This is an intimate, inside look at the state of the Indian Administrative Service, with nothing held back. It lays bare the activities of the modern mandarins behind bolted portals, describing how they crawl up the greasepole of success, manipulating in-laws and outlaws with equal felicity. The way they bootlick superiros is only matched by the fervour of their pontification at juniors. The tussles at the top get really gory, as the commitment is to individuals rather than principles. Himself a senior IAS officer, the author tears off the mask and exposes the authentic face of his own clan.

Maharaj Krishen Kaw was born on 10 November 1941 in Srinagar, Kashmir. He joined the IAS in 1964 and was allotted to the Himachal Pradesh cadre. He held important posts in the state, including Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Finance Secretary, Education Secretary and Personnel Secretary. He also spent fifteen years at the centre and held the posts of Member Secretary, Fifth Central Pay Commission, Secretary Civil Aviation and Secretary Human Resource Development. After his retirement in 2001, Kaw has been active in social causes and was the Dean for Shri Sathya Sai International Centre for Human Values, New Delhi which ran training programmes for school principals, college and scholl teachers and students. Currently, he is a member of the Core group of the Centre for Governance and edits the magazine Ethical Governance.
Kaw writes poetry in English and Hindi and has also dabbled in other forms of literature. He writes a column ?Kaw caw? for the monthly Naad.