Saturday, September 29, 2007

The IAS story of the Iyer Swami from Changanacherry

This is the The IAS story of the Iyer Swami from Changanacherry. Life....Live ...


The script almost looks like a masala Malayalam movie from Shaji Kailas. For a change in this script , the hero is not an IPS officer but a honest IAS officer with high calibre , qualifications and integrity.

First Rank in State in Secondary School Examination , Kerala State
First Rank in Plus Two , Mahatma Gandhi University
Tenth Rank in IIT JEE
First Rank in IIT Computer Science , B :tech

He gets a scholarship from the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA . Instead of going there he writes the Indian Civil Service Examination and two more things in his profile.

First Rank in IAS Entrance Examination
First Rank in IAS Training Institute.

Some of you may remember the story in the front pages of Malayalam Newspapers way back in 1989 when a small frail guy from Kerala topped civil services. There was a complete supplement in Manorama on a Sunday tracing the academic journey of the iyer swami from Changanacherry who wanted to give back to the nation.Moi remember that even now because I felt it strange to read that somebody had topped all exams that he wrote in his life.

It is interesting to check the career of Iyer Swami after this. Just take a wild guess on what would have happened ?

13 positions in 15 years from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram.

Once in a while a controversy appears in Malayalam newspapers which involve Iyer Swami but it has been proved beyond doubt that he is a man of high integrity and honesty.

One of those brilliant minds which would have been used in Silicon Valley being wasted in Kerala Civil Services.

Here is an excerpt from the Indian Express report



This middle class Iyer from Changanassery, known for taking on political and other heavies like few IAS officers would dare, has remained a pariah for most parties in Kerala’s two political halves. The brushes soon came to a point where he took on his father-in-law, a big-time contractor, who wanted to block off a public road to a poor neighbourhood of Scheduled Castes to wall up land for himself.

“I requested my father-in-law not to misuse my position as the local Sub-Collector, but he wouldn’t listen. I invoked the Criminal Procedure Code and served orders on him, called in the police and carried out the demolition,” recounts the man who once led a raid on the home of one of Kerala’s politically influential liquor barons who wouldn’t pay up the Rs 11 crore that he owed the government in taxes, and seized his belongings. A minister rang up, asking him to lay off and return the seized stuff, Narayanaswamy refused and was on the political hitlist yet again.

Controversies, and trouble, have always been with Narayanaswamy, the topper of the 1991 IAS batch — he topped the SSC exams as well — and a topper at IIT Chennai’s computer science department who turned down an MIT scholarship to enter the Civil Service. Nine years ago, he bulldozed the sides of an important Thrissur road to widen it, hitting businesses with clout who pulled strings to perpetually harass him. Five years ago, he had a run-in with a prominent north Kerala minister in Kasargod. Narayanaswamy refused to recommend sanction as the local District Collector, to turn a hospital that the minister owned into a private medical college, without prescribed infrastructure.


Now , all his controversies are not like this . After reading this and another controversy about his car when he was the Thrissur Collector, I always wondered what he was doing. May be the articles would have been framed by someone to tarnish his image . It seems highly unlikely that Iyer Swami would have been a culprit in all these cases.

May be Iyer Swami is over qualified and a person of his caliber should not have witten the civil services exam. Civil Services need only tail wagging "YES" men who has rubber spines who will bend according to the wills of corrupt political bosses.


There is a huge hue and cry when people from elite institutes leave this country in search of better pastures . Iyer Swami is a living example of a brilliant mind with honesty and integrity that is being wasted in a system which has so much bureaucratic hurdles , nepotism and corruption. Everyone cries about the corruption in the country and people laments that this country will go to dogs . When someone takes the responsibility he finds himself sans of any support to him/her from the political bosses or common man who anyway doesn't have a voice in the decision making of this country.



May be the careers of many civil service officers like Iyer Swami , T N Seshan , Alphonse Kannanthanam , G R Khairnar etcc shows that IAS officers cant take free decisions above the illiterate and selfish politicians / political parties in India and you can't blame the young generation for leaving this country for better pastures.


