Author - Watershed 1967: India’s Forgotten Victory Over China & ‘Camouflaged’ - Short Stories. historian, soldier, columnist. JN Tata Scholar, RD Sethna Fellow.
Mumbai
Joined July 2012
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Delighted to announce that my book ‘#GeneralBrasstacks : The #SundarjiStory’ (@PenguinIndia ) is published and now available for purchase on online platforms (Amazon.in) and bookstores.
Years of research, travel, meeting sources, archives, writing, editing…finally makes it to print - a definitive #biography of arguably the most influential #Military #leader in India’s recent history. A legacy both celebrated and debated.
Who was General #Sundarji? What was his link with #MahatmaGandhi?
How did he influence Prime Ministers #RajivGandhi & #IndiraGandhi? What was his role in the controversial #Bofors deal ?
Thanks to my publishers for work on the book - @PenguinIndia and @mileeashwarya @sorcerical
@kan_writersside
Probal DasGupta retweeted
Look forward to our conversation @iProbal !
Look forward to a riveting session today with @VishnuNDTV on his book ‘The Sky Warriors’ @kslitfest -
1630 hrs, Kasauli Club.
Vishnu has spoken to several pilots and soldiers involved in #OpSindoor and the book is ample proof of the conversations that bring out stories of the men and women who were involved on the frontlines!
Took me less than 88 hours to read this exhilarating account of Op Sindoor.
Join us if you are in Chandigarh or Kasauli today!
@vvssays @nikhapte @probirpaymate @srikantkesnur @ShivAroor
Look forward to a riveting session today with @VishnuNDTV on his book ‘The Sky Warriors’ @kslitfest -
1630 hrs, Kasauli Club.
Vishnu has spoken to several pilots and soldiers involved in #OpSindoor and the book is ample proof of the conversations that bring out stories of the men and women who were involved on the frontlines!
Took me less than 88 hours to read this exhilarating account of Op Sindoor.
Join us if you are in Chandigarh or Kasauli today!
@vvssays @nikhapte @probirpaymate @srikantkesnur @ShivAroor
Was General Sundarji venerated or vilified? Debated or Celebrated?
India’s most influential ? Let’s find out.
Join us for an exciting morning at @kslitfest in Kasauli. @sunetrac joins me in discussing General Sundarji and the turbulent times from the book General Brasstacks.
- at 1030 am, Sunday, 25 Oct.
#generalbrasstacks #sundarji
@PenguinIndia
@mileeashwarya @kan_writersside @nikhapte @probirpaymate @JoBeingjoe @jyotsnamohan
@srikantkesnur @schahm
#nowreading @iProbal account of a fascinating man. I'm not into war/ defence stories but the book really fleshes out the details
The Sundarji Story goes to the hills.
Join me on 25 Oct at @kslitfest Kasauli for a crackling session on India’s most unconventional and influential military chief !
Is Sundarji most ‘Celebrated or Debated’ ? Come and find out.
If you haven’t read yet, General Brasstacks: The Sundarji Story now available on ‘The Great Indian sale’ -
amzn.in/d/0iNObeu5
#brasstacks #books #nonfiction
#biography #indianarmy
#sundarji
Look forward to speaking at one of my favourite places.
Kasauli ! 22-25 Oct.
‘The Sundarji Story’ travels to the hills.
Join us for a rollicking ride with General Brasstacks!
See you soon at @kslitfest
If you haven’t read yet, General Brasstacks is available on
amzn.in/d/0bBCjr7G
@HISTORY @vvssays @probirpaymate @schahm @srikantkesnur @nikhapte
#sundarji #general #brasstacks #indianarmy
The Sundarji Story goes to the hills.
Join me on 25 Oct at @kslitfest Kasauli for a crackling session on India’s most unconventional and influential military chief !
Is Sundarji most ‘Celebrated or Debated’ ? Come and find out.
If you haven’t read yet, General Brasstacks: The Sundarji Story now available on ‘The Great Indian sale’ -
amzn.in/d/0iNObeu5
#brasstacks #books #nonfiction
#biography #indianarmy
#sundarji
@vvssays @PenguinIndia #kasauli
Look forward to speaking at one of my favourite places.
Kasauli ! 22-25 Oct.
‘The Sundarji Story’ travels to the hills.
