Indian needs to read this book! The book features fourteen true stories of extraordinary courage and fearlessness displayed by the Indian armed forces as they discharge their duties, whether eliminating threats to the Indian sovereignty on Indian or foreign soil, rescuing Indian and foreign citizens trapped in wartorn Yemen, trying to survive certain death due to technical glitches or even fighting the elements of nature.
Some made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation, leaving behind grieving families and colleagues, As one CO wrote to a martyrs wife “Grief will fade away and when its gone, only one thing will remain pride”
Along with the stories, I also enjoyed reading the introduction by the authors and the foreword by General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army.
The introduction raises some relevant points which sheds light on the irony and hypocrisy that surrounds the narrative around the Indian Armed Forces,
Whenever a soldier dies in the line of duty, we get some TV or newspaper coverage around the event, people would eulogize the martyrs on social media, and the average citizen would feel very patriotic.
Then the social media “activists or warriors” would come online and we have a war between pro army and antiarmy people, Then everything is forgotten and we move on with our lives, The fact is that our actors, sports, politicians and even reality TV people enjoy more coverage and recall than our soldiers,
The authors also state that the “godlike” portrayal of the soldiers in the media, I would say that our movies have greater responsibility for this , we tend to forget that they are human beings too with everyday responsibilities repaying home loan installments, taking care of aged parents, resolving a tiff with a girlfriend and so on.
The best point raised by the authors in the introduction “The truth is that India remains constantly at war” something we seldom remember,
The foreword by Gen, Rawat, which includes poetry by Rabindranath Tagore and a quote by Gandhiji, was also good to read,
I am not going into the individual stories but will add that they are wellwritten and easy to read, The book is onlyodd pages long, and can be read quite quickly,
The stories also feature the crossborder surgical strikes executed by the Indian Special Forces and the story of Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad the man who survived six days under more thanfeet of snow at temperature ofoC.
Unfortunately he passed away later in hospital,
I appreciate that the authors also portrayed the “human” side of the soldiers Col, Santosh Yashwant Mahadik was a visionary who tried to bridge the gap between the army and the Kashmiris through various social initiatives and such was his rapport with some of the latter that even local politicians were concerned Havildar Hangpan Dada was a pastor in his unit church and was an avid snakekeeper Lance Naik Mohan Nath Goswami was a kind man who helped the needy and was in the process of building a bigger house for his family, Major Varadaranajan used to say that the toughest battle of his life was making his parents agree to his marriage to a woman from a different community the list goes on.
The authors tried to bring out the emotions but kept melodrama at bay,
I would also say that the families of the soldiers are heroes in their own right, Not only do they live with constant fear, they also have to live with the grief of losing their loved ones Major Varadarajans daughter hides her late fathers pictures so that her mother and grandparents dont feel “sad”.
But some carry on with the tradition, Col. Mahadiks wife joined the army as an officer, Lance Hanamanthappas wife wants their daughter to join the forces and there are numerous other families where children continue the tradition of national service just like their parents.
The day I got to know about this book, I knew I had to read it ASAP, Such books are very rare in India and I was hoping for a good read,
The book is an absolute delight, I had various emotions going in my mind reading the stories ofbrave Indian warriors, A lot of times my eyes were moist but at the same time I felt pride about the fortitude of these men who did something extraordinary,
We are lucky as a country to be equipped with our Armed Forces which is one of the best in the World and this book touches the lives of some of those.
I hope more such books are authored I would love to read a book about all the Ashok Chakra recipients some day, Big thanks to theauthors,
I hope every Indian reads this book and get to know about what our brave men amp women endure each and every day in service, This book is a beautiful composition ofstories and incidents of Indias brave hearts, Each chapter is dedicated to a specific army personnel be it Army, Navy, Airforce, covers his unimaginable courage, selfless act and bravery in hostile situations and behind the scenes in their family.
Do Read it!! In a country which doesn't show much respect towards its soldiers and armed forces, this book is like a welcome breath of fresh air, Kudos to the authors to get access to India's armed forces to get the information behind these remarkable incidents and build compelling stories around them, The stories and incidents are thoroughly engrossing,
In any such book, dealing with repeated superlatives is a challenge, Everything described is the toughest, the highest, the bravest, the most whatever, and it can get so repetitive so as to lose its sheen, However, the authors manage to avoid this remarkably well,
The decision to name India's current PM and not just refer to him as the PM felt out of place in what should be an apolitical book, particularly because the same is not done for incidents during which a different party was in power.
However, this is a minor observation that may be misplaced,
Overall, highly recommended reading for anyone even slightly curious about the operations of Indian armed forces, The book spans the military, navy, and air force, and the stories are truly inspiring and heartwarming, Salute to the heroes described in this book and the other, countless, unsung heroes, Very much recommended. If you have to read one book for stories of valour of our armed forces, pick this book, It discusses stories of bravery of officers from army, air force and navy and sailors and infantry men as well, This book has made me realised one thing: no matter how much I shall boast, but I shall not boast ever to be as brave as these India's most fearless men.
No review can do justice to the courage and valour of our armed forces, I was not aware of most of these stories and they should definitely be told more so that we are aware and thankful and proud of the work our armed forces do.
