Book Review: M.S. Ashokan,Karmayogi: A Biography of E. Sreedharan

Karmayogi is a biography of E. Sreedharan written by M.S. Ashokan and has been translated from bestselling biography in Malayalam by Rajesh Rajamohan. It is an inspiring story of an engineer (Indian Engineering Services), technocrat known as ‘Metro Man’ for his achievements.

As narrated by Ashokan, Sreedharan’s life in his early childhood was not very sound financially. He was born as the youngest son of Neelakantan Moosathu and Ammalu Amma on 12 June 1932 in the Karukaputhur’s village in the district of Palakkad in Kerala. An interesting incident which the writer narrates is the reconstruction of a bridge called Pampan Bridge, situated near Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, devastated by cyclone. The then minister of state (railways) S.K. Patil made an incorrect statement regarding the completion of Pampan Bridge in the parliament, ‘without knowing that the last girder of the bridge was being hoisted the very same day’. Instead of the allocated time period of 120 days, the bridge was completed in 76 days. Such was Sreedharan’s tenacity to complete a project he had initiated.

Sreedharan drew inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita and always shared the message of Gita among his colleagues. The name ‘Karmayogi’ given to his biography describes ‘the essence of his spirit’. The book highlights his extraordinary career full of his engineering marvel like the railways, the building of Kolkata Metro, Konkan Railway and Delhi Metro. His strength lies in his work ethics and productivity standards. As a principle, he never spent more than 8 hours in office and never carried a file to his home. He believed in team building and all the accolades he received, that is, 60 national and international awards, he would pass on the credit to his team of engineers and others. He used to give a befitting reply to his detractors by completing all the projects assigned to him ‘without delay and without corruption’.

He had to face many challenges during his lifetime, but he was never deterred so much so that he was prepared to tender resignation in case of any controversy. One such incident was related to the construction of Delhi Metro. The first phase of Delhi Metro was the blue line and the second phase was the green, violet and airport express lines. The controversy in which he was dragged became his greatest drawback. Sreedharan was a tough taskmaster but at the fag end of his career he was unable to inculcate it among his subordinates. A glaring example is the grave accident at Zamrudpur in Delhi where seven lives were lost during the construction of a concrete pillar for Metro. His security and safety instructions regarding fissure in one of the concrete pillars were ignored by the expert engineers causing the tragedy. He took the moral responsibility and resigned from his post of Managing Director at Delhi Metro Railway Company (DMRC). On popular demand and his wife Radha’s request, he, however, continued till the completion of first and second phase of Delhi Metro. Another criticism levelled against him was his dislike for the private public participation (PPP) when 18 per cent of all metros worldwide were built and operated on this model.

M.S. Ashokan, the author of Karmayogi, is a journalist by profession and has a passion for painting in oil and water colours. He exhibits his journalistic flair in this novel. It would be befitting to conclude that known for his efficiency and discipline, the ‘Metro Man’ gifted to the country a world-class metro system which helped in speedy commuting between places.