Join us for a rollicking ride with General Brasstacks!
See you soon at @kslitfest
If you haven’t read yet, General Brasstacks is available on
amzn.in/d/0bBCjr7G
@HISTORY @vvssays @probirpaymate @schahm @srikantkesnur @nikhapte
#sundarji #general #brasstacks #indianarmy
What are the triggers for historic events ? Most go unnoticed.
Join me on ‘WHEN THE WORLD CHANGES IN A SINGLE MOMENT’ — a journey into the moments we almost forgot, but which changed everything.
Changed the World!
This Sunday, 11 Oct at 1pm at The British Brewing Company (BBC) in Lower Parel, Mumbai.
Register on -
lnkd.in/dUy-4Jjy
***
history’s greatest turning points didn’t look important when they happened -
A wrong turn in Sarajevo.
A tennis court in Kohima.
A Himalayan pass at Nathu La.
A bluff between two generals.
What’s common among them ?
#generalbrasstacks @soi_ind #watershed1967 @kan_writersside
#storytelling
Look forward to speaking at one of my favourite places.
Kasauli ! 22-25 Oct.
‘The Sundarji Story’ travels to the hills.
Join us for a rollicking ride with General Brasstacks!
See you soon at @kslitfest
If you haven’t read yet, General Brasstacks is available on
amzn.in/d/0bBCjr7G
@HISTORY @vvssays @probirpaymate @schahm @srikantkesnur @nikhapte
#sundarji #general #brasstacks #indianarmy
Probal DasGupta retweeted
Jeffery Archer gave us some great quick reads and thrillers. Lived a life of highs and lows. Goodbye Archer.
Celebrating an assassination shows an utter lack of class!
That, when the PM paid his respects to the father of the nation on 02 Oct.
These guys are a completely confused bunch of half literates and morons to be putting such videos!
Abominable!
This is what "Hindutva" looks like when it stops pretending to have any relationship with Gandhi at all!
@TusharG 's great-grandfather was murdered by the man this page is celebrating.
Our contributors in Saffron Shadows — Tushar himself, Kedar Nath Gupta, and others — argue fiercely, and disagree completely, about Gandhiji and his legacy! They criticised, debated, condemned. Not one of them ever celebrated or justified his death.
The Jaipur Dialogue just did both.
Shame on @JaipurDialogues and @Sanjay_Dixit ! Deplorable!
‘Gandhiji and Sundarji: Two Lives and a Connect’
On 2nd October, a poignant walk down memory lane, through the pages of General Brasstacks: The Sundarji Story.
Two remarkable lives. Two different journeys. Turn the pages. Discover the connect.
Here’s the link to General Brasstacks if you haven’t read yet.
Amazon - amzn.in/d/0c1Rdurt
#GeneralBrasstacks #TheSundarjiStory #GandhiJayanti #MahatmaGandhi #GeneralSundarji
instagram.com/reel/Dd_hSetuP…
02 Oct. Gandhi Jayanti.
My column from sometime ago -
‘The Mahatma and the Military: Slender was the Difference’
In this age when military strategy is a key instrument of policy in international affairs, is Mahatma Gandhi relevant? Did the apostle of non-violence justify the use of military force?
1948: the state of Kashmir hangs in balance. Pakistani raiders, backed by its army, sweep through defences of Hari Singh, the Maharaja of Kashmir.
Hari Singh asked for India’s help.
Colonel LP Sen receives orders to fly to Srinagar and take over 161 brigade in defence of the valley.
Before he was to leave, he went to meet Mahatma Gandhi, briefing him on the job at hand.
“You’re going in to protect innocent people, and to save them from suffering and their property from destruction. To achieve that you must naturally make full use of every means at your disposal.” - said Gandhi
A few months later, Gandhi was assassinated.
firstpost.com/opinion-news-e…
#mahatmagandhi #gandhi #india #freedom #02Oct
The Sundarji Story at SAFAL.
Civil-Military relations, Sundarji with Gandhiji, nuclear thinking, legacy and criticism of the General, and much else with @NabarunRoy15
A laudable initiative by SAU and active participation of students at the litfest - takeaways.
Was a treat to listen some of the other discussions and the authors.
General Brasstacks: The Sundarji Story - available in bookstores and Amazon.in, if you haven’t read yet.
