An Officer and a Tiger

‘Suddenly, with a huge roar, the tiger attacked the front wheel of the tractor and literally tore it to shreds. The vehicle tilted dangerously to one side and we clung on for dear life.’

In the late 1960s, young IAS officer Yogesh Chandra was posted to Pilibhit, a breathtaking Terai district on the Nepal border. It was a different India then, when days were spent solving people’s problems and nights echoed with the pukh, pukh of chital, the khor, khor of langurs, the meowr, meowr of peafowls and the deep, resonant roar of tigers in the dark.

From the sugarcane fields of Bahraich to the ravines of Chambal and the misty slopes of Kumaon, Chandra recounts his wild escapades on the trail of man-eating tigers and fearsome dacoits, while tracing the footsteps of the legendary Jim Corbett. Yet, beneath the thrill lies a wistful note for the forests that once teemed with life.

Inside this book, you’ll find
🐅 Encounters with man-eaters: Gripping real-life confrontations that test courage, instinct and survival.
🦧 The forest as it once was: A sensory portrait of the Terai jungles in their full, untamed splendour.
🔫 On the trail of dacoits: Thrilling episodes from the lawless ravines of Chambal.
🌲 A civil servant’s wild posting: The unique challenges and unexpected joys of serving in remote India.
📜 Walking with legends: Reflections inspired by Jim Corbett’s legacy and India’s conservation history.

Echoes from the wild
• A vanished India brought to life: A rare, first-hand account of a time when humans and wildlife lived in uneasy proximity.
• Adventure rooted in truth: Every story is drawn from official postings, lived danger and real landscapes.
• A tribute to the wild: Captures the majesty of forests now altered or lost to time.
• Wisdom from a life of service: Reveals what it meant to lead, protect and serve while confronting nature—and human nature—at its fiercest.

A real-life adventure you won’t forget
Vivid, witty and unforgettable, An Officer and a Tiger is a real-life adventure where the jungle is alive, danger is constant and every dawn brings a new story worth telling.

Yogesh Chandra is a distinguished alumnus of St. Stephen's College, University of Delhi, and an Edward S. Mason Fellow at Harvard University.

A 1962-batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service, he served across Uttar Pradesh and was among the first chairmen and chief executive officers of Noida, as well as Economic Adviser to the King of Bhutan. Over the course of a distinguished career, he held several senior positions in the Government of India, retiring with the rank of Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India.

His later work in corporate social responsibility culminated in his leadership of the Coca-Cola India Foundation. A keen observer of people and places, he brings warmth and wit to his recollections of an India that once lived close to the wild. He is the father of senior journalist Vikram Chandra, who anchored the Save Our Tigers campaign in the late 2000s.