The Talk
Intertwined Lives is the first full-length biography of arguably India’s most influential and powerful civil servant who was Indira Gandhi’s alter ego during her period of glory. P N Haksar rose to become the ideological beacon and moral compass of Indira Gandhi, playing a pivotal role in her signature achievements including the nationalization of banks, abolition of privy purses and princely privileges, the creation of an independent Bangladesh, the signing of the Indo-Soviet Treaty and the emergence of India as an agricultural, space and nuclear power. Even after Indira Gandhi, Haksar remained to be one of India’s leading public intellectuals till his death in November 1998.
Haksar’s life is interesting and deserves to be learnt and understood – by bureaucrats and citizens alike.