V. R. Sampath - Restless: Chronicles of a Policeman

Restless

The life of a modern seeker, Sampaths questing mind can be sensed through his professional life at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), his questions range freely across new fields of knowledge, in the search for value and meaning.

Debashish Banerji, Haridas Chaudhuri
Professor of Indian Philosophies and Cultures, and
Doshi Professor of Asian Art, CIIS, San Francisco

This book offers one of those rare opportunities to get the inside story about world events that most of us know about only through pared down media reports. Because Sampath occupied a major role in the Indian Police Service, he was intimately involved in many of the incidents that shaped contemporary India: the Partition, the deaths of Rajiv and Indira Gandhi, the Tamil Tigers, the Naxalites, the Kashmiri Separatists and more. His clear writing tells a gripping story in vivid detail. And then, he brings his rich and complex history to the United States where he enters the world of higher education and cybercrime. Once again in his later chapters, we get the fresh perspective of someone from another world on matters that have become too familiar to us here. In addition, he gives us an insiders view of the ancient yoga tradition of which he is a practitioner. This book is such a rare blend of engaging and thrilling stories, combined with the thoughtful reflections of one who has seen so much of the world in turmoil.

Don Hanlon Johnson, professor of Somatics, CIIS, and
author, Body, Spirit, and Democracy

Like Walt Whitman, Sampath Ramanujan contains multitudeshusband and father, cop, a student of Vedanta and J. Krishnamurti, somatist and Rolfing enthusiast, cybersecurity consultant and memoirist. This book is the story of India, of police work, of spiritual striving, and academic success. Read it for insight, inspiration and deep enjoyment.

Robert McDermott, president emeritus, professor, Department
and Chair, Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness, CIIS

Published by

Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd 2018

7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj

New Delhi 110002

Copyright V.R. Sampath 2018

The views and opinions expressed in this book are the authors own and the facts are as reported by him which have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-93-5304-104-5

First impression 2018

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated, without the publishers prior consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published.

My life, thereby, this book, is dedicated to my parents, V.V. Ramanujan and R. Kamala, who are no more.

Contents

Part I
The Mechanical Life and Awakening

Part II
Exploration, Expansion and Integration

Foreword

When I agreed to write a foreword for Sampaths book, I was under the impression that it would be yet another autobiography by someone, who after spending a quarter of a century as a member of the Indian Police Service, felt it was time for him to write his memoirs. I was, hence, quite unprepared for what the book contained. It is, indeed autobiographical, but as the book develops, one discerns that it is in part a philosophical dissertation that helps bring out another side of the authors personality. Leaving behind the mundane world of job security, which a job in government offered, as also the challenging environment of the corporate sector, he ventures subsequently to seek inner solace and understand the true meaning of life. The first six chapters of the book do follow a predictable script, but everything seems to change once he decides to leave India to carve out a new life in the US. His stint with the California Institute of Integral Studies and his masters in fine arts there, appear to have induced a fundamental change in his attitudes and outlook. Consequently, the second part of the book conveys an impression that the author was experimenting with life in more ways than one. There are no doubt interesting chapters on technology and related matters, as also on cybersecurity, apart from interesting vignettes on art and life, but there are also enough broad hints about the changes taking place in the of his work, Exploration, Expansion and Integration. The author seems to become increasingly metaphysical in outlook, and dwells on religion, philosophy and spirituality. He expounds on Vaishnavism and Vishistadvaita at one level. At another, he talks of philosophers like G.I. Gurdjieff and their thoughts, attempting a leap of faith as far as religion and philosophy are concerned. The author acknowledges his brief brush with J. Krishnamurti, which possibly led him to seek ways and means to achieve self-fulfilment. For those who knew Sampath as a committed, though restless, police officer, the change in his personality cannot but be a surprise. The book is worth reading, especially for those who feel that one should not be content with following a single trajectory. Life needs to be lived to the fullest, and the mind set free to follow its spirit of search and enquiry. For those like me, who have followed a single career, we are left dissatisfied that we did not have the courage and strength of purpose that Sampath demonstrated to try something different. To achieve what Sampath mentions as his basic philosophy in life, tonnes of experience, an estate of consciousness and vast acres of mind is something all of us would wish for.

M.K. Narayanan,
former national security advisor and
former governor of West Bengal
November 2017

Introduction

Much premium is placed on serving society. I agree, but I have a point of view here. While I dont advocate a selfish life, I dont believe in an entirely selfless life too. Discovering the selfnot the ego self but the real self buried under the debris of ones egoshould be the primary goal in ones life. One needs to remove the dirt and clear the way for the self to emerge. Serving society helped me in a way to do this, but finding the real self, and thereby meaning, remained my responsibility.

I gave twenty-five years of my life to serving the society, and I feel contented about it. The remainder was meant to be spent in seeking my real self. I expect this book to reflect the efforts made by me to do precisely that. Earlier, I took decisions in a mechanical way, be it decisions about what I should study, what work to do and when should I marry and set up my family. Midway through my service, my consciousness stirred awake and slowly I started taking responsibility for my life and made decisions accordingly. There were repeated temptations to return to my former ways, but I stood firm; four times I was given the offer for better postings, but I decided to go to the place I wanted to work in and did what I wanted to do. When I could no longer do that, I decided to quit rather than follow meekly the path shown by the service. If my service and work years took me to different places and exciting experiences, my favourite books and their authors took me on equally exciting journeys of my mind. My consciousness, from being a tiny dot, expanded and soared. I lived with great scholars, philosophers and mystics in my inner realm. Different dimensions of life were revealed, and I became aware of the possibilities and potentialities of my life. Today, Im still a work in progress.