In the collection of writings in the Penguin Book of Indian Journeys, an essay written by Dom Moraes, The Forest, it says, “Though a Civil Services Officer, Noronha, can be quietly termed as an anthropologist’’, ‘who went up Abhujmarh in 1950 and noted that elderly people and children were covered in ash, as a protection from the cold and the tribal villages communicated with one another by means of drums.’
Our most fascinating source to understand the man himself remains Noronha’s 182 pages autobiography, A Tale Told by An Idiot, 1976. The title of his book is taken from Macbeth: “Life is but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It is a tale told by an idiot; full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
His own take on this is to add: “Well, and so is history.” Noronha goes on to explain: “In a sense, this book is a worm’s eye view of 35 years of mini-history as seen by an individual at the grass-roots level. I do not appear in it any more than is necessary for continuity, but I have tried to recreate the atmosphere of the times in which I worked and played. Read on, and I hope you will at least be amused.”
In specific, Mahesh Neelkanth Buch(M.P Cadre, 1957 batch), regards – “perhaps the strongest chapter in his book” is titled “Dos & Don’ts”, a must for any administrative officer.
I
Early Years and Education:
Ronald Carlton Vivian Piedade Noronha – R P Noronha as he normally called himself and Ron to his friends, was born on May 14, 1916 in Hyderabad. His father was a railway engineer and mother a doctor. Being the only son, he was never sent to a regular school until he joined the Inter College in Vishakhapatnam. He did his BA(Hons) from Loyala College Madras and went on to study at the London School of Economics, finally doing his B.Sc (Hon) in Economics from London University.
He lost his father when he was only 15 years of age. His early life was greatly influenced by his strong-willed mother. Another strong influence on him in his formative years was that of his god-mother, Sarojni Naidu, with whom he came in contact through his mother who was then a doctor in the erstwhile state of Hyderabad.
In his typically tongue-in-cheek manner, he calls his first chapter ‘The end of the beginning’ and says he got “in pleasantly casual fashion” into the ICS (or Indian Civil Service), the predecessor service to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of colonial times.
“I got into the ICS in a pleasantly casual fashion. When I went to England my mother had impressed on me the need to appear for the competitive examinations which I had no intention of doing. (my heart was set on a carrier as a photo-journalist). After I had refrained from taking my first shot at the exam, my mother lost patience – and also perhaps some of her abounding faith in an only child and sent me all the forms duly filled up for the ICS. She also indicated delicately that if I did not appear, my allowance would die a sudden death. I appeared; much to my surprise, I got in. Even more to my surprise, I topped the list of Indian candidates, and ever since then I have had no faith in competitive examination.”
He opted for a posting in pre-Independence Central provinces and Berar, “largely because of the shikar” (hunting possibilities), and was lucky enough to get it”.
II
Norohna, the ICS in the field:
Noronha, a flamboyant ICS officer became “a legend in his lifetime”. Pandit Nehru chose him as the Chief Civil Administrator of Goa after its liberation in 1961.
Some of the most interesting segments in the book, which Noronha narrates are those of communalism and corruption he encountered in Madhya Pradesh, even in the 1960s. One minister whose proposals he opposed once told him, he says: “You don’t seem anxious to continue as Chief Secretary, Noronha, or else you would not go on in this way.” Noronha said, with as much as respect as I could muster, ‘Sir, my real desire is to become a [lowly] tehsildar, but unfortunately, you’ll have to give me the salary of the post in which I’m confirmed, a Commissioner’s pay.”
As DM of a district, Mr. Noronha once had to confront a violent communal situation, with both the communities ranged against each other, fully armed, across a road. Much violence had already occurred, and only a thin line of police separated the two hostile groups. Precisely at this point in time, Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister decided to visit the town and negotiate a peace between the warring factions. He was brought to the town, and Noronha offered to bring representatives of the two communities to meet him in the Circuit House. Nehru, however, insisted on personally going to the spot, which was becoming more volatile by the minute. No amount of reasoning, of security concerns, could convince him to give up this insane idea. Finally, Noronha, taking courage in both hands, warned the Prime Minister that as the District Magistrate he was the final authority, and that if Nehru took one step towards the mob he would be arrested immediately. Nehru backed off, the meeting took place in the Circuit House, and peace was restored to the town. Can we even consider such a scenario today?
