One Life is Enough

'Every person has a story. That story will often feature a village and in that village, a

home. My story, being no different, starts with my village, Chamtha...[which] stands

at the sangam-the confluence-of four districts: Patna, Samasthipur, Begusarai and

Vaishali.'

Anjani Kumar Singh's memoir begins with these lines. In the pages that follow,

we witness a remarkable life unfolding-a life that is a'sangam' of tradition

and modernity; of formal education and lessons learnt through encounters

with the diverse worlds of Bihar and India; of professional commitment and

personal conviction; of public service and private passions.Together with

fascinating insights about the challenges and satisfactions of governance and

development work, Singh also shares his experiences of travelling across India

and abroad; building one of the world's finest collections of rare plants; and-

his shining achievement-setting up the splendid Bihar Museum, a home for

both classical and contemporary South Asian art, which compares with the

best in the world.

This book is among the most engaging and unusual memoirs of a public

servant you will read.