Ram Varma

RAM (SAHAI) VARMA was born in a bricklayers’ family to unlettered parents in a small town in Jaipur state. He was raised by his gritty, hard-working mother, as his father mostly remained away working on construction sites in Madhya Pradesh. She inspired him to aim high and study hard. He topped the list of first divisioners from the town's High School in 1956. He did Intermediate (Arts) from Jaipur's prestigious Maharaja's College in first division and graduated from Rajasthan College in 1960. After doing his master's in English Literature from Allahabad University in 1962, he became a lecturer in Jodhpur University. In 1964, he joined the IAS and was posted in Punjab. On the formation of Haryana in 1966, he joined the Haryana cadre. His mother and father were still there when he became Collector, Bhiwani. After a long, distinguished career, he became chief secretary in 1997 and retired in 2000.