The War in East Africa 1939-1943 (Hardcover; INR 1475)

This is not a book but just a collection of articles written over several years. It may also seem strange that a Pongo is writing about the Navy. Though we have started moving towards Theaterisation, these writings have nothing to do with it; it’s just the continuation of the pre-NDA dream of joining the Navy. A long time back, I read somewhere that at a newly formed Tri-Services Establishment, orders were passed that all buildings would be secured by 1600h. Each Service reacted in its own way. The Naval chaps locked all the almirahs, closed all the windows, locked all the rooms and finally, the main doors of all the buildings under their charge. Thereafter all of them left for their barracks/family quarters at 1600h. The Army chaps ensured that proper Guards were deployed around all the buildings under their charge, and no one was permitted thereafter to enter the buildings without a proper pass. The Air Force chaps ensured that fire alarms etc. were in place in all the buildings under their charge and also ensured that everything inside had full insurance cover!

This is the fifth book in the series on the first-hand accounts by the war veterans of the IPKF

To have the good fortune to be an active participant in an epoch-making event like the liberation of Bangladesh is an honour and privilege not shared by many. The good fortune to survive and live to record and tell the tale is the privilege of only a minuscule minority. This work comes from the desk of one such participant who saw it unfolding in front of his own eyes. Decorated for his gallantry, the author was one of the Company Commanders of 4 GUARDS (1 RAJPUT) that was tasked to cross the mighty Meghna River and charge towards Dacca. The author had the privilege of flying in the very first helicopter that crossed Meghna on the fateful evening of 09 December 1971. This is the first-hand story of one of the most audacious operations undertaken in the history of military aviation. The success of this very operation enabled the Indian Army to achieve that, incidentally, had not been planned in the first place. This is a treasure trove of some very rare and unique first-hand accounts from the senior-most officer in the Corps area of operations to the cutting edge subunit commanders. There is no parallel work of this nature in existence as on date.

The Roar of the Tiger (Hardcover; COMING SOON) is a collection of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s speeches that have been commented upon by a decorated war veteran of 1971 Indo-Pak War.

This book is the first of the series by the same title (but different sub-titles) that aims to bring to fore certain anecdotes and experiences as narrated by those who were there and who witnessed such events unfolding in front of their own eyes during Indo-Pak War 1971. That is the closest one can get to the truth of a battlefield engagement. Have we been able to achieve 100% accuracy? We can’t say! But we are sanguine that all such accounts are as close to the truth as possible. The contributors, all in senior age brackets by now, are free from the limitations that get imposed both by the service regulations and impact of events that may have happened in the recent past. They are well beyond such inducements. This book is the first one in the series of four books on the stories from 1971 war.