Honest John: A Life of John Matthai by Bakhtiar K. Dadabhoy. Published in 2025 by Penguin Random House India Pvt Ltd, 4th Floor, Capital Tower 1, M. G. Road, Gurgaon 122002. Pp: xxiv + 396. Price: Rs 999.
Such has been the degradation of values in Indian public life over the past half a century that stories of selfless service and exemplary rectitude in politics or public administration, like the one recounted in this absorbing biography, are often greeted with incredulity by the present generation. How many of today’s youth may have even heard of John Matthai? And yet, as author......