BOOK REVIEW – COURAGE AND CONVICTION – An Autobiography
by General VK Singh (with Kunal Verma)
Reviewed by VIKRAM KARVE
Details of the Book:
Title: COURAGE AND CONVICTION – An
Autobiography
Author: General VK SINGH (with KUNAL VERMA)
Publisher: ALEPH BOOK COMPANY (New Delhi,
India)
Year: 2013
ISBN: 978-93-82277-57-6
No. of Pages: 396 (including photographs)
Price: Rs. 595
Book Review:
During the past few days I saw rather
sensational accounts of this book in the media and wondered whether the
journalists had really read the whole book or were they just sensationalizing a
few excerpts.
I got a copy of “Courage and Conviction” and
read the whole book.
It is an interesting life story of a
distinguished soldier narrated in simple down-to-earth style which makes the
book easy to read and engrossing – yes, I found “Courage and Conviction”
immensely readable and I would say that this book has seamless “Page Turning
Quality (PTQ)”.
Arthur Koestler once remarked that there are
two main motives for writing autobiographies:
1. The “The Chronicler’s Urge” which expresses
the need to share experiences related to external events
2. The “Ecce Homo Motive” which expresses the
need to share internal thoughts based on internal life experiences.
While the “Chronicler” stresses on external
events, the “Ecce Homo” contemplates on internal processes.
In his autobiography General VK Singh delves
on both these aspects.
It is also said that an autobiography should
be “candid” and “controversial”.
“Courage and Conviction” is certainly candid,
but I did not find it controversial.
Even when discussing contentious issues the
author does not go for the jugular but exercises restraint while describing
various knotty events in his long career.
He writes in a frank, unpretentious and
friendly manner, without boastfulness or melodrama, and I feel that it is this
simple down-to-earth writing style is what makes this book so readable and
engrossing.
If you are looking for no-holds-barred bare-all
story with startling disclosures or sensational “breaking news” you may be
disappointed, for though the book does delve briefly on various controversial
topics like “line of succession” “age controversy” and various “scams” and
“scandals”, there are no “astonishing revelations” that have not been in the
public domain and discussed ad nauseam
in the media before.
In fact, I feel that this book is a “must
read” for youngsters, especially those young men and women aspiring for a
career in the armed forces who want to have a first-hand glimpse of life in the
army – I am sure they will love to read this interesting life story of a
distinguished soldier, starting from his formative days as a student and cadet
at the National Defence Academy (NDA), meandering his way through a remarkable
army career all the way to the top as Army Chief.
The book comprises 12 chapters, compiled in 3
parts.
The first part covers the author’s formative
years in the army – starting off as a cadet at NDA and IMA, his days as a
subaltern in an infantry battalion and his combat experiences in the 1971
Bangladesh War.
Curiously, the author had joined NDA as an
Air Force Cadet, but at his father’s behest his service was changed to Army in
his 5th term.
The second part of the book comprising 6
chapters is the “meat” of the book and describes the author’s rise through the
ranks, as he soldiers on, through combat, peace and training appointments, in
India and abroad, and, after undergoing various trials and tribulations, makes
it to coveted flag rank.
Comparing and contrasting the training
philosophies of the Indian and US Armies (the author is an honour graduate of
the prestigious US Army Ranger’s Course and US Army War College), the author
comments: “while the US Army prided itself on setting the bar at a level where
they looked for reasons to disqualify a soldier-student, in the Indian Army,
the establishment was terrified of failure, doing its best to make sure every
young officer somehow got across the finish line...in our own set-up, if we
‘failed’ a student, we knew there would be hell to pay with even Army HQ
jumping into the fray...in the case of Americans the emphasis was on realism,
with combat conditions being created...we, on the other hand, were
administratively driven...our system lends itself to a certain amount of
pampering...”
Is this “lenient” approach desirable in the
military – is this not a point for the powers-that-be to ponder over?
In the same Part 2 of the autobiography, which
I called the “meat of the book”, chapters 6 and 7 make absorbing reading, as
the author describes his soldiering experiences in, and views on, the eventful 1980’s,
in Siachen, in Punjab, with the IPKF in Sri Lanka and the Unconventional War.
Narrating numerous incidents, the author
brings out various facets of mid-career army life – like how your postings are
at the mercy of the “uniformed bureaucracy”; how your career prospects are
subject the whims and fancies of senior officers, the red tape which results in
combat soldiers being dominated by “babus”, uniformed and civilian, who are
supposed to serve them.
The author narrates how his career may have
ended as a Brigadier, as the promotion board had passed him over for promotion
to the rank of Major General.
He tells us how a former GOC and some of his
seniors prodded him to seek redress which led his case to be reviewed and he
was cleared for promotion.
The three chapters in Part 3 of the book,
“Life at the Top”, chronicle the author’s eventful journey spanning his higher command
appointments, ranging from Victor Force Commander in Counter Insurgency (CI) Operations
to Divisional, Corps and Eastern Army Commander, culminating in his appointment
as Army Chief, the zenith of his career.
The author mentions various scams and
scandals, the “date of birth” and the “line of succession” controversies, his
frustration with politicians and “babudom”, and his battles for seeking justice,
but like I said, he does not go for the jugular, but delves on these
contentious issues rather fleetingly exercising moderation and restraint while
writing about these touchy matters. He recounts how a number of his innovative
efforts to improve the system were stonewalled, including his proposal to
abolish the archaic “sahayak” system still prevalent in the army.
