From Sepoy to Subedar (Hardcover; INR 895) Sita Ram’s splendidly evocative chronicle of his forty-eight years in the service of the English is a piece of first-hand military history. First published in 1873, in translation from original Hindi, it eventually became a standard text book for the British officers.

This book, as a part of a series of literary works that, together cover the whole expanse of the 1947-48 conflict, focuses primarily on the Kishanganga (also referred to as Kishenganga) Valley (and Northern Kashmir as a stepping stone to the said vale). As the readers would know and realise, the bow-shaped river basin of Kishanganga (KG) River provided depth and a huge geographical cushion to the Kashmir Valley during those fateful days. If we were, hypothetically, to take out Kishanganga Valley from the map for a while, the vulnerability of Kashmir Valley and Ladakh region would stand out, needing no further aggrandizement. The KG valley with steep gorges, fast-flowing streams and the KG River, was a tough terrain to evict the well-entrenched enemy from, i.e., after the presence of such elements had been discovered or reported many months after the commencement of the conflict. Post recapture, the extended frontages that the defenders then had to hold against a numerically superior, well-supplied enemy, turned out to be a tactician’s nightmare. When we factor in the realities like lack of an air strip, lack of motorable roads and highly erratic supply lines, the challenges that Indian forces faced in the KG Valley, become apparent. It was, definitely, not a mean task to first throw the invaders out of the river basin and then hold the long stretch of the formidable mountainous terrain with just a handful of troops. As a result, many stretches were re-occupied by the enemy even after Indian troops had evicted them from such areas during the course of the conflict. The KG Valley, incidentally, sat in the middle of two secret plans, Operation Gulmarg (Kashmir and Jammu region) and Operation Datta Khel (Gilgit area), being put into action by Pakistan at that time. And unlike elsewhere, regular troops faced Indian troops from the very beginning of operations in and around the Tithwal area.

Based on a true story, this gripping account will leave you spell-bound

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.

Was it her fault that she became her soldier’s widow? Does it matter whether he was a battle casualty or a physical casualty? No. Death matters!! Her husband’s death matters. But only to her. For everyone else she is either a trophy to be used at glamorous patriotic events or a money minting machine in the name of a trust or an NGO. And she is soon forgotten. Her pain, her trauma, her problems are no one’s business. It’s her battle and her battle alone. A battle she must win, for herself, for her children and for the supreme sacrifice of her husband. Shouldn’t we as a nation support her in this battle of hers or should we just disown her, like we do? Or was it really her fault that she became her soldier’s widow? About the Author- Ambreen Zaidi has been a well known journalist & columnist. She has won accolades & several awards for her ground work related to the forgotten heroes of the Indian Armed Forces, in leading news papers like Times of India, Hindustan Times, Dainik Bhaskar. She was the founding editor of world’s first blog magazine Blogger’s Park. She has her own venture called The Changemakers, where she and her team hand hold, the forces widows & orphans and helps them in whichever area they need help, from education to training to placement. All free of cost. She regularly writes for national & international publications about the social issues which need immediate attention.

Third book in the series of personal memoirs of war veterans of IPKF/OPERATION PAWAN in Sri Lanka