III
Norohna, The Humanist:
The Chapter titled ‘’The Tribals’’, in his Autobiography, is engrossing whereas a writer he clarifies, “This chapter is not intended to be a thesis on the Aboriginals. Its only purpose is to introduce you to the tribal as I know him, in the hope that you will see a human being and not a museum piece.” Essentially, this chapter helps us to trace Noronha’s journey with the tribals of Madhya Pradesh, which is kept as official as possible, started in 1940 while working for six months under W.V. Grigson on the Aboriginal Tribes Enquiry.
His passion to serve this segment within the administration, can be gauged from the fact that despite serving in Bastar from 1949-55, he “waived chances of a promotion in order to remain in Bastar”. In fact, he spent most of his time in interior tours, learning and speaking their language, as the District Collector, Bastar. They, in turn, have named a village “Noronhapalli” after him, aptly demonstrating the man and his humanity.
In his book, he also mentions another officer, Freddie Mills, who served for 30 years in Naga Hills. Noronha, however, had cultivated his own ways and means to work with the tribals. He writes “I studied them at first hand, I lived with them, I tried to understand them, in Sagar, Mandla, Raipur, and Bilaspur. The association continued for 30 years. They evoke in me a deep sense of guilt. The worst thing that one race can do to another is to take away their living room. That is what we did to the tribals; by we, I mean our ancestors.”
The Abujmarh Diary is about Noronha’s travels among tribals in 1950. He says that,
“It is almost impossible for a non-tribal, even for me, to comprehend what his land means to a tribal… Identification, detachment, and a sense of humour — that is our Adivasi. To my mind, true culture is the ability to respect and understand values other than our own. The Adivasi has this quality. Have we?”
Noronha’s priorities thus always were those who were “God abandoned”—the very poor, the persecuted, the aged, and the infirm. “48 hours” was the crisp direction he inscribed on all applications for pensions not disbursed, and only “God” could save those who failed to comply with these peremptory commands.
IV
His view on Civil Services Reforms:
Norohna also recommended a revision in the mode of recruitment to the IAS(See page 74, his book, A tale told by an Idiot),
“Briefly the idea is to limit open market recruitment to the most junior level in state civil service. After working for three years at this level, the successful candidate will have two chances at the limited competitive examination for the senior level of State Civil Services, the level of Deputy Collectors. After eight years, Deputy Collectors throughout the country will compete for entry to the senior scale of IAS, there being no recruitment to the junior scale. The successful candidate will constitute the IAS and open market recruitment will be abolished. IAS officers will be posted to their parent state unless any states need more officer than can be provided by successful candidates from that state”. He, thus, suggested integrating IAS with State Civil Services (PCS) and in this process constructs it on old Madras Presidency system of direct recruitment at the lowest rung of the administrative ladder and filling up all posts to the level of Deputy Collectors by promotion.
V
His view on Administrative Service:
“The Service as a whole, – British and Indian, consisted of quite ordinary men, set apart from others, by three things: a dedicated sense of duty born of tradition and training; an independent outlook, and complete identification with the interest of people of wherever we were sent to serve. ‘’We deteriorated,’’ he adds ‘dryly’ later.
Some of his quotes aptly can be termed as “Noronha’s Laws’’, which includes:
– No man works harder than he must and the joy of living, lies in making little things big.
– Try never to do what you do not want to do. The secret of a happy old age is in never doing what you do not want to do.
– “Look here, my boy, if you have average intelligence, about half the things you do are bound to be right, which is a fair achievement for any career. Don’t spend sleepless nights over them.”
Noronha’s ideas and beliefs got resonance in, one of his favourite memorable lines of A E Houseman,
“Their shoulders held the sky suspended;
They stood, and earth’s foundations stay;
What God abandoned, these defended
And saved the sum of things for pay.”
VI
Norohna – the legendary ICS, as remembered:
Probir Sen, IAS, a 1967 batch M.P Cadre officer, remembers him as one of the finest civil servants of his times; demonstrating how the art of Administration could achieve, as a result of a rare combination of remarkable ability, incessant labour, a great sense of humour and deep humanity.
Remembering him, Sen cites a conversation, when as a fledgling Assistant Collector, struggling to wade through Laws and Manuals to pass his Departmental examinations, he asked Norohna, why he was needed to go through these voluminous and highly unreadable texts to which the response was-
“Certainly break Rules, whenever so required to serve people, but you must first have mastered the knowledge of the Rules you choose to break.”
