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Courage and Conviction: An Autobiography

by V. K. Singh , Kunal Verma

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 47 ratings · 6 reviews

Courage and Conviction (Hardcover)
General V. K. Singh served in the Indian Army for forty-two years, retiring as Chief of Army Staff on 31 May 2012. His distinguished career saw him on the front lines of combat in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 which led to the creation of Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. Considered one of the worlds foremos Courage and Conviction (Hardcover)
General V. K. Singh served in the Indian Army for forty-two years, retiring as Chief of Army Staff on 31 May 2012. His distinguished career saw him on the front lines of combat in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 which led to the creation of Bangladesh and in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. Considered one of the worlds foremost experts in counter-insurgency operations, he is also known for the principled stand he took on many issues during his tenure, from arms procurement to the deployment of the army against the Maoists.

Trained at the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy, VK Singh served in regions (and in roles) crucial to Indias security. From his early days as company commander on the Line of Control in Poonch, to commanding elite formationsVictor Force in Jammu and Kashmir and the vast Eastern Command that shares international boundaries with Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh to his experience of military operations and exercises such as Blue Star, Brasstacks and Trident, General Singhs story makes for fascinating reading. Candid, compelling and occasionally controversial, this is the story of a straight-talking soldier not afraid to stand by his convictions

Interesting Facts About the Book
Gives the reader hitherto untold stories about the Generals experiences during the IPKF operation in Sri Lanka, the 1971 Bangladesh War with Pakistan, Operation Bluestar and anti-insurgency operations in Kashmir and the Northeast
Reveals information about bribery and corruption scandals in the armed forces during his tenure as Chief of Army Staff
Gives the full story about various lobbies who tried to victimize him over the issue of his falsified date of birth
Gives a worrying picture of how senior officers in the armed forces are constantly harassed by top bureaucrats.

About the Author

A third-generation army officer, General V. K. Singh served with both the 2nd and 25th Battalion of the Rajput Regiment. A highly decorated soldier, he was the twenty-fourth Chief of the Indian Army. In the course of his tenure he took a principled stand on multiple issues and this often brought him into conflict with powerful lobbies both inside and outside government. Writer and filmmaker Kunal Verma has produced many critically acclaimed films for the Indian armed forces that include The Standard Bearerson the NDA and a documentary on the Kargil War. He has also authored The Long Road to Siachen: The Question Whyand the Northeast Trilogy. ...more

Hardcover , Hardcover , 396 pages

Published November 8th 2013 by Aleph Book Company (first published November 2013)

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Jan 19, 2014 Mansoor Azam rated it 3 of 5 stars

VK Singh was a unique Indian Army Chief as he stood out in news for all the seemingly wrong reasons. It was natural for me to seek out his autobiography to know of his times and ideas.
The autobiography, unlike many from sub continental military figures, is very well written and composed. Part of the reason may be that VK Singh had professional help of Kunal Verma in writing it.
It gives a unique insight to almost four decades of Indian Military and the events it was engaged in. Right after his VK Singh was a unique Indian Army Chief as he stood out in news for all the seemingly wrong reasons. It was natural for me to seek out his autobiography to know of his times and ideas.
The autobiography, unlike many from sub continental military figures, is very well written and composed. Part of the reason may be that VK Singh had professional help of Kunal Verma in writing it.
It gives a unique insight to almost four decades of Indian Military and the events it was engaged in. Right after his passing out the author landed in to one of the oldest and traditional infantry battalion in Indian Infantry and the initial anecdotes are interesting in explaining ways and standards of inner working of a battalion and early days of a subaltern in it. the writer was fortunate to have participated in 1971 war and his narration of the events in which he participated was equally fabulous and less mired in controversy unlike many Indian writers who show a prejudiced view in black and white.
The career progression till rise to Army Chief of the author is narrated always with a few incidents in every rank and station which speaks of a superb memory in retention of even minor incidents like those explained.
His participation in Indian Army's intervention in Sri Lanka and its Tamil affair and lessons from it was interesting to me and i am already looking forward to reading more on it.
The operation against Sikhs in Amritsar is explained adn along with it the procedural fault lines and objections of author against it are frankly put up which i think is a brave attempt.
the author explains everything lucidly and i for one felt involved with the events.
He raises questions all along be it the defence postures, policies, the military purchase and acquisition process, the land mafias, the politico national integrity
As usual the author couldn't refrain from some self defence points to counter the controversies that surround him but that was inevitable i guess. The down part is that at such points in the book the reader feels bewildered "Is it an autobiography or a court room ?" As this self defence includes the blame and name game thus creating a bad taste in reading an overall WELL DONE book.
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Nov 14, 2013 Vikram Karve rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: military , history

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 h ...more

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Jan 10, 2014 Tarun Bahuguna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: india , non-fiction-business

General V.K. Singh is arguably one of the most controversial generals that have served in Indian Army. He is known for taking government to court on the issue of his age discrepancy which is still fresh in our memories. Though, my reason for reading his autobiography was none of it, I was more curious to know about life in the forces and how on earth our Army works so efficiently with so much of constraints in the budget and with outdated weaponry.

The efficiency of our army is only possible beca General V.K. Singh is arguably one of the most controversial generals that have served in Indian Army. He is known for taking government to court on the issue of his age discrepancy which is still fresh in our memories. Though, my reason for reading his autobiography was none of it, I was more curious to know about life in the forces and how on earth our Army works so efficiently with so much of constraints in the budget and with outdated weaponry.

The efficiency of our army is only possible because of the unconditional loyalty of our soldiers. They don’t only lay their lives for the nation but exceed all expectations like building a road within 48 hours. Time and again Singh pointed out the tantrums senior officers throw to get some trivial work done just for their pleasure.

Singh gives you some deep insight in the life of an army officer. Unfortunately, similar to other organizations even army is dominated by favoritism in terms of promotions and handing over of postings. If you don't get along with your senior then he will make your life unbearably miserable until you completely breakdown or get transferred to other unit or post.

The book has taken some personal digs on people whom author had some strong objections and most of them (in fact all) were his seniors. (Retd.) General never pointed out any major flaw of his own that might leave you wandering whether he was such an ideal commander himself?

The book picks up the pace only when the author is posted in war zones such as Bangladesh (1971) and Sri Lanka (during LTTE). To me it was a bit slow when author moved into detailed version of his differences with other officers which come up now and then. Singh also talked about the corruption in the Indian army and how babudom is severely destroying our forces for their personal gains.

I personally appreciated his tenure and dedication in various army training institutes to hone the skills of the officers. He also successfully completed two international courses which were badge of honor for any army officer in the world.

Our forces would have been different if our leaders at the beginning would have seen them as an opportunity rather as a threat. The appointment of civilians as the head of ministry of defense is somehow the reason of a lack of competitive edge.
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Sep 29, 2015 Bhanupriya Petkar rated it 5 of 5 stars

Really nice book. Compelling and interesting real life story of a very brave and extraordinary soldier.

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Jun 17, 2015 Nischay rated it 4 of 5 stars

A good insight to the life of an army person.
Every part was interesting..as he grew up from courage to conviction!

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Aug 02, 2015 Balaji rated it 4 of 5 stars

Was fun reading , especially the chapters covering the Bangladesh war and the IPKF sector .

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