Chandralekha and Sadanand Menon developed my early curiosity. B.N. Srikrishna has shown me that, more than any other body part, spine is required for public service. Lawrence Liang has taught me to pursue passion rather than profession. As has Satyajit Banerjee, guru in tennis as well as in life.
The other inhabitants of my Rishi Valley world—Radhika Herzberger, Alok Mathur, A. Kumaraswamy, Shailesh Shirali, M. Nandakumar—have also taught me to follow my heart, a lesson my fellow travellers have taken to their own. I mean you, Govind Naidu, Pranav Ullal, Saurabh Seth, Rachel Immanuel, Deepika Mahidhara and Malay Duggar.
My uncles and aunts motivate me: Tennis and Lalitha Krishnan, T.S.R. and Lalitha Subramanian, Janakiram, Vijaya and Venkatesh Mannar, Srinivasan and Uma, Krishnan and Shobha. As do A.V. Krishnan, Lalitha and their inspirational son Rajesh. T.S.R. Subramanian and R. Srinivasan were watchfully involved with the book, providing insight as well as reassurance.
Kamala and Ganesh are the people most to blame for the author of this book. I have inherited my parents’ love for ideas and argument, as well as their stubbornness. They have disciplined me as well as each word in this manuscript. Along with Ketki, Sudhir, Aditi and Sahaana, they are the rocks above which my castle hovers. Kanwal and Sushma Sachdev are pillars of support. In this last year, I have been lucky to gain a new family: Sriram, Rukmani, Aparaajit and Anusha. Mathuram Krishna provided much joy through the writing of this book. She blessed it before moving on.
I dedicate this book to the three grandparents who shaped me. Ramanathan, by his passion for knowledge; Chellam through her passion for people; and Padmavathi, who taught me to look beyond the Self.
THE BEGINNING
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VIKING
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First published in Viking by Penguin Books India 2016
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Copyright © Vinay Sitapati 2016
Cover design by Ahlawat Gunjan
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The views and opinions expressed in this book are the author’s own and the facts are as reported by him which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.
ISBN: 978-0-670-08822-5
This digital edition published in 2016.
e-ISBN: 978-9-386-05772-3
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
Half - Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India Page 39