But I hope a million officers like Iyer Swami will stay back and clean up the system and make it transparent for common man.

My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said I did it my way
I just want to live while I'm alive 'Cause it's my life

Better stand tall when they're calling you out
Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down



Good Luck , Dude :)

26 comments:

Raakshas said...

I don't understand why u keep calling him 'Iyer Swamy'. His name is Raju Narayanaswamy. Or is his caste so important for you?

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

Hmmm , Assumptions Assumptions . Iyer Swami is his nickname in beurocratic circles. Darling , Please grow up. Dont assume.We had banned casteism long time back.

Adorable Pancreas said...

Sad how honesty and integrity aren't being appreciated these days.

Raakshas said...

Good to know that u like the gadget. But i don't find it in ur blog :D

Anonymous said...

*Thumbs up*!

The parallels to Shaji Kailas movies (sans the flow of expletives and the dishoom-dishoom) is striking; Unfortunately, this is one story that won't end in the villains being blown to pieces (although i do wish it did) :(.

I salute Swamy for having the gumption to take on the (almost) mafia dons and corruption kins that we call our political leaders.

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

@AP : So what are we doing :) here in the blog :P

@Raakshas : I added it but removed because Malayalam was coming in garbled format

@Shikha: Nice to see you back and your blog updated after soooooooooooo long :). Yupz me too sometimes wish the real life villians to be blown to pieces :)

Visakh said...

there are lot of such poor ias and ips guys in our land..what happnd to alphons kannamthanam when he was the entrance commisioner?(http://www.hindu.com/2006/06/23/stories/2006062312810400.htm)..keralam nannavilla...

Anonymous said...

Like you said lets hope that more and more honest and brilliant officers will take on the curropt politicians and clean up the whole system in the future.

mathew said...

I think sometime when sense befall on our people they will understand why Raju Narayanaswamy was a lone gladiator in the messy muddle called kerala politic-bureaucracy nexus...I admire this guy a lot..

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

@Bonchi Buji : Hmm, Lot of them are not poor . Only a handful :P

@Umesh : Hoping against Hope :(

@mathew:Hope more gladiators will come :D.

Umsy said...

yes u do wonder y he gave up a cushy comfy life only to be pushed and pulled this way and that....when a person is moved around too much, he won't be able to contribute anything substantial...still wherever he goes he does something

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

@ Umsi: You bet :)

Anonymous said...

NC, I'm sorry to burst your bubble like this, but please don't believe that just because a guy has frequent run-ins with politicians, he's an honest man. I have insider information on this one - most of his colleagues think he's a psychopath. The person who used this word about Raju Narayanaswamy is a person who I respect a lot, and who has worked with him. He's not prone to exaggeration.

Oh, and before I forget - what work has Alphonse Kannanthanam done for his constituency since he became MLA? I don't belong there, but I'm willing to bet that he has done none. It's not like he did much when he was in the IAS.

The politicians in Kerala do obstruct the IAS officers, yes. This has resulted in a lot of capable IAS officers running away to do Ph. D's abroad, merely because they feel that their capabilities are wasted here, being servile to the CPI(M) ministers, most of whom are tasting power for the first time. You can't blame them, you know. Just because this Swamy guy stuck here, you can't exactly extrapolate that and say that the guy must be a paragon of excellence. That particular judgement error is called Halo Error, as you'll probably know if you rememember your OB. :)

Oh, and please pardon me remaining anon on this one. I usually am not, but I have to be this time.

Raakshas said...

You should download malayalam font to view the malayalam content.

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

Wow Anon , This was such a long comment :P.May be your sorce is right . What I wrote was based on the media and someother sources I had . But dont you think you are having "Focusing effect" -prediction bias occurring when people place too much importance on one aspect of an event; causes error in accurately predicting the utility of a future outcome since your view is based on the information from your respected source who said that RN Swany is a psychopath :) .

grameenan said...

