This book has been the outcome of five years of research, interactions and delving into the inner recesses of my mind. It wouldn’t have materialized but for the encouragement, guidance and support of my friends, colleagues and family, who readily and graciously gave their time and inputs to make the text more accurate and suggested valuable improvements.
I would like to thank Khushwant Singh for his invaluable advice and for being a constant source of inspiration. Every time I happened to meet him during the last three years, he would ask, ‘General Saheb, what is the progress on your autobiography?’ I am indebted to the media adviser, Prime Minister’s Office; the Photo Division, ministry of defence; the Army HQ; the Press Information Bureau, Government of India; the Department of Information and Public Relations and Tourism, Arunachal Pradesh; my regiment, the Maratha Light Infantry, and specially, the units and formations which I commanded and the officers who served with me, for their assistance in this work. Further, my team has earned my greatest admiration and gratitude for its unstinted help and valuable inputs. It comprised Venkat Gouder, Bunny Chetinder Singh, Pammi Pannu, Vivek Chadha, Aloke Dutt, Prashant Lokhande, Ankur Garg, Ravi Gonte, Manik Bhardwaj, Kuldeep Dabral, Rajesh Punia, Satbir Bedi and Atum Potom. The blessings of my father, Lieutenant Colonel J.S. Marwah, my mother-in-law, Prabhjot Kaur, and the boundless encouragement, patience and support of my wife, Rohini, during this period, when my computer and I were mostly inseparable, are gratefully acknowledged. I was also fortunate to have a dedicated and industrious secretarial staff comprising S.B. Rana, Pradeep Kumar and Mahesh Kumar.
I am grateful to the authors, publishers and other copyright holders whose inputs and material I have used in the book. I also would like to place on record the encouragement of well-wishers like Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, Shekhar Gupta, Lieutenant General V. R. Raghavan, Sushil Gupta, Anil Malhotra, Sant Singh Chatwal, Hardev Akoi, Laxmi Narayan, acclaimed photographers Henry Dallal (his work appears on the cover) and Captain Suresh Sharma, Major General Manjit Dugal, Ranjit Singh, Colonel Basudev Maitra, Ajit Singh Sawhney, Harpreet Chadha, Surinder Kandhari, Ini Bawa, G.S. Kochar, and many of my services and golfing friends. I would also like to thank Jyoti M. Rai, Indrim Boo, Bandeep Singh and Pramod Kamble for their contribution to the project.
Finally, my greatest appreciation goes to Amit Agarwal and his team at HarperCollins. Their conceptual ideas helped me in evolving and formatting the manuscript correctly while keeping the focus in place. They meticulously edited and processed my work and thereby made an admirable contribution. Merci beaucoup a tous!