When he was ten years old, Kumaraswamy Reddy left the cosy life in his grandmother’s village for a larger, busier Bellary town where his parents and siblings lived. This became one of the defining moments in his life. It meant that he went from a Telugu medium school to an English medium one, and from Class 3 to Class 7. Rather than be discouraged by the radical changes this brought, he chose to face it with what would go on to become his trademark acceptance of the most difficult challenges. With sheer hard work and determination, he graduated with an MA from Presidency College, Madras at the age of 20 and entered the Delhi School of Economics to prepare for the Indian Administrative Service.
His father, his role model, was his inspiration to enter the administrative service. India was still a young country and its bureaucrats were among those who built the nation’s foundation. Kumaraswamy Reddy served Andhra Pradesh state for 37 years. Two key postings were as Collector, Krishna district, during the peak of the Andhra agitation and as the 9th Executive Officer of the TTD (Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams).
He has been busier since retiring from the civil service, applying his deep interest and vast experience in public health on account of which he was a consultant for the World Bank's Health division. Further, he has set up the Indo German Advanced Technology for skill development at Visakhapatnam. When the pandemic forced him indoors, he used the time to write his autobiography. Written chronologically, it’s as much the story of one bureaucrat’s life as it is a window into the workings of Indian bureaucracy.
