Daren
Jim Corbett is well known for his stories of tigers and leopards in India, his hunting of maneaters, and his hunter turned conservationist works. This one is a bit different, and focusses on people.
It was published late in his life, reflecting on various situations, and about his work for the railways- initially as a fuel inspector for 18 months (cutting wood for the railways), then in a series of odd jobs before being sent to Mokameh Ghat to become the Trans-shipment Inspector. At Mokameh Ghat, and across the Ganges River at Samaria Ghat are the interfaces of two railway systems, one wide gauge rail, the other narrow gauge. In short this means trans-shipping all cargo from one set of carriages to the other. Each year in the busy season the railway lost a lot of money when the cargo backlogged and trains were unable to run. Corbett was now responsible for the entire process.
Throughout his stories Corbett proves a very good judge of character, regularly backing unlikely people to achieve great things and (certainly in the case of these stories) he is proven right. Whether it is loaning money to people, buying off their debt or just investing time in making someone well. Corbett shows he has not judgement on caste or background, and was able to successfully maintain friendships with his subordinates to achieve greater outcomes.
It leaves one to wonder about people like Corbett who were fully invested in India, born and raised in Colonial India, how they deal with the independence of India, and being no longer welcome there. In Corbett's case he emigrated to Kenya, and died there three years after this book was published at age 79.
Short but interesting and well written book.
4 stars
Jim Corbett is well known for his stories of tigers and leopards in India, his hunting of maneaters, and his hunter turned conservationist works. This one is a bit different, and focusses on people.
It was published late in his life, reflecting on various situations, and about his work for the railways- initially as a fuel inspector for 18 months (cutting wood for the railways), then in a series of odd jobs before being sent to Mokameh Ghat to become the Trans-shipment Inspector. At Mokameh Ghat, and across the Ganges River at Samaria Ghat are the interfaces of two railway systems, one wide gauge rail, the other narrow gauge. In short this means trans-shipping all cargo from one set of carriages to the other. Each year in the busy season the railway lost a lot of money when the cargo backlogged and trains were unable to run. Corbett was now responsible for the entire process.
Throughout his stories Corbett proves a very good judge of character, regularly backing unlikely people to achieve great things and (certainly in the case of these stories) he is proven right. Whether it is loaning money to people, buying off their debt or just investing time in making someone well. Corbett shows he has not judgement on caste or background, and was able to successfully maintain friendships with his subordinates to achieve greater outcomes.
It leaves one to wonder about people like Corbett who were fully invested in India, born and raised in Colonial India, how they deal with the independence of India, and being no longer welcome there. In Corbett's case he emigrated to Kenya, and died there three years after this book was published at age 79.
Short but interesting and well written book.
4 stars