Ex-Odisha governor’s trip down memory lane is history tour for audience

CHENNAI: It was a trip down the memory lane for M M Rajendran, former Odisha governor and a retired IAS officer.
He recalled all — how he was the 1957 batch topper, how he was handpicked by legendary Tamil Nadu chief minister K Kamaraj to be sub-collector of the CM’s hometown of Sivakasi, how he happened to be district collector of Ramanathapuram when a super-cyclone wiped out Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram and then how that grim experience stood him in good stead when he was governor of Odisha when a super-cyclone hit the state.
Rajendran was speaking at the launch of Tamil translation of his book Service Uninterrupted titled 'Manam Niraintha Makkal Sevai' at Raj Bhavan here on Saturday.
The event, however, turned out to be an anecdote-rich history tour for the audience into finer facets of history reserved to make news decades later.
Recalling his relationship with Kamaraj, the ex-bureaucrat said: "Once, Kamaraj was angry with us since there was a representation against our collectorate for being anti-Congress and having done something against the interest of the ruling party. He did not even allow us to explain our side. Those days, collector would accompany the CM in the same car during his official visits and since my collector had left the spot, I ended up sitting next to him. I used the opportunity to explain that the issue is about denying a Congress functionary a revolver licence and that it was rightly done so since the person who sought licence was a convict in an attempted-murder and had come out recently after spending five years in jail. The same evening, he confronted the man while meeting people to hear the grievances and asked him to never face him again."
Later, Kamaraj appointed Rajendran as undersecretary and then made him the collector of Ramanathapuram district.
"When I visited him at his Tirumalaipillai road residence to offer condolences on the demise of his mother, he was concerned it might spell trouble for my career from the then ruling party. He was courteous enough to see me off," he said.
Rajendran was the district collector when cyclone destroyed Dhanushkodi in 1964.
The lessons he learnt as Ramanathapuram collector helped him tackle the super cyclone that hit Odisha in 1999. "The then Prime minister Vajpayee appointed me as the governor of Odisha after the cyclone hit the state. He asked me to take the lead instead of being a typical governor and address the situation. He also instructed the then chief minister to cooperate with me. After all the work was done, he asked me if the injustice done to me was fully undone or if something more needs to be done because I had been denied the cabinet secretary post during my service," he recalled.
RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, win his speech, said he was sent by the Tamil Nadu government with relief materials to Odisha, his home state, after the super-cyclone. "I had to stay there for a few days and he (Rajendran) took a note of my suggestions and I could see my points were considered and action was initiated," he said.
Shaktikanta Das addressed Rajendran as his ‘former boss’, as he was the chief secretary when Das was the district collector. He said Rajendran had empathy, the core value of civil services, and maintained a high-level of professionalism.
N Ram, a director of The Hindu Group, said the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru wanted toppers in civil services examinations to opt for Indian Foreign Service, but Rajendran was clear what he wanted to do and chose administrative services.