Candid notes

Kaushik Basu’s book is a fascinating journey into the heart of the ‘babu Dilli’

- MANDIRA NAYAR

RABINDRANATH TAGORE PEERS over his shoulder as a silent spectator to the conversation. In fact, Tagore seems to be a constant companion, beyond his pride of place on the wall in Kaushik Basu's study. A former chief economic adviser (CEA) who has not hit controversy—a rarity these days—Basu is back in academia at Cornell University. His morning has been “punishing” and the Zoom interview has been pushed back 15 minutes for him to grab a coffee.

Basu's stints in the government (CEA from 2009 to 2012) and the World Bank (chief economist from 2012 to 2016) have been turned into a rather dauntingly titled Policymaker's Journal: From New Delhi to Washington, DC and he is bound to make headlines for his rather candid take on the economy. “An economy which is on the rise, it is too early to tell, but it is floundering right now,” says Basu, who recently received the prestigious Humboldt Research Award.

He faithfully kept a diary; hurried, and sometimes, illegible notes detailing his experience—slightly wide-eyed, baffled with the vivid colourful descriptions of life in North Block. His observations are delightful, honest, philosophical and always amusing. “I decided right at the beginning that I have to record it,” he says. “It was the shock of life in government and North Block, which was completely different to my world, the flat world of academia where I had spent my career.”