Mr. Alphonse Kannamthanam inhis first tenure as MLA accomplished a lot for his constituency. Anybody can see the mini civil station building the best of it's kind in India constructed way within the estimated time.The roads of the costituency are renovated. The best MLA award winner, was a recognition for his excellent performance as an MLA.He brought in Rs 200 Crores into his constituency within this period. How can we say he is a mere bubble. He is a total professional in politics also with 100% Pro -citizen policies and activities executed with exceptional planning.

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Anoop Suresh said...

just stumbled upon ur blog wen i ws srchng 4 civil service toppers.To be frank, I really enjoyed ur qoutes.But i hav to say dat i am a bit disappointed too, being a civil service aspirant myself.Now i think dat i have to rethink my career options.My work in the IT field as an engineer might offer me much more creativity than our poor IAS officers.It is a very sad fact that , aftr all their hard wrk,these ppl wer reduced to the position of 'glorified stenographers' by our corrupt polititians.

Anonymous said...

good one..
1 question:
why dont u(who posted the story) write a letter to an honest guy in PM's office or to the opposition leader about this , something wil be done i believe

vinay said...

good one..
1 question:
why dont u(who posted the story) write a letter to an honest guy in PM's office or to the opposition leader about this , something wil be done i believe

vinay said...

@Anoop Suresh--
hi,..dude even am an ias aspirant..
stories like this can never create fear in one who s trying to become an ias officer...
look at the positive part, there are hundreds of honest ias officers still on duty today (in powerful posts)...


even am doing CS engineering, got to visit this website while getting info bout preparations ....
all the best

Anonymous said...

hi nariyal chutney, may i ask you the source of your info regarding this article??it appears you are informed atleast where it invoves me.allow me to correct you.everyone has a right to opine, but no one has the right to assume and opine especially in a bad light about another person.i was married to this selfish mean and cunning person till 2002.I kept quiet all these years because i was busy picking up the shreds of my life which he had torn to pieces and make something of it.i was still doing my MBBS when he stood on one leg to get married to me.He was driven to my home by his father;he was sitting in the front seat sandwiched between his parents; and he was not interested in talking to me.He very sweetly offered his help in official capacity to my father if needed.my father thanked him and politely
refused.I was not particularly interested in this marriage for obvious reasons;i wanted a loving and caring husband period.But then his parents came and literally fell at my parents feet and the inevitable happened.after that he ignored me so much i often used to wonder why he ever married me.
It became clear that he was using me, he wanted to marry a kottayam girl in kottayam when he was the sub collector there;just to get coverage there,and he chose the day too;when all the toppoliticians would be there in town so they could come for this too.On that day the then chief minister jokingly warned me about this man and it came out to be so true...Within a few days after marriage, he demolished my father's property wall which had
been previously reconstructed lawfully under police supervision following its unlawful demolition by local goons.let me ask you all; how many of you would allow a pathway through your property just because some lazy bums want to just cut across through it from one road to another rather than
walking around it in the normal round about way??that property is there in the family for the last 2 generations and my father has not taken anybody's property forget the government's.we have sufficient proof including the survey dated 60years back.This moron supposedly took the drastic
step based upon a mass petition and his enquiry report on it.I had to attend college face everyone's questions and not to mention the hellish life with inlaws...i was not allowed to talk to my parents or go to my home.after this episode i encouraged my mentally broken father to go to court.
My father was not down because the wall was demolished but because the new son in law did that cunningly and 'unlawfully' behind our back just to get
publicity.The 'martyr'got transferred in the mean time;and my father had to get copies of documents from the subregistrar's office for the court case.
he was shocked to see that the date on the order for enquiry report on the mass petition and the report were well after the incident;months after he
got transferred from the place!!!he had forged this document;done it at atime when he had no authority to do so ie unlawfully!!.The judgement was in our favour and the wall is now restored by the way.contd..

Anonymous said...

