A good friend recommended this book during the pre-launch phase. Reading through the insightful tweets of the Major on social media, I was expecting a cracker of a book, presumably based on his experiences. However, after reading the book, I should comment that the Major has surprised all of us – This is an absolute humdinger with a thoroughly captivating narrative and excellently told fiction. The book’s title suggests that this is the first of many books and I eagerly look forward to the future editions.
This is a military fiction set in Kashmir, detailing the lives and travails of the First Battalion of the 4 Gorkha Rifles regiment. Major Danny Deka is an absolutely wonderful character, sketched to every great detail, and whose life arc is beautifully presented. Deepak, his protege and understudy, bubbling with youth and energy is a perfect foil to the daredevilry of Danny. One of the strengths or rather the beauty of the book is that many such characters are introduced in the narrative. Every single one of them is carved exquisitely and leaves a lasting memory on the reader.
The book gives some great insight into the lives of the army personnel. From regional tags like “Jat”, and “Khalsa” to the banter and leg-pulling of junior officers, this book embeds such nuggets smartly within the conversations. One of the biggest USP of the book is the enormous amount of leadership lessons that are distributed across the narrative. The importance of virtues like Humility is illustrated with some very fine examples, something that the readers can consider imbibing in their lives. Death is an event that acts as a catalyst for a gentleman cadet to transition into a Man. The conversations and experiences around this incident are quite hard-hitting.
Beyond the fiction, the book does present some fundamental issues critical to our society as part of the narrative. For example, the role of social media and influencers in setting a narrative, albeit a biased one, and the weaponization of such media by enemy powers. The role of media debates, open papers in international publications, etc are highlighted quite excellently. The author has inserted these life realities in such a wonderful manner that they don’t seem out of place at all.
Towards the end of the book, I observed a couple of instances where the dialogues are critical of the so-called defence experts who appear on all these TV debates. I wasn’t sure if this was just a conjecture of the character or a deeper reflection of the author’s experiences.
Overall, this is a wonderful unputdownable book. Very highly recommended.
Gee Vee is an engineer and avid fan of itihasas, puranas and books.
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