TS extracts from letters written by D. P. Hardy to his fiancĂ©e in the U.S.A. and India. (The extracts were made after his death, by Mrs. Carol Hardy). As she had lived in India (as the daughter of American Methodist missionaries – see TITUS papers) and knew it well, he describes and comments on his work as Assistant Magistrate and Collector of Moradabad district in late 1935 and as Magistrate and Collector from 1944 to 1946. He also held briefly, posts as Joint Magistrate in Agra, Lucknow, and Naini Tal.The letters describe the minutiae of his daily life and administrative work at base or on tour, and as well his attitudes and reactions to people, places, political movements, and his work as magistrate. He reveals his attitudes towards his fellow I.C.S. both English and Indian, towards Congress and its workers, and above all his great sympathy with. and affection for the villagers and their harsh lives.
The letters are outstanding in their insight into the detail of implementing administrative measures, and an example of the understanding which Indian Civil Servants in the districts had of India, and the amount of work they accomplished under difficult conditions.
By his vivid descriptions of countryside, weather and people, Mr. Hardy makes understandable the deeply affectionate response India and Indian village life aroused in so many Indian Civil Servants. 214pp.