A split second before throwing the mungfali wrapper your investigative reporter chanced to glance at the contents and almost jumped out of his proverbial 'thick' skin. It was a photocopy of a top-secret memorandum for restricted circulation at the Mussoorie IAS Academy. Authored by a senior Indian Administrative Service officer, serving at the Academy as a visiting faculty, the memo could have set the Garhwal forest on fire, notwithstanding the presence of Dr Sunderlal Bahuguna.
The first thing your reporter did was to buy all the remaining mungfali nuts and of course all the wrapper papers still with the perplexed vendor. The memo noted with approval the fledgling debate on the pros and cons of having more states following the appearance of Uttaranchal, Chattisgarh and Vananchal and urged all the IAS interns and seniors to 'channelise' the debate in full favour of more states and hinted at the benefits, of course, to the IAS fraternity.
First of all, the cadre strength of IAS will shoot up. The memo advised the fraternity to put up with the unavoidable accretion to the Indian Police Service cadre, saying such sacrifices should be made in the cause of service to RK Laxman's common man. Further, the memo hinted at the likely boost to the construction industry in putting up more monstrosities called collectorates and police offices.
The note cautioned against any weakness of agreeing to any increase in the strength of Allied (allied, my foot!) Services. The politicos are capable of increasing their own strength in the future legislatures and the memo said there should be no roadblocks put up by the IAS fraternity in this; on the other hand, the fraternity should ensure the politicians have their way. The note further said, the judiciary is entirely another cup of tea and the fraternity could join hands with the politicos in ensuring that high courts do not proliferate.
The Mussoorie note said India's future lies in looking back to pre-Sardar Patel days and shaping the then principalities into viable states of the present and future. The monumental works of VP Menon should be studied, of course, so that strengths and weaknesses of 'future states' could be presented in the best possible light. The note ended with only one word of caution and that was it should be ensured that this does not fall into the hands of Dr Subramanian Swamy.

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