#generalbrasstacks #sundarji #brasstacks #siachen
@vvssays @PenguinIndia
As part of #SAFAL2026 I discussed @iProbal Dasgupta's General Brasstacks: The Sundarji Story. The session began with @cbhandari2010, PhD student, providing an overview of the book. The event was organized by Institute of South Asian Studies, @SouthAsianUni & @vowlitfest .
Probal DasGupta retweeted
So why should you care about this unprecedented rupture in the Election Commission?
BECAUSE being eligible to be enrolled as a voter is no longer enough. In one state, 97 people proved they belonged, the officer agreed, and the software, controlled from Delhi, never let him record it. They're still off the roll.
BECAUSE the reason you trust the voter list is that nobody controls it: thousands of officers do, one constituency each. Centralise the software, and that stops being true.
And BECAUSE the check built to catch this, three Commissioners deciding together, was tried.
But TWO of the THREE say they were kept in the dark on key processes rolled out to revise the rolls.
(9/10)
indianexpress.com/article/ex…
Probal DasGupta retweeted
Kohima ensured the biggest defeat in history for the Japanese Army and damaged its military capability. The British Indian Army, on the other hand, reconquered Burma from the Japanese and regained its confidence.
firstpost.com/opinion/beyond…
Probal DasGupta retweeted
The battle also brought to the fore the heroism of Nagas, Assamese, Gorkhas, Rajputs, Punjabis and Sikhs, who showcased the syncretic nature of one of the world’s most inclusive armies.
The outcome at the tennis court changed the momentum in the Battle of Kohima.
Probal DasGupta retweeted
When the advancing Japanese captured the bungalow on the slope, the defending troops retreated to a higher point on the ridge: the tennis court.
The Japanese pressed hard throughout the night of April 9, as Gorkha, Indian, and British troops occupied hurriedly dug trenches.
The fate of the world turned on a tennis court in India. My column in @firstpost
The Battle of the Tennis Court is sometimes called the ‘Battle of the Cherry Tree’, since the historic tree marks the last point of Japanese advance.
A British Army Museum poll chose the twin battles of Kohima and Imphal over Waterloo as the greatest battles in the last 400 years. In a significant way, Indian soldiers played a key role in bringing the world war to a close.
To commemorate the Japanese soldiers, there is a peace memorial in Kohima that features a cenotaph bearing the Japanese word ‘Chinkon’, which means ‘may the souls rest in peace’. Kohima is a rare war that found its closure.
@rakesharma15 @palepurshankar @bsdhanoa @srikantkesnur @HISTORYTV18 @WW2Facts @historyinmemes @HISTORY @WW2Today @WWarII @YashMor5 @vvssays @Jaishree_7 @schahm @rhinohistorian @probirpaymate @SanjoyRoyTWA @adgpi @PaliwalAvi #history #facts
When the history of World War II was written, most Western historians believed that the battles of Stalingrad and El Alamein turned the tide in favour of the Allies.
However, the outcome of the war, especially in Asia, was decided on a tennis court in India.
@iProbal✍️
India’s date with 11 September.
On this day, 11 September 1967: China opened fire at Nathu La.
India fought back.
At Nathu La and Cho La, Indian soldiers stopped the Chinese advance—and demonstrated that the balance on the Himalayan frontier had changed.
India’s victory though, was forgotten.
Four years later, India went to war with Pakistan.
China stayed out.
That was no coincidence, argues my book #Watershed1967: India’s Forgotten Victory Over China.
1967 was the forgotten battle.
1971 was the consequence.
Besides -The victories of 1967 changed India’s calculus with China. Both nations wouldn’t go to war for half century.
The story was forgotten. Until the book #Watershed1967 arrived - Fifty years later.
If you haven’t read #watershed1967 yet, do look up Amazon stores.
P.S:
before anyone chooses to argue that there were other reasons why China didn’t enter the 1971 war, do read my book where i mention that 1967 was one of the several key reasons for 1971.
#Watershed1967 #NathuLa #ChoLa #11September #IndianArmy #MilitaryHistory
@kan_writersside @vvssays @bharatrakshak @nitingokhale @rahulkanwal @_ShivaniSD @Paultheseeker @srikantkesnur @pramodkapoor @ajaynewsman @ShekharGupta @oratorgreat