Noronha’s day began at the crack of dawn when he worked at his “dak” and files; by 7 am, he was free for anyone from the city who wished to meet him; an hour before the scheduled time he was at the office to give his dictations; after which he met the IG, DM, and SP, to discuss the city’s Law and Order situation. During the day he handled work with seemingly effortless ease; he was always free to meet ministers, officers, and members of the public, and at these meetings, his interventions were invariably brief, precise, complete, and often humorous, as were his Notings and Judgments.
Noronha’s wit and sense were remarkable. Sen recollects, a classic Noronha’s cryptic comment in the Visitors Book of the Circuit House at Gwalior, where he spent a night:
“Circuit House ‘chuhe se bhara tha,
Aur khansama, sharab se.”
When Noronha was Commissioner, Jabalpur, he used to take young Assistant Collectors under training, to a plaque on which were inscribed, the names of British officers of the ICS, all young, who had died whilst working at famine relief. “How many of us would do so today?” was his question to them.
Prateep K Lahiri, an MP Cadre IAS officer in his book, A tide in the affairs of Men-A public servant remembers (Roli publication, 2018), remembers how Noronha used to comment that a civil servant often has to deal with ‘Tremendous Trifles’ which is perhaps more applicable to field postings. In Norohna’s words, “The Raj moved in a stately fashion down the streets of time like the London bobby, maintaining law and order, collecting land revenue and engrossed in all the tremendous trifles that make up administration”. Lahiri, further recalls, “There was a meeting of all Collectors (hence my presence) of the State. The CM was presiding and the entire Cabinet was present. A minister said something unreasonable to Noronha. His riposte, ‘Main janata ka sewak jaroor hoon lekin kisike baap ka naukar nahin hoon.’ This did wonder for the morale of us civil servants.”
VII
His Final Years:
Noronha rose to the summit of the service, continuing as the longest-serving Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh (1963-68, 1972–74), under Chief Ministers such as D.P. Mishra and Govind Narain Singh. He was requested by the whole Cabinet to accept an extension, which he refused, as he did the Lt. Governorship of Delhi, and Governorship of Assam, post-retirement.
Avay Shukla, former Additional Chief Secretary to HP government, recollects, and says about Noronha “on his retirement as Chief Secretary, when he was leaving the Secretariat for the last time, the then Chief Minister met him and offered him an important post. Noronha got onto his motorcycle (he had already returned his official car), and said, “Thanks but no” to the Chief Minister, revved his bike and drove off.”
It is this set of values, and a sense of pride, which made the steel frame. A Times of India report, dated May 20, 1974, mentions Noronha bidding farewell with – “It’s time for me to go and I will not stay in service a day longer”. Subsequently, he retired to a village- “Sankal”- to a life of writing, farming, and shooting (Shikar).
As a tribute to his memory and service to his village, the village Panchayat of Sankal has passed a resolution renaming the village after him.
Noronha was also a wild-life enthusiast who eliminated a number of man-eating tigers and his love for jungle and village are borne out on going through his second book “Animal and other Animals” which was published posthumously. He was also a polyglot who picked up quickly languages like- Hindi French, German, Telugu, Punjabi and dialects like Gondi, Bundeli, Konkani etc.
The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, in 1975.
RCVP Noronha Academy of Administration, the principal civil service training institute of the Government of Madhya Pradesh, 1987 is named after him.
Such visionary, was his vision, that he penned down his own epitaph:
“When I am dead
Shed
No tears for me.
The life I loved
I lived richly,
And to the last love”
References:
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-others/article29032410.ece#
https://officersiasacademy.com/2019/05/28/rcvp-noronha-a-tribute/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Carlton_Vivian_Piadade_Noronha
https://hillpost.in/2018/02/a-district-magistrate-speaks-up/110049/
http://thebookreviewindia.org/career-experiences/
https://mattersindia.com/2017/05/turning-on-the-green-lights/
http://www.navhindtimes.in/nothing-official-about-it/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3239000.R_P_Noronha
See below, By Sri. Norohna, Published in 1976
Also see,
Tryst with Dholpur House 
Dear Chitra,
Thank you for uploading the full texts that are out of print. I am a doctoral student working on Indian public bureaucracy and these are of great value to me.
Thanks,
Krishna
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Glad. Hope to bring more of such lost yet significant memoirs.
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