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Narayana Iyer came from a village in Palghat called Thiruvilvakadavu ("The British corrupted it and called it Thirunallai"). He married Seethalakshmi who hailed from Sekaripuram. They had six children - four girls and two boys. Little did they realise that the youngest would rewrite a fresh page in the political history of modern India. "Palghat Brahmins are good at two things. They make excellent cooks and crooks!" Only one man could use such a repartee and get away with it. He is a man sharp of tongue, with a face and figure that is a cartoonist's delight and was the terror and scourge of corrupt politicians. If you have still not guessed - he is none other than the charismatic T.N.Seshan!
He began his distinguished career as an IAS trainee at the Academy of Administration in Delhi, became Assistant Collector (Under Training) Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, Sub-Collector, Dindigul, District Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Director of Programmes, & Deputy Secretary, Rural Development, Tamil Nadu, Director of State Transport, Tamil Nadu and then Collector of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. He was sent by the Government of India to do his Masters in Public Administration at Harvard University, U.S.A. He was director, Ministry of Atomic Energy, joint secretary, Ministry of Space, secretary, Department of Agriculture, Government of Tamil Nadu, Member (Personnel), Oil & Natural Gas Commission, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Space, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Defence, and secretary, Internal Security, secretary to Cabinet - the seniormost position in the civil service hierarchy, and member, Planning Commission of India. He retired in 1990. He was then made Election Commissioner - a post he held for six years. His fond memories? "I have a thousand and one memories," he says smiling. A perfectionist, he speaks of the times he was director of state transport, Tamil Nadu. "I put up a number of bus stations. The driving and engineering staff were always at loggerheads. The driving staff complained of poor maintenance of vehicles and the engineering staff blamed the drivers for bad driving. So I drove a bus for an eight-hour shift, did maintenance work, getting under the bus." There were no more arguments. The state express buses worked so smoothly. "You could set your watch by them. There was no overloading," he says with pride. "To lead an organisation, you must know what it does". Touché to that... "Being a collector is a most delightful experience," he says. As collector of Madurai, he had to quell the anti-Hindi agitation. Also, "Sheikh Abdullah was my detenu". The 1000-pillared mandapam, popularly called 'ayiramkaal mandapam' of the Meenakshi temple was made into a permanent exhibit during his time.
Mr. Seshan took charge of the Election Commission on December 12, 1990 and continued in the post till December 12, 1996. In these six years no Indian, who was not a politician, had ever had anything like the kind of power that Seshan wielded. In an 'India Today' poll, some 90 percent of both urban and rural respondents rated Mr Seshan's overall performance as "good" or "very good"; 71 per cent of the urban sample said he "has the right approach"; and 78 per cent thought his motive was to "root out corruption," rather than to "look for personal glory" He was the "middle-class Messiah", disliked by politicians and journalists, who cleaned up the rigged election system. How did he achieve it? The rules and regulations were there on paper. Mr.Seshan enforced strictly what had been on paper for two decades. And it came to be called Seshan's code. He brought to the office of the Election Commissioner a comprehensive experience of thirty-six years of governance. "I enjoyed my six years as Election Commissioner. I had to fight everybody, including the Prime Minister and politicians," smiles Mr.Seshan. Behind every successful man there is a woman. And so it is with Mr.Seshan. Jaya Seshan is a charming, simple and a very gracious lady. "She is a great source of strength, a solid sense of support to me. She has kept me away from the worries of the house. She has been a tempering influence," he says fondly of his wife. His hobbies? "I love Carnatic music and have a fair
degree of knowledge. I love reading and writing and have written a number of books. I am
also a fairly good practising astrologer." Though the Seshans have no children they
love to be surrounded by young people. Mr. Seshan advises a lot of youngsters on their
career courses. He also teaches on an honorary level in management institutions like the
Institute of Management, Ghaziabad, Fore Institute of Management - Delhi, Symbiosis -
Pune, etc. What prompted him to stand for elections? "I was looking for a chance to use my intellectual resources. I was looking for a platform where I could be heard and the Congress needed a candidate." says Mr.Seshan. Today he lives in Chennai - a city he left in 1978 and came back to twenty years later. He is much slimmer. "I was obscenely fat," says he. He has shed 30 kg through dieting. "No rice, no wheat, no sugar, no oil, that leaves me with just vegetables and fruits. This is not a desired food but I have trained myself to eat this," says this Palghat Iyer who loved his kootans and pappadams. He gave up drinking coffee which he "loved obsessively" twenty-seven years ago on Doctor's orders. Seshan principle?
"He feels young people should have faith in dharma, a sense of pride for the country should be inculcated in every child and that there must be an absolute pursuit of excellence and courage. Mr.Seshan is a man of courage who believes that there is only one way of doing things - the right way. As one person commented, "Oh, how I wish there was a Seshan in every department!" And that speaks volumes of the man! Rani Ananth |
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Seshan did his schooling and Intermediate in Palghat and then went
on do his Physics Honours at Madras Christian College, Chennai. He did a three-year stint
teaching Physics at his Alma Mater - Madras Christian College. He wrote his Police service
exams but did not join it despite having done exceedingly well. He wrote the IAS exams and
joined the service in 1955. "I was in the IAS for thirty-six years," says
Mr.Seshan. Among the languages he can read, write and speak are Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam,
Kannada, Marathi and Gujarati. 
The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of
electoral rolls for, conduct of all elections to Parliament and legislature of every
state, and of elections to the offices of President and Vice-President held under the
Constitution are vested in the Election Commission of India. 
He has started the Desabhakta Movement, an organisation for the
regeneration of India. Mr. Seshan is very proud of his India. " India is the only
country which has a heritage. It has tremendous natural potential, a tremendous variety
from the deserts of the Thar to the rain-drenched Cherrapunji to the snow-clad Kashmir,
the major river systems. There is a technological revolution taking place and the quality
of the Indian youth will turn India into something superb.