I am ending this booklet (or talk) but this is not the end. This is the beginning. I have said what I have to say, but now the burden passes on to you. But you say, "I can't do anything. The system is too big." Well, I have done something. I have possibly forgone the positions of Cabinet Secretary and possibly the Governor of a few states, or of the Ambassador of India to the United States or some other big country, which might have come my way had I been a simple bureaucrat, not trying to rock anyone's boat. I have made my sacrifice. I believe that truth deserves at least a few sacrifices. Else, what is the big point of life itself? One can, for one's little pleasures and prestige, carry on watching an entire Nation being looted by a few people from within, while they are prevented from being creative and from building the essential competitive muscle.

First of all, you have to decide: is this fellow speaking the truth? What is at stake for him? Why is this guy trying to use such simple, talking type language? Why does he show-off at every stage? Is he credible? Is he worth listening to? Does he really have the intelligence he claims he has? Has he really made a sacrifice, or is he using this as a plank to a bigger, plum posting? How can I trust an IAS officer?

Well, you have a right to consider this carefully. You must not believe me if your heart says that I am trying to fleece you or get your money or trying to get your vote. You can throw this book out of the window if you think there is nothing but a bunch of stupid rambling going on here.

Well, now here is my side of the story. Unless you are an exceptionally gifted individual, I am definitely smarter than you. Unless you are exceptionally wealthy, I have travelled the country more than you and have also seen more of the world than you. In fact, my father was posted to about 22 places all over the country during his career, and I have lived in virtually every part of India (and now, the world). I have worked inside the government. I know what goes on within. I have mingled with Ministers and Chief Ministers on a day to day basis. I have had the experience of a Minister throwing clear hints about how I must be a conduit for corruption for him, else I will be thrown out. I have had a Chief Minister asking me to give a lucrative contract to someone he wanted and when I did not, I have had the experience of being kicked out of a job for which there was no one more qualified than me in the entire Assam.

I come from an illustrious and honest family. My father was handling your country's finances as Additional Financial Advisor in the Defence Ministry. He helped negotiate thousands of crores worth of defence deals for your country. He could easily have made crores of rupees for himself, as did some other officers in the Defence ministry. But he waged a continuous battle for reducing the prices of the guns and submarines purchased by him. He saved at least two thousand crore rupees for India and today he lives skimpily on a meager pension in a house which has not been yet fully paid for. He has no car of his own.

I myself have never made a penny outside my salary, in government. I was offered a bribe of Rs. 15,000 virtually a few months after my joining the service. This could have been the start of a great career for me. I could have been a crore-pati by now, as have many other IAS officers that I know of, become. My wife and I both are IAS officers, but believe me, we have less assets, and less of anything material, than most. I was lucky once, in 1993, when I put my little savings from my study trip to Australia into the stock market and that grew rapidly, and I was able to sell those stocks and buy a plot of land in Gurgaon. I have never cheated you, the citizen. Instead, I have always tried to catch those who have cheated you. I caught an officer taking a bribe and managed to put him in jail for 14 days. Later, of course, he paid off a lot of people and he was re-instated. I was made the laughing stock of all the corrupt people in Assam. I did this kind of thing innumerable times, like an unstoppable foolish, rhinoceros. But you know, people, I always failed, because in your system, you have elected people whose primary objective is to defend the corrupt and punish the honest. I was repeatedly punished. But even then, I would have become your Cabinet Secretary or at least a full Secretary to the Government of India, simply by being a good boy and by not disturbing anyone else grazing on the meadows of corruption.

You would have trusted me (and probably still trust me) to be your Secretary. You would trust me to manage budgets of crores of rupees, thousands of people in the department, and I would also represent your country all over the world in big conferences. You would trust me to sit in judgment over entrepreneurs and big industrialists and give them licences and control their activities.

You believe that I am smart. Please also believe that I am not mad. If there was a better way than this to reform the system within my limited capacity, I would have done that. I am not mad, to desire to be brash, outlandish, outspoken, and needlessly bold. I would love to be a Cabinet Secretary and mingle with Prime Ministers. I would love to get salutes from thousands of uniformed personnel across India. I would love to guide your destiny, reader.

So why am I writing in this style? Don't I know the consequences? Do you take me for a fool? Of course I know the consequences. But I am prepared for the consequences. I think that is a price that I must pay to try to get the people to understand the problem. That the problem cannot be solved by keeping the word "Socialist" in our Preamble. That the problem cannot be solved by letting people like me run your public sector undertakings, by letting people like me give licences and subsidy to you, by letting people like me appoint you as peons.

Listen to me. This is your last opportunity to spread the word. India is a sinking ship. Those who have recognized this have already abandoned the ship. But everyone - our 100 crore people - cannot abandon this ship. The ship has to be completely overhauled. We have to start thinking economics. We have to start thinking incentives. We have to get rid of our basic ideology. We have to start all over again. Pass the message along. Talk to a friend about this brash booklet.

[let me be a bit dramatic now]: People of India: UNITE, and SHRUG OFF this system. You have nothing to loose but your tattered shirts, broken houses and begging bowls. You have nothing to gain but mansions of wealth.

OK. That's it, folks. The ball is now in your court. Goodbye, and have a good day!

Now that you have taken my wisdom from me, you have to abide by the law of India. You have to pay dakshina, not because I need the money you send (I can always earn enough for me and my family through the many skills and capacities I possess). But because you are obliged to. I have done you and your future generations an immense favor by educating you and showing you the right path.

With your Dakshina, I may start a political movement, of I may spend it off in buying a luxury Impala or the biggest factory in the world. What I do with the money you send is none of your business. But by simply voting for the deserving with your MONEY, you will prove that you understand. I don't want charity: remember that I sneer at charity. Pay your taxes and pay your obligations. The Dakshina must come from your hard earned money and must be generated from the philosophies mentioned in this book.

You can send your Dakshina whenever India becomes sufficiently powerful, or ask your children or great grand children to send it. That will be fine. But don't forget to pay for what you get.

Fare well in your life.