In terms of the book, it was written in a good amount of detail and engrossing, Personal character build ups of the heros was also a great touch, The stories also had a lot of variety right from surgical strikes and other infiltration douses in JampK to Rajasthan to overseas operations, . . !
A very good and refreshing read! Most stories of the armed forces come up during Republic Day when media finally takes off its attention from steamy news and play its patriotic card.
These news are melodramatic, full of tears and chest beating episode but never about the actual event, When the parade closes, the curtains come down, The story remains untold, unread and ungoogled, It does come up right after an event though, but more than covering ground reality, newsrooms throng with all sorts of people trying to be heard or shouting an opinion.
The concentration from the one who lost his life shifts to the policies, the rules, the regulations, the governance but hardly on the team, the buddy pair and the officers that were on the ground.
Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singhs “Indias Most Fearless”, are the stories we left behind in the Republic Day parade of the
cold January morning because it has never affected ones personal lives.
The book gives us an encounter of what actually happened on ground, Who knew what went behind the surgical strike or the last minute details that was planned but had to be changed What is most interesting about the stories is that one cant stop noticing, how each member of the armed forces stand up for each other, fight every odds and work as a team.
The stories are crisp and not romanticized, you dont hear pianos and violins playing in the background but you hear gunshots and blasts, Thats how real it gets, What are also captivating are the conditions in which they stay, so far away from civilization, in crazy weather conditions,
In short, its a great book to get a quick glimpse about the people who are safeguarding our country,
My take: The book is well crafted, However, inspite of best efforts by the author to bring the stories of raw courage and unflinching conviction towards duty, these stories are just a drop in the ocean of huge personal sacrifices made by Indian Armed Forces in upholding the sovereignty of India.
Many stories will still remain untold and unheard, While the successes in battles and wars will continue to be celebrated and remembered during Independence and Republic days but the stories of individual courage will be forgotten and will find no mention except for war diaries of the units and obituaries.
I fear to pick up a book by an Indian author, I dread the language and the effort one puts on making it into a Bollywood movie, What works for me is that the book is a page turner Im neither carried away by complicated vocabulary nor blinded by over emotional story of how the jawan said “Jai Hind” in his last breath.
The book may not represent what really happens on ground in its entirety but is a good induction to some of the operations that we heard about,
Recommended for all especially to those who are so dead against the army, Read it like a novel and make judgments later,
dwi chekla This is a very well written book, My only complaint is that it's too short! The book starts with a bang and ends on a very uplifting note,
On a side note, I wish we could double down on the body armour for our infantry,
I know that the personnel covered in the stories were personally recommended by the military top brass, but what I would have loved to also read would be the firsthand accounts of UN missions like Op Khukri, of which the only comprehensive writeup so far is on Wikipedia.
I hope there's a part two to the book, Indias most fearless A
After “Operation Jinnah”, this is Shiv Aroorsnd book again in the background of Armed forces andst in non fiction category which he coauthored with another fellow journalist cum author Rahul Singh.
As the name suggests, the book is about some of the most daring and fearless operations involving our armed forces Army/Navy/Airforce allincluded and the authors made no mistake in choosing this title as no title would be so apt for a book with such awe inspiring experiences.
The Indian armed forces always stood as an epitome of courage, selflessness, patriotism and nation above all philosophy and each of theheroes whose stories the authors covered in this book are a best example to this.
Beginning with the daring Surgical Strikes which the Special Forces did in PoK last year around this time to Wing Commander Gaurav Singh Chauhan, each of the chapter in the book was truly inspiring.
The fearlessness, selflessness, strategic planning and careful execution of the same by the heroes of this book especially at the times of facing odds against them will surely never miss your attention.
The authors have done a good deal of hardwork in bringing the storiessome of which you would most probably be hearing for thest time on Indias truly fearless as well as selfless souls to light via this book.
Go and read it if you havent, worth your time and money, Thank you Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh for this fabulous book as I really loved every chapter of it,
Srivatsan V
Having a bad day at work is common for all of us, but what is different for a defense personnel in terms of the consequences of having a bad day
.
It is an irreversible day
, It affects not just you, but your family permanently
There were also some great points raised in this book around the hypocrisy of the media during brief moments of godlike portrayal of the Indian armed forces.
But the author also stresses this point : 'The truth is that India remains constantly at war' which is something we all rarely remember,
Reading these tales of exemplary valour, courage and maturity validate an existing notion of mine,
The sacrifices would be impossible to repay, The book has its moments and starts off with a very interesting premise, The emphasis on the fact that security forces are at a state of conflict almost all the time is a very important one, since most operations are hidden from the public eye for obvious reasons.
However, Aroor fails to tackle the question he starts with sufficiently,
What explains the final act of giving What is that inscrutable space where the will to survive gives way to an epiphany that death in those circumstances will serve a higher purpose What is that purpose The survival of fellow comrades, the extraction of a hostage, successful escape from a marauding enemy
The short stories format does not work for me, maybe it never will.
Yet there are a few complaints about the book that still merit some thought, The foremost of them being that Aroor's narration gets stale quiet quickly, I had expected more 'meta' discussions but the book has to/decides to leave them out for the most part, Whether that is because of the sensitive nature of the operations or not is difficult to say, But for the sprinkles of details on equipment and strategy here and there, the book is chiefly about the mental map of the soldier in the heat of the moment.
I'm afraid it's neither presented too well nor enough, DNFed at.