New Delhi: It began with the story of a gardener humbling him, then a Prime Minister shocking him and ended with a packed hall wiping away tears as he recalled his late wife. The launch of former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi’s book, India and I, was more of a storytelling event.
He told stories from his public life and recalled moments from his private life that shaped him as a person and civil servant.
Quraishi said the most important lesson of his life did not come from politicians, judges or senior civil servants—it came from an elderly gardener at his first posting as Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Sonipat.
“I scolded him for working slowly,” Quraishi recalled at the India International Centre on Saturday. “He folded his hands and simply said, ‘Sir, you are my 28th SDM’.”
Those six words permanently changed the way he viewed authority. From then on, he made sure the incumbency board in every office he occupied was placed in front of his desk rather than behind him. It reminded him every day that offices outlive individuals.
“That old gardener in Sonipat probably never knew the profound impact his gentle response had on a young, overzealous officer. He taught me more about administration and humility than any training manual could. No matter how high the position, we are all temporary. The institution endures, the gardeners remain,” Quraishi said.
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Not an autobiography
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal was the chief guest at the launch and journalists Rajdeep Sardesai and Jyoti Malhotra moderated a conversation with the author.
“You’ve been an example to the rest of the country as to how a bureaucrat should behave. You never balked at doing the right thing. Your heart has always been in the right place,” said Sibal.
The audience had former civil servants, judges, diplomats, journalists and academics. The event was filled with humour, candid recollections and little-known anecdotes from Quraishi’s life.
The book contains 100 memories—each exactly two pages long—covering everything from his childhood in Old Delhi and early days in the IAS to election reforms.
But the book, he said, is not an autobiography. “I am not important enough.”
Quraishi also joked that writing the book was surprising given his lifelong struggle with memory.
He said his brother once asked him to post a letter and advised him to count 187 steps to the letterbox so he wouldn’t forget. “I counted 7,000 steps and reached school,” he said, laughing. “I forgot why I was counting.”
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‘I will commit suicide’
One of the most discussed incidents from the book was Quraishi’s visit to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s residence in 2012.
It came after Quraishi expressed his anguish over certain remarks made by ministers during the 2012 state elections in Uttar Pradesh.
He recalled that after the Election Commission cracked down on violations of the Model Code of Conduct, some Congress ministers began making what he described as “loose talk” against the constitutional body.
Concerned, he conveyed the matter to the Prime Minister’s media adviser, Harish Khare.
Khare asked him if the matter should be raised to the Prime Minister, to which the former CEC said “yes.” The next day Singh called him
“’Quraishi ji, can I see you urgently?’ The tone suggested he might come to me. I said, ‘Sir, you are the Prime Minister, I’ll come whenever you say. We fixed 7 pm’,” the book reads.
Quraishi said Singh thought the criticism about the “loose talk” was directed at him personally.
“‘Harish told me what you said. If that is what you think, I will commit suicide.’ I was speechless. My remark was about some ministers’ conduct, not about him,” Quraishi said.
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Controversial marriage
The evening’s most emotional moment came when actor and broadcaster Sunit Tandon read two chapters from India and I, handpicked by Quraishi himself. The first was the account of the elderly gardener and the second was the book’s final chapter.
It’s dedicated to Quraishi’s late wife, Ila Sharma, who died of a sudden cardiac arrest in July last year. The chapter traces Sharma’s extraordinary life, from journalist and lawyer to Nepal’s Election Commissioner, and her chance meeting with Quraishi at a conference in Mexico in 2015.
Their marriage made headlines in both countries, but the chapter is less about public attention and more about private companionship. As Tandon finished reading, the packed hall sat in silence, with many in the audience wiping away tears.
“A silence has entered my life that no speech or argument can fill. Nepal lost a principled public servant and a quiet, steady voice. I lost my wife, my soulmate, my best critic…”
Recalling their life together, Quraishi writes that Sharma quietly edited every article, speech and column he produced for a decade.
“She would simply ask whether I’m okay with the changes. I have never known a better editor.”
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)