General VK Singh ends his autobiography with
an Epilogue “Reclaim India” in which he puts forth some of his views on the
current state-of-affairs, civilian and military, and briefly enumerates his
post-retirement activities after he hung up his boots on 31 May 2012.
Towards the end the author laments about the
army: “Today, virtually everything that we believed in, the very honour code that drove generations of
army officers, is under attack. Taking a cue from the ‘system’, in fact with
the active encouragement of the system, senior officers who are expected to set
examples are playing right into hands of those who are playing kingmakers”.
Hoping that his story would serve a purpose, wondering
whether mere words are enough, the author ends his book with a quote from Solzhenitsyn:
“…a shout in the mountains has been known to cause an avalanche”.
It is a big book and, including the illustrative
pictures, is 396 pages long, but it is written well, as a smoothly flowing
story, and is an easy read – in fact, once you start reading it becomes quite “unputdownable”
and it is probably in this crucial aspect of enhancing readability and achieving
seamless Page Turning Quality (PTQ) that the co-author Kunal Verma, a noted
writer and filmmaker, may have contributed significantly.
The well paced narrative is interspersed with
anecdotes and a sprinkling of humour.
Sample this:
After a training session on the topic of morale,
a soldier was asked to explain the difference between “fear” and “panic”.
The soldier replied in Hindi:
Saab, phear [fear] dar hota hai! Yeh hamare level pe hota hain
(Fear means being afraid and this happens at
our level, to soldiers)
Panik [panic] unche darje ka dar hota hain jo officer
level pe hota hai
(Panic is a higher level of fear which
happens to officers)
The author writes from the heart and this
lends a sense of authenticity to his writing. This quality of verisimilitude
and the friendly down-to-earth easy-to-read writing style makes this book an
enjoyable reading experience. And there is plenty of food-for-thought in this
book.
Every book has a message.
After reading the book, I pondered to myself –
the author has said so many things in his book, but what is the cardinal
message he is trying to convey?
Well, other readers may have a different
perspective, but, in my opinion, the cardinal message of this book is that the
biggest problem plaguing the army (and the country) is the increasing TRUST
DEFICIT
And, consequently, the main challenge is how
to mitigate this “trust deficit” and regain the atmosphere of trust, especially
in the context of the armed forces.
TRUST is the bedrock of the armed forces.
In the Navy, on a ship, all shipmates have to
trust each other, and, most importantly, everyone has to trust the Captain, and
vice versa.
I am sure it is the same in the army.
Trust begets trust.
Senior Officers have to make efforts to win
the trust of their juniors by their impeccable conduct and genuine concern for
their soldiers.
Let me cite an incident from chapter 7 of the
book (IPKF and The Unconventional War).
As war hysteria build up, a Corps Commander
asked the Army Chief a pertinent question: “If we go to war, what do I tell the
men? What are we fighting for?”
This demonstrates that importance of taking
your juniors into confidence to build a relationship of trust.
It is imperative that soldiers have implicit
trust in their officers, especially they must fully trust their senior officers
in whose hands the soldiers have put their lives at stake.
Just imagine the deleterious effect on their
psyche when junior officers and soldiers switch on their TV and watch “breaking
news” about involvement of their senior officers in scams, scandals, corruption
and other immoral and unscrupulous activities.
Can you expect juniors to trust such unethical
seniors?
Stories of “infighting” “contretemps” “internecine
battles” and “succession wars” at senior levels and increasing incidents of clashes
between officers and soldiers at the unit level, reported in the media from
time to time, are signs of eroding mutual trust which is the root cause of
trust deficit at all levels within the army.
There seems to trust deficit at the macro
level too, between the top brass of the army and the bureaucrats, and
politicians, and the author has brought out many such instances in his book.
Is this atmosphere of trust deficit having an
adverse effect on the efficacy of our armed forces?
Well, I will leave that question for you to ponder
on after you read the book.
But, after reading “Courage and Conviction” by
General VK Singh, I feel that the biggest challenge before the army and the defence
establishment is how to tackle and mitigate this problem of growing “trust
deficit” with a view to creating a favourable atmosphere of trust, which is the
bedrock of the armed forces.
I enjoyed reading this book – it was an
enriching experience too.
Should you read this book?
I feel you should, especially if you are in
the army, or are interested in the affairs of the armed forces.
And, like I said earlier, I feel that this
book is a “must read” for youngsters aspiring for a career in the armed forces.
The production quality of the book is superb.
I am glad I bought this book – it is a valuable
addition to my bookcase.
(About the Authors of “Courage and Conviction”: General VK Singh
needs no introduction. After a distinguished career in the Indian Army for 42
years, described vividly in his book, culminating at the very top, he retired
as Army Chief on 31 May 2012. There is an archaic saying: “Old Soldiers fade
away” but after reading his autobiography it looks like he intends to continue
to actively contribute to the nation as best as he can. The co-author Kunal
Verma is a writer and film maker.)
BOOK REVIEW by VIKRAM KARVE
VIKRAM KARVE
Copyright © Vikram Karve
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this book review.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.
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