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Jodo, not Todo
Congress scion Rahul Gandhi is about to complete yet another attempt to revive his flagging political fortunes in the form a a countrywide march. As per its official website – “The aim of this Yatra is to unite India; to come together and strengthen our nation…. to raise their voice against the economic, social and political issues that are dividing our nation today. The yatra seeks to address rampant unemployment & inflation, the politics of … Read entire article »
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WhatsApp, Privacy and Me
Sometime in January, WhatsApp started showing a pop-up asking me to agree to their updated privacy policy … Read more »
Gen Thimayya’s Resignation – Statement by Pt Nehru in Parliament and debate – 02 Sep 1959
Prime Minister’s Statement Sir, I wish to apologize for my absence from the house yesterday. I was anxious … Read more »
CDS and DMA – Penny Wise Pound Foolish?
Appointment of CDS and setting up of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) under him within the … Read more »
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An open letter to the COAS
Dear General, As the head of an organization like the Indian Army, you represent many things to many people. To the serving officers and soldiers, you are a role model. To them, you stand … Read more »
Sadda Haq Aithe Rakh
My understanding of the way performance and rewards work is as follows. Performance deserves reward, commensurate to … Read more »
Mandalisation of the Army
Image by Christian Haugen via Flickr Ajai Shukla’s article ‘Soldier Heal Thyself’ in Business Standard talks about ‘Mandalisation’ of the Army as one of the many ills that ail its appraisal and promotion … Read more »
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WhatsApp, Privacy and Me
Sometime in January, WhatsApp started showing a pop-up asking me to agree to their updated privacy policy if I wanted to continue using the app beyond 8th February. In the normal course, I would have agreed without giving much thought to it. After all, we don’t really read the User Agreement every time we install or update an app. Like … Read entire article »
Gen Thimayya’s Resignation – Statement by Pt Nehru in Parliament and debate – 02 Sep 1959
Prime Minister’s Statement Sir, I wish to apologize for my absence from the house yesterday. I was anxious to be here because of a number of adjournment motions on a subject which had naturally aroused much interest, but as the house knows, I had to go to Palam just at that time to meet the President of Pakistan. (Gen Ayub Khan … Read entire article »
CDS and DMA – Penny Wise Pound Foolish?
Appointment of CDS and setting up of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) under him within the Ministry of Defence is a long overdue, ground breaking reform undertaken by the Modi government. The need for such an institution to provide single point military advice to the government had been repeatedly talked about since independence, specially in the aftermaths of the … Read entire article »
Indo-Nepal Border Dispute – An Explainer
An explainer on the Indo-Nepal border dispute, based on articles /open source inputs. Received from a friend on social media Historical Background · Anglo-Nepal Treaty of Sugauli of 1816. The treaty determines the Kali river as the western boundary between British India and Nepal. Nepal has produced an East India Company map from the archives to show that the British considered the tributary of the Kali River, the Limpiyadhura, as its main channel. But a map drawn up in 1879 after surveys had been carried out shows the boundary along a ridge just west of the Tinker Pass. As per this and later official British maps and what India claims, Kali River originates from a natural spring at … Read entire article »
The “White Mutiny” of Monghyr 1776
While the sepoy uprising of 1857 remains the best-known mutiny in the history of British Raj in India, there have been several others, notable being the mutiny by Naval ratings in Mumbai in 1946. However, one of the earliest ones, and one about which very little has been written, was the ‘White Mutiny’ of 1776. As evident from the label, … Read entire article »
Crisis of Confidence
When I joined my Regiment in 1989, amongst the first few mandatory requirements as part of my initiation, as instructed by my senior subaltern, was memorising the names of all the Commandants and Risaldar Majors of the Regiment since it’s raising. Once I could rattle off these names even in my sleep, I was handed the list of every officer who had been commissioned into the regiment before me to memorise as well. Fortunately for me, my regiment was just 17 years old when I had joined, so the tasks were not as difficult as it was of those of my coursemates who had joined outfits over 200 years old. Because, as I found out when … Read entire article »
Nanda Sahib
As teachers go, he was unusual. A short, bulky Khalsa with the customary bushy beard, with eyebrows to match, Naib Risaldar Gulzar Singh was my D&M (Driving and Maintenance) instructor when I joined the Regiment back in 1990. He was universally known as Nanda Sahib, although that wasn’t his actual name. Apparently when he had joined the regiment, Gulzari Lal Nanda … Read entire article »
Rupnagar “Treaty” of 1831 – The Meeting Between Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and Lord Bentinck
In October 1831, the small town of Rupnagar (Ropar) on the banks of Sutlej witnessed a historic meeting between Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and Lord William Bentnick, the Governor General of Indian territory under the East India Company. Over eight days of festivities, military reviews, entertainment and feasting, each side tried to outdo the other in show of goodwill and warmth. At … Read entire article »
Battle Box – story of a bunker
Fort Canning Hill or Bukit Larangan (Forbidden Hill), as it was originally know, dominated the landscape of the island for centuries before being dwarfed by the tall structures of the concrete jungle that Singapore is today. Soldiers and rulers have always had a fixation with heights – for purposes of tactical and psychological domination. Hence, this hill, imposing at 47 meters … Read entire article »