THE SCHOOL OF LIFE

Far from being a self-eulogising chronicle, K. Vasuki’s The School of

Life is a blazingly honest account of her evolution from ‘an imperfect

human into, not a perfect human, but a better version of herself ’. Steadfast in

her insistence that she is not positing any definitive, universally applicable

solutions to the troubles of life, she offers us a glimpse into her inspiring

life and career in the Indian Administrative Service, demanding

throughout that we ‘keep questioning everything’ she says. Unassuming

as she is, she even downplays her monumental role in coordinating

the disaster relief operations during the 2018 floods in Kerala, which

devastated thirteen of the state’s fourteen districts. As the District

Collector of Thiruvananthapuram, the able and committed Vasuki was

also reckoning with a far more pervasive and pernicious issue, which

sparked off not only those floods but this year’s Wayanad landslides too.

In her own words, ‘having been at the pinnacle of management’ during

the crisis, she was ‘frustrated that as humanity, we are still unable to take

concrete action for climate change and that such a disaster has fallen

upon us because of all of our collective failure’. On the whole, The School

of Life is an engaging, endearing, and enriching study in courage, which

Ernest Hemingway defined-almost with K. Vasuki in mind-as ‘grace

under pressure’.

Shashi Tharoor - Member of Lok Sabha

Vasuki takes us on a rewarding journey of introspection and self-realisation that could help sow the seeds of a happier life and a more sustainable world. It’s a book for any and everyone of us who are in search of the true meaning of life in its infinite dimensions.

Rajdeep Sardesai - Journalist