My father lodged a criminal case too upon my insistence.I was with my father not because he brought me up but because he deserved justice and needed my support.Anyways the cunning fellow sent his parents for a compromise to save his face and his job.As per the elders' advice i too agreed;no one in the right frame of mind get married just to divorce.I wanted to give it a try for what it was worth.But after the cases were withdrawn he never came home.I was with his parents hoping for him to come.One fine day he gave interview saying that he had divorced me and my father broke the marriage when i was still legally married to him.That was enough for me and i finally went for a divorce.Lot of people tried for a compromise including the family court judge;but he was not willing.I pulled myself together did my post graduation and fellowship through merit.I had wasted precious years of my life hoping that this poor example of a man would improve..I only know how difficult that period of my life was, i had to face the gossip, i had no strength to open up against people like you who support this cunning fellow blindly.I came out of it by God's grace.and I was practising my profession till my childbirth after my second marriage to a very loving and caring person.God is there so I got a loving husband to compensate for all i went through.At least now my parents are able to sleep peacefully without tears in their eyes caused by thoughts about my future.They aged fadt and became weak before my eyes burdened with untold sorrow.some of you may have sisters and daughters;how will you feel and react if this happens to them? would you still applaud the moron's academic brilliance?what is the use of any education if it fais to have impact and improve one's character??let me ask you how long can anyone live in the past??1st rank 10th and pre degree and IAS agreed but 1st rank iit entrance and final.. bullshit. his parents by their own proud admission to me used to go and stay with him in iit to help with studies.he has attended school only to write exams. and he cheated in the practicals.his parents used to help with files and his ' literary works' when i was there.and by the way what has academic brilliance got to do with character?? let me answer that.. nothing at all.and that man is a big big zero in character.are nt there any other honest officers other than him?? why nothing comes out about them??He is arrogant to aal except politicians (he licks their feet,i was witness) and so called journalists who publish what he pukes.i have often asked my father why he keeps quiet to all these lies and his reply was he would not reply to the barks of stray dog he had better things to do.But now the barking has strated to be bothersome hence this post.if it does not quieten i will go legally with proof to make sure the mouth stays closed.In 2006 this moron gave an interview and his mother had approached my parents for a reunion saying that he was willing to 'talk' to me and he would commit suicide without me. my mother replied that if a reunion happens then her
daughter(i) would commit suicide:)..and for the record my father is not that moron's father in law.so to all the people out there if something
sounds too good to be true it might not be true after all.if any of you has doubt and need proof for this i am ready to oblige.

Anonymous said...

And finally for the record Mr Swami is a mean selfish cunning person with no moral scruples whatsoever in using people as stepping stones and discard them with no compunction once their purpose in his agenda is served.He is a downright liar and cheat who cheats himself and others.But he cannot cheat God who is watching everyone.And just because he tells lies to 1000 people and fool them,his lies do not become the truth.He has to face God for his sins and various misdeeds, he is doing it so he has not come up in life and never will because he can never be happy or contended without God's grace.He lives in his past ;i feel pity for his present and future if he still has any.And lastly i am not lashing baseless accusations at him i have actually lived in hell and i have proof for that to produce before all who want it.i wont be keeping quiet till i try my best to
bring the actual story before everyone;no one can pull the wool over everybody's eyes all the time.there is an end to bad things too..so dear fellow bloggers Mr Swami is no different than the so called politicians whom he make out to be his tormentors and the cinematic style villains.in fact he is even worse because he uses even them for publicity while licking their feet in private and sometimes public foe coveted posts..why cant he devote his life to service of the humankind and be a true diplomat and human being without crazing after power and popularity??why cant he unburden himself of his mammoth ego?being a diplomat he should know how to tackle the politicians.that is what he is paid for after all.why is he cribbing then?
please rethink and collect your matter properly before blindly publishing.Lots of innocent people get hurt and that wont do you any good.And life is no cinema;its truth is worse than that...

thanks,
radhika

Anonymous said...

great radhika. you have said the truth and let this response end this god worshipping going on in media.

Anonymous said...

you are biased , you have not posted my previous comment. have guts and appreciate radhika for taking air out of net worshipping by you people without cross verification

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