This is the life story of the author who though had initially joined the civil service was keen to move out of this life and instead enter the academic profession, for which some foreign qualification was essential fortunately, the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE) had agreed to admit him in the year 1956 for the degree of Ph.D. Thus the author had sailed to London in September 1956 and joined the LSE. Soon unfortunately, a travail of failures had followed and, despite more than three years stay in London, the author was not able to get any degree. Initially, almost halfway, he was unceremoniously asked to shift to Master’s Degree from Ph.D., he was registered. It was a major blow for him and there being no other alternative he got registered for this degree, where again ill-luck followed him and he was unsuccessful to get it even after three attempts. His supervisor had failed him and told him ultimately that he should go back to his civil service job and forget all about his shifting to an academic career. However, the author soon proved him wrong, when with his persistent efforts, determination and contribution to academic journals he was ultimately able to walk into the portals of a reputed university. And, once settled, he made steady progress for the next more than two decades, when he proved a successful teacher, researcher and published quite a few well-received papers as well as authored some choice books, which earned positive reviews from the critics. He also wrote reports on the projects he was involved with. He also made his presence felt in international conferences and seminars, where he was invited and made rich contribution. This also provided him with an opportunity to visit foreign lands and widen his horizon of academic contacts which proved beneficial in several ways. He did equally well in national conferences, seminars and other programmes. On the invitation of Mizoram Government he also prepared a plan for the conversion of Jhum (shifting) cultivation–a highly wasteful method of agriculture involving the burning of rich forest wealth–to settled land use. It was a comprehensive 15-Year Plan, complete with all details data as well as financial implications involved. He also prepared a report on behalf of Bureau of Industrial Cost and Prices (Government of India) on the Price Policy of Plywood used for making tea chests used in the packing of tea. He was also involved as Consultant with the Planning Commission in the preparation of a report on developing India’s waterways for carriage of bulk cargo, as a part of comprehensive transport plan being finalised by the Planning Commission. He was not only academically active he also took active interest in the campus social life, encouraged several social activities for his students including long distance educational tours, where he himself accompanied them. He also took keen interest in teachers’ problems and was an active member of the Campus Teachers Association (PUTA) and later its Vice-President. He, however, did not rest on the laurels of his active academic life, even during the post-retirement period of he has been quite active, written extensively for the press on the current social, economic and political issues. Since 1992 he has also been publishing an independent academic journal titled ‘Political Economy Journal of India’, which has gained good popularity among teachers, scholars, senior students, even policy-framers. It has also helped several young scholars in getting their contributions published. All this and more including his family and social life, has been spelled out in this autobiography.
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