and at school. That was the beginning of an intimate courtship.

He has no formal training but his deep love for music nurtured his passion. “I would learn new songs regularly listening to Vividh Bharati and sing them in functions and get-togethers. I used to be one of the main singers in Lucknow University where I studied between 1976 to 1983 for my BSc and MSc,” he said.

Even when he was preparing for the UPSC exam, he would find time to listen to his favourite programme on radio and watch Chitrahaar on Doordarshan. He was selected to IAS in 1986. The rigours of exams and training could not, however, dim his passion. “My singing continued in the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussorie, where I would always be one of the main singers at various functions,” he said.

He was allotted the Maharashtra cadre and while serving as collector in Kolhapur between 1995 to 1998, he met a music director duo who encouraged him to record songs and Marathi bhajans in their studio. “Since I got an exposure to singing in music tracks, I started buying and collecting karaoke tracks,” he said.

During his term as collector at Nagpur between 1998 to 2002, he recorded a CD at a local studio. It contained cover versions of songs sung by Mukesh and Kishore Kumar and was released by ghazal artiste Jagjit Singh.

When he arrived in Mumbai in 2005, as additional municipal commissioner of Greater Mumbai, he “came in touch with many personalities from the field of music”. Soon, opportunities to sing came by his way. In 2015, he learnt about recording on laptop from a singer friend who used to record at home. “I acquired the Logic Pro X software for recording on my MacBook Pro laptop and purchased an Apogee USB microphone. This allowed me to record as per my convenience in the privacy of my home.”

Srivastava has been posted in Mumbai since 2005, and in March 2022, he was appointed as the chief secretary. After retiring from this post on April 30, 2023, the bureaucrat was appointed to the post of chief commissioner of RGS. “My professional responsibilities do not allow me to record songs at home regularly. But whenever I get any opportunity, I do try and record my favourite songs on my laptop and upload them on my YouTube channel,” he said.

An artist and an administrator

Nidhi Chaudhary, the commissioner of Skill Development, Employment, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, wears many hats. The 2012-batch IAS officer’s artistic side influences her work ethic as well. A painter of repute, her works have been showcased in exhibitions to much acclaim.

“Whatever be our position, it will not remain forever. We must, therefore, remain true to our core by keeping our interests alive. The very fact that I am so invested in my childhood interests, which I still follow with child-like enthusiasm, energises me at work and keeps me stress-free,” said Nidhi, 40.

When she was growing up in Nagaur, Rajasthan, she used to send her paintings to Hindi newspapers often, and “it was a big high to see some published occasionally”. As time went by, academic pressures took over, and eventually, faced with the rigours of higher studies, she had to give up painting. Once she joined the services, she found no time to explore her passion. “It was only during my second pregnancy in 2018 that I resumed painting. It helped me deal with postpartum issues along with tremendous stress at work,” she revealed. She was the joint commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation at the time.

Once she picked up the paint brush, there was no stopping her, and she was determined to multi-task to keep her interest alive. She recently received a diploma in Fine Arts, from Bombay Arts Society by attending weekend classes. Although she was not very regular with the classes, given the many tugs and pulls at home and work, in an epiphanic moment she realised the need to keep pushing herself harder. “If I don’t find time for myself, I won’t find time for other responsibilities either. So, I optimally utilise weekends, holidays and sometimes, even burn the midnight oil,” she said.

Nidhi’s oils and acrylic canvases stem from Indian mythological stories. She has participated in India Art Fair twice, the Haat of Art exhibition, and the Bombay Art Society’s annual exhibition. She has also participated in group shows with artist friends in Ravindra Natya Mandir, Mumbai, and Amdavad Ni Gufa, Ahmedabad.

Her favourite series is the one on Lord Shiva, which she did after a trip to Kedarnath the year after her formal training. Over a period of time, she has integrated her work with charity, associating with the District Army Welfare Fund. She has decided to let the proceeds of her future shows go towards empowering girls in sports through the NGO Udaan Seva Sansthan in Hiravati village, Rajasthan.

Art, she said, has helped her become a more empathetic administrator. “The word ‘painting’ begins with ‘pain’. In order to generate good art, all painters feel pain intensely. Being sensitive might appear as a weak trait, especially in a profession like mine, but sensitive people are better administrators and also serve the citizens with sincerity,” she summed up.

Queen of tracks

When at the age of 51, Ity Pandey crossed the finishing line of the Comrades Marathon in South Africa, also known as the ‘ultimate human race’, she proved that long working hours cannot come in the way of following one’s passion. By completing the ultra-marathon, she created history by becoming the first competitor from the Railways, and the first woman bureaucrat in the country, to finish this hell race.

The 1996-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, who is currently posted as divisional railway manager in Bhusawal, practices endurance sports, her forte being long distance running. An athlete in her school days, she resumed her sports journey in 2005, with training in marathon. At the time, she was posted in Mumbai as chief commercial manager, Central Railway. “A friend introduced me to the Mumbai Marathon and ever since, there’s been no looking back,” she said.

After clocking good time in prestigious marathons in India, she decided to go for the Comrades race, held annually in South Africa, in 2023. Her choice for her first international run left everyone surprised. “Runners do other prestigious marathons like the Boston marathon, London marathon, Tokyo marathon first, and then go for Comrades. But I turned the table upside down by starting off with Comrades first. Now, the others seem like baby runs in comparison,” she said.

The 90-km Comrades run is one of the toughest ultra-marathons in the world as it tests a runner’s physical and mental endurance to the limit. Most runners cannot complete it as there are five cut-off points, and if a runner does not cross any of the cut-offs within the stipulated time, they are immediately disqualified. “I finished the race in 11.47 hrs at a pace of 8. Locals cheered me on, handing me water, energy drinks, ice cream candies, with cries of, ‘Ity mama, you can complete it! Come on! Come on!!’ You see, 50 plus women are called mama there,” she laughed.

The gritty bureaucrat and a mother of two admits that it is not easy to juggle different roles, but she believes in the adage, ‘Never say never’.

She trains solo given her work hours. “For Comrades training, I used to run at 3 am. In Bhusawal, I am in office at 5 am sharp to streamline the schedules of trains; and I am on call 24x7. But I manage to clock 90 km per week.” Next on her bucket list is the Everest Base Camp Run and Norway Night Run.