Dr. K. S. Krishnaswamy, an economist, was at the center of economic policy formulation in post-Independence India, working initially in the Planning Commission, and later at the Reserve Bank of India, from where he retired as Deputy Governor in 1981. Throughout his career and later, he remained deeply committed to the task of improving the life of the common man in India. He grew up in the small towns of the state of Mysore (now Karnataka). He recalls in his book the experiences of small-town traditional life, its charms and shortcomings.
Editor's Note: This piece originally appeared in Dr. Krishnaswamy's autobiography WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY-Memoirs of an Economic Advisor and is reproduced from there with permission.
There is not much that I can remember very exciting about my early childhood. My brother (who was a couple of years older than me) and I spent our days mostly in or near the house. My father, Kadur Shamanna, was a sub-assistant surgeon in the medical service of the state of Mysore, posted in a taluq headquarters. We lived in a modest house across the street from my father's dispensary, which we could visit only occasionally, under the care of a servant.
The dispensary was not by any means large and catered only for outpatients. But it constituted our entire concept of a “hospital”. Apart from catching a glimpse of our father at work, the attraction for us was the large compound in which we could play without hindrance when the sun was not severe.
