“Perhaps I was wrong in devoting myself single mindedly to intelligence production and not endearing myself to the eyes and minds of the pillars of the IB. I was wrong in assuming that my work would speak for me. In the bureaucratic jungle of Delhi, I learnt at great cost, rather late in my career, that excellence in work was not an essential accessory for surviving and thriving in the oddest chemical concoction of Indian bureaucracy. Belonging to the right club and having ticket to the right coterie were the greatest manures.”