I don't exactly know whether Sri Gautam Goswami was from
Bihar/Jharkhand or not but since he belonged to the Bihar cadre and
had remained posted at so many places in Bihar that he had almost
become a Bihari, for so many practical purposes.
Repeating the good, bad and the ugly of his life would be nothing more
than a repetition of facts we all know so very well.
That he was a brilliant student, that he was a qualified MBBS doctor
from a prestigious institution, that he married a medico girl of equal
abilities, that he succeeded in the Civil services examinations to get
into IAS, the crème-de-la-crème of Indian government services, that he
was a successful IAS officer for most of the initial part of his
career, that he rose to dizzying heights and became a nationally known
personality through the Times achievement award and that later he got
tainted, was even arrested and remained a secluded, isolated and
completed heart-broken person are now the matters of folklore in Bihar
and elsewhere.
I don't want to make any comment upon these facts. But, I would
certainly like to tell that Sri Goswami was no ordinary IAS officer.
He was not one of those run-of-the-mill stuff who join the service,
get many important postings, remain there doing good or bad, then
reach senior positions and then retire to lead a peaceful life.
He had something in his personality and in his stars that always kept
him in public eyes. All through his career he remained a talked-after
officer. Different people had different opinion about him. But no one
could simply ignore him. And then came the Patna posting which spread
his fame and infamy far and wide. He was among the most well-known IAS
officers in the country. Even common people knew him by his name. And
now that he is dead, he remains forever the Patna collector.
I had one occasion to meet him when he was the DC of Bokaro, the place
where my parents live. I had gone to meet him. If anyone asks my
opinion about Sri Goswami, I would only have praises for him. He was
highly courteous, decent, down-to-earth, simple and an engaging
conversationalist. I remember his chubby face which remained smiling
most of the time I was with him. He carried a very relaxed demeanor
which was also rather assuring. I am sure these traits would have
helped him a lot in pushing his career ahead.
While there could be many interpretations as to his later rise and
fall, to me it seems that it was simply because things were already
decided in his case. He was one more typical example of being a "Child
of destiny". Things started taking place in the pre-destined and
pre-designated manner where he had lost all the control. Thus, first
he rising to the dias on the Gandhi Maidan to stop Sri Advani's
meeting, then the TIME award, then the flood scam, then the FIR,
arrest and finally his succumbing to cancer.
His was a tumultuous and eventful life and though Sri Goswami died
young, he had succeeded in making an indelible place for himself in
Bihar and in the Indian bureaucratic sphere- for good or for bad. His
life also shows the fickleness in all its glory. At the same time, it
also shows the disgusting, frustrating and hateful aspect of human
nature. Wasn't it the same people who lapped him in their arms when he
was a winner- in life, in service, in achievements and laurels. And
did not the same set of people dumped him like hot potatoes the moment
his time turned to frozen realities. I shudder to think how lonely
this once-jovial man must have been in his death.
At this hour of his departure, I remember him with all the somberness
and pray for the departed soul as find myself stood in all my sympathy
with his wife and the bereaved family. There is not a Gautam Goswami
in bureaucracy every other day- for many reasons.

Amitabh Thakur

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