The book is almost like a guide or a reference one for interested people. Beginning with the author's dilemma of whether to write or not to write the memoirs, Shri Deshmukh has gone on to talk about the institution of cabinet secretary, the civil service, political leadership and other related topics. He has given the dates also so that the reader can visualize the happenings during that time period. Some of the topics in the book, like the chapter on rethinking on the Civil service gives a lot of food for thought for the readers. Shri Deshmukh has discussed various interesting topics like challenges before the bureaucracy, liberalization, criminalisation and accountability of Indian Bureaucracy. Some articles deal with T N Seshan, Romesh Bhandari and other bureaucrats.