Pushpa Sundar’s memoir, Beyond The Heaven-Born Service: My Journey From The IAS To Philanthropy, is a deeply reflective account of her life. It is the ‘almost’ story of a gifted woman who sacrificed her career as a civil servant, suppressing her ambitions for the sake of her family. It is an honest chronicle of how women are undermined by patriarchal values rooted in tradition and the macho veneer of modernity within the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Pushpa reinvents herself as a writer and scholar of Indian art and charity, to become a trailblazer in the field of contemporary Indian philanthropy. The book is an understated account of her contribution as a mother of two exceptional daughters: Aparna and Nandini Sundar. Pushpa was born to a family of scholars. Her father was a civil servant and a prize-winning student of Sanskrit. Her maternal grandfather, Professor V.V. Mirashi was, in his time, the country’s most distinguished Sanskrit scholar and Indologist. He was honored with the Padma Bhushan award in 1975. Her mother, steeped in Marathi culture, shaped her early sensibilities and love for literature and nature, while imbuing her with patriotism and selflessness. Born in Nagpur, her early education was in the Marathi medium with no English at either school or at home. Pushpa’s home was a crowded joint family, shared by her father’s widowed aunts, their daughters and occasionally their sons. Her upbringing was in home learning and frugal living. Frugality and study were to become the hallmarks of Pushpa’s personality. At the age of ten, her father was posted to London, where Pushpa learnt English for the first time. Within a couple years she was standing first in her class. She, along with her four siblings, availed of the many facilities that Britain provided by way of its excellent free public education system and its welfare state. Pushpa not only excelled academically but she was singled out for her quiet leadership qualities in the girl guides program. The four years she spent in England had a profound impact on her. She was struck by what she experienced: the lack of social hierarchy, civic mindedness and greater space for women’s agency. Her school wanted her to stay back without her parents to fulfill her academic promise, but that was not to be. Pushpa’s positive experience of schooling and life in Britain had the ironic impact of making her deep roots In Indian culture recessive. She writes “I became an Indian In blood and color, but English in taste, morals and intellect,” while internalising the lullabies and Sanskrit prayers on which she was brought up. She remained rooted to the soil and working for social justice became the leitmotif of her life in later years.Pushpa studied economics at Miranda House, deferring to her father’s wishes. Her own inclination was to study English literature. She rues wistfully, that she could have become a better writer had she followed her own instincts. She also stood first in the university in her MA from the Delhi School of Economics. Throughout her school and college years and in the IAS academy, Pushpa acted in plays, “despite being nervous and diffident off-stage, and poor at making presentations and public debating”.Out of deference to her father’s wishes, rather than her own aspirations, Pushpa took the civil service exams. Her father had wanted to join the ICS but had not cleared the rounds as he was found wanting in the interview on account of his modest attire and inadequate grooming in western ways. Many such anecdotes are shared in this memoir that give an insight into the forces that shaped Pushpa’s sensibilities. Pushpa came 10th in the merit list of the civil service exam despite not having had much time to study. The book describes with grace and wit the glorious days at the academy. There are short profiles of her batch mates, who later on in life achieved high office and some even became ministers in the government. She also writes about the budding romances in the academy and her own courtship by her husband Sanjivi Sundar. She does not forget to mention the anxiety she caused Sanjivi when she was courted by other men. His initial perception of her when he first met her in Mumbai was that she was a rural girl. From the photos in the book it is clear that Pushpa’s beautiful mind apart, she was most attractive. She sought the Gujarat cadre to be with her husband. She describes the many joys, the deep friendship made, including with the legendary Dr Verghese Kurian and his wife Molly; and the immense hardships that she encountered in the early days of her service. She joined the service in 1963, was married in 1964 and her first child was born in 1965. Within two years of her service she submitted her resignation from a feeling of guilt. She felt she was neglecting her first born child, Aparna. There was no one to help Pushpa look after her. Her husband also wanted her to leave the service, lest he be compromised asking for favours so that they could be together. Her chief secretary accepted her resignation without trying to dissuade her. If there is a damning indictment of the heaven-born service and our patriarchal society, it is to be found in the pages of this book.Another reason Pushpa shares for leaving the service was her socialisation as a woman growing up in a male dominated family. Her traditional upbringing made her self-effacing, low in