Monday 28 March 2022

Songs of an Uncaged Parrot by Rajendra Shekhar IPS. Book Review by Ajay Singha Raconteur Indica

The book’s title shares some commonality of nomenclature with a 12th century compilation of stories narrated by a parrot. The book under review by Rajendra Shekhar sticks mostly to solving crime, more socially acceptable as opposed to semi-erotic themes of the Seventy Tales of a Parrot or the Tutinamah of yore. But I notice another similarity between the two, the format of a story within a story, concluding with a subtle lesson for the reader. The author Rajendra Shekhar is a Mayoite and a Stephanian who joined the IPS, rose to become Director CBI and later DG of Police, Rajasthan. He has written several books which contain incidents and anecdotes from a most eventful career.The personal touch and informal style of writing is what makes the stories in this book most enjoyable to read. The author starts by recollecting the very positive impressions a police officer in the district of Tonk made on his young and impressionable mind during the formative years.

In one of the first cases of his career the author nails the fake charge of a complainant on a technical point as the alleged victim claims he heard the “ping” of a bullet going past his ear. Shekhar notes that the weapon in question was a double barreled shotgun which would go off with a bang when discharging pellets but never produce a movie style “ping” which only a rifle or pistol firing a bullet could make. The complainant realizes that his false claim has been uncovered and settles for a compromise. He then moves to uncovering “A murder most foul” where a child has been killed in a case of kidnapping for ransom. With sustained investigation they are all in for a surprise only to discover that the most vociferous complainant is in fact the murderer.

In his stint in the CBI the author works on the famous Bofors case involving the high and mighty. He explains the twists and turns that such high profile cases take and when investigations are stymied he shares a quip from Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee : “Guru toh gud bane rahe, chela shakkar ban gaya” (the guru continues to be jaggery but the disciple has become as sweet as sugar). Obviously alluding to the soft and benign approach towards the case preferred by Prime Minister Chandrashekhar who was severely dependent on Congress support to continue in power. Shortly thereafter the author is posted back to his home cadre. Unravelling the daylight heist in a Ludhiana bank by terrorists and the Nirankari Baba murder case both require painstaking research and an eye for detail. In the unfortunate assassination of General Vaidya the terrorists leave a tell-tale clue scribbled unwittingly on the last page of a Ken Folllet novel. Then there is the LN Mishra murder case which has political undertones and requires deft handling as once again the high and mighty are involved. The author takes us through these and other cases, admitting that providence plays a role but only if combined with hard work and patience.
The author narrates a comical sequence of events during the Indo-Pak conflict which led citizens of the border district of Barmer to believe that enemy paratroopers had landed in the middle of the city. The incident ends leaving the citizens a bit embarrassed as the suspected paratrooper turns out to be dog whose head is stuck in an earthen pot and hence the unusual sounds. After a fair exchange of opinions with his spouse the author observes “There is a bit of a cat in every woman, just as there is a bit of a mouse in every man!”

“The Tunnel of God” is another true episode where a crafty Godman almost succeeds in cheating a village full of gullible believers but a series of funny events leads to the fellow getting caught at the last moment. “Catching up with greed” is another true story from his early career and some of us will be surprised by the level of reluctance exhibited by Shekhar’s superiors in allowing him to dutifully proceed against and catch a corrupt senior official.
He fondly recollects his tenure in Jhunjhunu with a District Collector who was called “Allaudin Khilji” and who was also a great non-vegetarian Chef. Before anyone new could comment on his name the Collector would invariably quip “Funny name isn’t it - Jhunjhunu”.
The book ends on a personal note describing how well he and his family appreciated the immediate staff from the police force who worked very closely with them over the years. Both the lay reader and the people who know or have heard of Mr. Shekhar as an upright police officer will greatly enjoy reading the book. Written in an easy going style and bereft of the usual bombast which accompanies famous crime cases, this is an account by a sensitive personality narrating some most interesting and well known cases in recent public memory.