This book is a compilation of stories penned down by the author at
intermittent intervals over forty turbulent years of his service in
the Indian Army that began just prior to the Bangladesh War, 1971.
The stories recount real-life events, though many times the
narratives have either been spiced up or eased down in the interest
of readability. The reader may note that it is just a soldier's
account; neither is it a philosopher's thesis nor does it lays any
claim to literary excellence. Indeed, it is just a witness's
narration of certain episodes that he found worth sharing. The book
contains twenty one narratives in all, covering themes as diverse
as mind boggling experiences, sad episodes, humour in field,
adventure, satire and nostalgia. Photographs, where available, and
sketches when necessary, are appended alongside some of the
story-lines. As the reader may notice, these are products of a
young amateur who attempted to compensate his limited skills with
boundless enthusiasm. The stories, 'First Blood: East Pakistan' and
'The Battle for Jaffna', are recounts of battle experiences; the
first comes from a twenty year old platoon commander's eyes and the
second when he grew up to a middle-age company commander. The
pieces, 'Olive Green in Dev Bhoomi' and 'On the Trail of the Dead:
A Journey Through Karakoram' narrate the travails of long range
patrolling in the most difficult environments of the Indo-Tibet
Border, while the story 'War of the Junkyard' recounts the
triggering of a sensitive situation in the North-East Frontier by
an over-active young officer, to be laughed off later. There are
two satires: 'Tales and Travails of Study at the NDC' and 'The
Final Solution'; the first one laughs at the snobbish culture at
the National Defence College, New Delhi, a prestigious destination
for military and civil service officers, while the latter points to
the incredulity of political stance towards Maoist rebellion. In
July 2006, the nation stood transfixed as the child 'Prince' was
dug out from the bottom of a 60 feet deep bore-well. 'A Prince in a
Bore-well' tells that story. 'Back to the Bygone' and 'Marhaura'
are reconnections with the past after four decades spent in faraway
lands that motivate reconciliation with the ways of life. Even if
India history is replete with hoary military traditions, the
independent nation's elite seem to have lost their understanding of
the military institution during their two centuries of servitude to
foreign rule; thankfully, rural Bharat has maintained their
tradition of celebrating its soldierly. The piece, 'Understanding
Civil-Military Relations' attempts to refresh the State in that
understanding without which the nation would find itself in grief.
Hopefully, the reading would give to the readers at least a
fraction of the joy that it gave to the author while penning it.
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