Somewhere deep in the archives of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) in the heart of New Delhi lies a set of papers that researchers and historians interested in recording the history of Indian intelligence, would love to get their hands on. Alas, those documents-transcripts of tape-recorded conversations with RN Kao, the legendary spy chief-are not going to be available until 2025, according to instructions left by him, months before he passed away in 2002.
So until those tapes and papers are made public, any biography of Rameshwar Nath Kao or 'Ramji' to friends, colleagues and family would have to depend on personal memories of a vast array of individuals who knew him in different capacities and their interpretation of his personality and contribution.

Nitin A. Gokhale, one of South Asia's leading Strategic Analysts, is a renowned author, media trainer and founder of a specialised defence related website BharatShakti.in. and Strategic News International (sniwire.com). Gokhale, now a media entrepreneur, has worked across print, web and broadcast mediums since 1983. In the past 36 years, he has reported on India's North- East, focusing on the different insurgencies there for 23 years, the 1999 Kargil conflict between India and Pakistan and the Sri Lankan Eelam War IV, besides many crucial assignments as a conflict reporting specialist across many countries. Author of six books so far on national security affairs, Gokhale is an alumni of the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies, Honolulu, Hawaii. He teaches and lectures at premier Indian defence training institutions like the National Defence College, the Army, Air Force and Naval War Colleges, the College of Defence Management and the Defence Services Staff College, besides being a popular speaker at various seminars and symposiums on civil military relations, insurgency/terrorism, Asian Security Affairs and military-media relations. His previous books include Securing India, the Modi Way; Rashtriya Rifles: The Home of the Brave; Beyond NJ 9842: The Siachen Saga; 1965 :Turning the Tide: How India won the War; Sri Lanka: From War to Peace and The Hot Brew.

1. The early years: Allahabad, Joining IP and seconded to IB
2. IB, Nehru's PSO, Ghana, ARC and Bandung enquiry
3. Indira Gandhi years
4. Forming R&AW
5. Early years of R&AW
6. East Pakistan crisis (working with Rustomjee, Manekshaw and PN Haksar)
7. Finest hour--1971
8. Maritime intelligence (CIA, Savak and SDECE)
9. Sikkim case
10. Mujib's assassination
11. Emergency years
12. Falling out with Morarji (Discovering Pak's N-secret)
13. Return to Govt in Mrs Gandhi's govt
14. Indira assassination
15. NSG
16. Summing up