Obituary
By Anil Raturi
Dehradun, 11 Sep: The veteran Civil Servant and littérateur, Mr Shambu Nath, passed away on 30 August 2025 in Lucknow. He was 78 years old. Mr Nath was of the 1970 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and was allotted to the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Cadre. Apart from establishing a sterling reputation within the bureaucracy, he was also successful in making a name in the realm of literature. As a civil servant he served the nation with utmost sincerity. However, it was literature that was the passion of his life.
His demise, therefore, is being mourned by both the Civil Service as well as by those who are lovers of literature.
Mr Shambu Nath was an MA in English Literature and a PhD in Hindi.
He was a former Chief Secretary of UP who retired from service in 2007. As a civil servant, he was widely admired for his professionalism and integrity. He mentored many young IAS officers who fondly remember him as an erudite, gentle, and humane professional.
After superannuation from service, for a brief period, he also remained the Chairman of Lucknow’s iconic “Hindi Sansthan”.
As an author, he penned “Aakash Mere Aaine Mein,” “New Dimensions of Ram Katha”, and “Dhoopchaani Dinkar”.
He was fluent in English but had a soft corner for Hindi. Being an insightful and articulate man of letters, he was constantly invited to speak at literary events. He was a true humanist in whom the best values of the East and West seamlessly met. His disarming humility and gentle manner made him a much sought-after literary figure.
In his going, I feel a personal sense of loss.
Last year, on 31 August 2024, he was the keynote speaker in the “Nirala Sabhagaar” of “Hindi Sansthan”, Lucknow, for my book “Bhanwar, Ek Prem Kahani” when it’s third edition was launched. On that occasion, dwelling on the book, in a hall packed with literary luminaries, UP’s Chief Secretary, DGP and senior members of Civil Service, Media, etc., he had enthralled the audience with his spellbinding address. His lyrical and mesmerising talk, replete with allusions from Hindi, Urdu, and English Literature, had received a standing ovation from the audience!
But that was last year….
This year, on 30 August, the day of his passing, minutes before the termination of his corporeal existence, he was speaking as the Chief Guest of a book launch function in the very same “Hindi Sansthan” of Lucknow.
The hall was again packed with literary gentry. Amidst them, while speaking on the death of the book’s protagonist (Karan), he began dilating on time, destiny, and death.
In his compelling manner, he narrated an anecdote about a king who dreamt about “Death”. In the dream, “Death” told the king that he should prepare as it was time for him to go from this world.
Traumatised by the dream, the next day, the king discussed its significance with his well-wishers.
The king’s family and courtiers consoled him, pleading with him to not give importance to the dream. Seeing the king still distraught, a wise man advised the king saying, “Sir, since “Death” said that it is near, in order to avoid it, it would be practical for you to take a good horse and ride to the extremity of your kingdom. Far away from the palace.”
The king did exactly the same. After riding the entire day, he reached the end of his empire. Tired, he was resting under the shade of a tree, when he saw the back of a person standing before him. When the person turned to face the king, he was shocked to see that it was the very “Death” that had come in his dream!
Viewing the discomfiture on the face of the king, “Death” started laughing and said, ” My king, I was destined to wait for you here, now! I was wondering how you would make it so far in time, but your horse did a good job!”
Before the king could respond, he was dead!
The audience in the hall was hanging on to every word that Mr Shambhu Nath spoke … and then in a flash of a moment, to the utter dismay of everyone, he suddenly collapsed!
He was rushed to the nearest hospital, but it was too late!
It is said that wise men are able to discern the inscrutable working of life.
Did the subject of Mr Nath’s final talk reflect his premonition!?
Be that as it may.
His passing is an irreparable loss for all humanity.
We can only take solace from the following words of the Bhagwat Gita:
“The soul is without birth,
Eternal, immortal, and ageless.
It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.” (2.20)
While endeavouring to emulate the conduct of such pure human beings as Mr Nath, we should remember our mortality as TS Eliot famously reminded us:
“He who was living is now dead,
We who were living are now dying,
With a little patience.”
(The Wasteland, 328.)
Shambhu Nath, Sir!
Rest in Peace!
Om Shanti.