self-esteem and mistrustful of men. She shares some intimate details to illustrate this conditioning. That her traditional upbringing also made her the remarkable woman she became is another matter. Pushpa describes with the eye of a self-trained historian and essayist, her ten years in Gujarat. The history of Surat as an outpost for the Dutch, British and local trading interests is described in the book. She shares the burdens of being a host to countless visitors while they were posted in Nadiad. Pushpa also writes about her experience of the tragedy of the 1969 communal riots in Ahmedabad. She admires her husband and the political leadership for their outstanding efforts to provide relief to those affected by the riots regardless of religious affiliations. Later in the book, she laments how this sense of moral responsibility has atrophied in our society. It is during this period that she takes to writing and is reaffirmed by scores of editors, including Khushwant Singh.Sundar’s posting to Delhi in 1973 opened a new chapter In Pushpa’s life. Her abilities as a writer and researcher were noticed, though seldom was she treated or paid properly. The book also offers a peek into the Delhi cocktail circuit, its excruciating dullness and excessive drinking – in her case different kinds of cola and juice. A stint at Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) sparked her interest in philanthropy. After a brief stay at FICCI, a college friend introduced her to the Ford Foundation, which she joined in 1976.The Ford Foundation exposed her to many worlds, including that of art and vernacular literature, gender empowerment and social justice. She traveled abroad to the East – Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand – and gained insights into the condition of women who were straddling tradition and modernity. Her appreciation of Japanese theatre, economy and society, and civic sense is fulsome. She is less impressed by the double standards practiced in Japanese society by men with respect to gender relations. At the Ford Foundation, she met Dr Kamla Chowdry, who became a close friend, mentor and collaborator. Pushpa provided the intellectual foundations for the creation of the National Foundation for India (NFI). This idea was mooted by her in a workshop in Delhi in 1985. Chowdry was able to get the Ford foundation to help create such a foundation – a donor institution independent of corporate and state control. =Launched with fanfare in Mumbai at the Raj Bhawan in 1992, NFI was a brilliant idea and carried the seeds to revitalise the Gandhian legacy of constructive work and non-state-centric development. Chowdry along with C. Subramanian and Dr M.S. Swaminathan, among other luminaries, were the first trustees. For this idea alone Pushpa deserves the highest national recognition. Pushpa’s tryst with philanthropy was to evolve. While at the Ford Foundation, she noticed that their grantees were unable to secure funding after Ford grants dried up. Her research and exposure to the world of giving and Indian philanthropy led her to the conclusion that India needed an intermediary institution that could educate donors and the state on how to use philanthropy to transform society and make it more democratic. But her husband’s posting to London in 1991 interrupted her work on philanthropy. While in London, she did archival research, and wrote Patrons and Philistines: Arts and the State in British India. In early 1995 she got a senior fellowship to be at the Centre for Civil Society at Baltimore. After returning to India, she once again devoted herself to philanthropy. In 1996, she started The Center for Indian Philanthropy and went on to turn it into a full-fledged institution. She named it Sampradhaan in 1999.SCIP was designed to help raise funding from the state, foreign agencies and businesses and make “giving” more relevant to the contemporary challenges before society, especially on issues of social justice, women’s empowerment, environment conservation and building an open and democratic society. Pushpa’s earlier book, Beyond Business: From Merchant Charity to Corporate Citizenship had prepared her to play this role in the most informed way. Pushpa became a crusader for the cause of Indian philanthropy, drawing attention of the state to its neglect of civil society and grassroots democracy. She conducted a study for the Planning Commission and recommended an autonomous “Charities Commission”. Pushpa details her epic efforts to make SCIP effective. Her work and expertise in the field of philanthropy was recognized nationally and internationally. Despite this, she had to close down SCIP. She was ahead of her times.Pushpa was let down by colleagues, the lack of committed professional staff and the profound apathy of the state and donors alike. The stress of running SCIP affected her health acutely, although this did not prevent her from working on changing the discourse and practice of philanthropy in India. The last chapters of the book are philosophical and give an insight into the immense courage and sense of purpose that marked Pushpa’s life. This book is a must-read for anyone who cares for women’s agency and freedom. If ever our country chooses to take Gandhian ideas seriously, Pushpa’s personal example of fortitude, scholarship and institution building will provide insights on how to proceed. Aditi Mehta is a retired IAS officer.