Major Gaurav Arya

TILL WE MEET AGAIN

The young candidate shifted uncomfortably, adjusting his right hand. His elbow seemed to be crooked, and the candidat..

THE VEERU EFFECT

In an iconic scene from the Bollywood classic Sholay, a much inebriated, golden-hearted petty criminal Veeru climbs the village water tank..

LAUGHING GAS

I watch Pakistani TV every day. It helps me build perspective and broaden my horizons about our Western neighbours.

A SMALL ACT OF DEFIANCE

It is now time to tell the truth. We were forced to grow up in a synthetically created bubble of self-loathing, perceived inferiority.

KASHMIR: A PREFERABLE FUTURE

In an iconic scene from the Bollywood classic Sholay, a much inebriated, golden-hearted petty criminal Veeru climbs the village water tank..

THE GREAT FALL OF CHINA

China is not as afraid of US aircraft carriers & India’s mountain divisions as it is of its own citizens...

ZAFARNAMA

We ignore our past. We ignore what our ancestors taught us. Therefore, we are condemned to live in mental slavery.

THE CRACKS IN THE EDIFICE

Pakistan was created as a result of the Two-Nation Theory. When Pakistan did come into being, it feared that it would be looked upon as a ‘lesser India’.

THE COVEN

That we are not interested in war is irrelevant. War is interested in us. And it has reached our doorstep. War is a many-fractured rainbow. It comes in many shades of screams and whimpers.

BALOCHISTAN AND FREEDOM

India has never supported Balochistan in any meaningful way. We must support the Baloch. Not as a counterweight to Kashmir...

UNDAUNTED

The truth is that most people who write or comment about Kashmir have never been there. Srinagar is hardly Kashmir...

MEDUSA

On 14 August 1947, a part of the British Indian Army separated from its mother organisation and became the Pakistan Army...

SILVER

Today, we celebrate twenty-five years of our passing out through the hallowed portals of the Officers Training Academy, Madras. Yes, all of us are that old....

MIRROR IMAGE

Whenever there is disillusionment with corruption, inefficiency or general chaos, a few bright bulbs write to me with that eternal blueberry, “Why can’t...

HOME

When I left the Indian Army in 1999, all I had earned, after a near-death fall, was a serious breathing problem. Nothing else. At least that is what the world...

THE OTHER WAR

For years, media has been telling us that there are 150-200 terrorists in Kashmir. Every year the security forces kill 150-200 terrorists. Next year...

BLOOD AND FREEDOM

Thousands of INA soldiers died fighting and many perished in death camps. By marching to certain death, they forever sanctified Netaji’s call to war “Give me blood and I shall give you freedom”...

MONOCHROME

My thoughts are without colour. My memories are monochrome. And those are from the deepest recesses of my mind…the idea of the Indian Army, black and white...

26/11: TEN YEARS LATER

Today in 2008, Pakistan’s ISI launched a diabolical plot to bring Mumbai to its knees. Ten terrorists owing loyalty to the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s chief Hafiz Saeed were sent....

THE QUEEN

“She’s the Queen of the battlefield, son”, the Old Man would tell me, with barely concealed pride. Whenever the Old Man spoke, I would listen…fascinated...

UNFORGIVEN

Officers Training Academy, Madras, December 1993. Actually, I don’t remember date clearly. As I walked past the notice board of Jessami Company, with its sundry instructions and timetables...

RED SNOW

70 years. 3 generations. This is a microcosm of the loss Kashmir has suffered since 15 August 1947. It started with nothing…just the greed of a few men who wanted power at any cost...

EXPENDABLE

This story is about India, the largest democracy in the world in which the cheapest commodity is the blood of the Indian soldier. This story is about Kashmir...

THE SHARK AND THE GOLDFISH

When India became independent, the overriding feeling amongst our leaders was that the Indian Army was a remnant of our colonial past, and best forgotten...

THE FOURTH COLOUR

It was the summer of 1994 and my Unit, 17 Kumaon was stationed in Suratgarh, Rajasthan. Just as summer was peaking, the local transformer went out one fine night...

THE NOTHING STATE

In 1947, Pakistan attacked us in Kashmir, took away our land, and we did nothing. In 1962, China attacked us. Nothing. In 1965, Pakistan attacked us again...

NEXT YEAR IN KASHMIR

Many Indians believe that military force is the solution to the Kashmir issue. Many Indians believe that dialogue is the only way forward. Both are right...

OPEN LETTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER

As I write these lines, I am fully aware that you may never read them. Also, I have nothing new to say. You have the nation’s intelligence services at your beck and call...

SOLDIERATHON

He is a doctor. And a power lifter. And a public speaker. And a Limca Book record holder. But ask officers from the Para Regiment and they remember him as a Special Forces officer...

52 SECONDS

We must learn to separate the government from the nation. While our relationship with the government may be transactional, our relationship with our nation is anything but...

THE GENERAL

They say “The General speaks too much”. It has become a trend…certain people becoming very uncomfortable whenever the Chief speaks on any issue related to the Indian Army...

RIFLES AND SHOES

There was a time when the British Army used the SA80 (L85A1) combat rifle. So terrible was the rifle that they called it The Civil Servant. Well, it wouldn’t work...

MAD. QUITE MAD.

Legend has it that a peculiar case of a maverick British army officer was brought to the notice of Field Marshall Montgomery, during the Second World War. Monty...

RIPOSTE

The response to my last article “THE OTHERS” has been overwhelming. Many CAPF officers wrote to me congratulating me on a job well done, and for putting out in public...

THE OTHERS

My father is a 1960 batch IPS officer. He retired in 1995 and, at eighty years of age, spends more time at the golf course than his doctor would like..

IRFAN

Jai Hind, Sir. Someone wants to meet you. He says his name is Irfan Ahmad Lone and he is from downtown”, said the voice of the guard commander from the main gate...

CONSPIRACY THEORY

I start with apologies to the Hollywood classic whose name I have quietly appropriated here. No title was more appropriate for this article. I stand guilty, as charged...

THE CALIPH’s LONDON

I start with apologies to the Hollywood classic whose name I have quietly appropriated here. No title was more appropriate for this article.

THE SPARROW AND THE HAWK

They say that after creation, God had some pieces of stone and rock left. And so, He created Afghanistan...

THE TRIDENT

There were many reasons for creating the elite National Defence Academy. I am not sure if this is true, but many ex-NDA officers have mentioned..

TWO AND A HALF WARS

India is often likened to an elephant; slow to rise and lumbering in its gait. A little known fact about elephants is that they reach a certain..

A SOLDIER SPEAKS

They know that the Indian Army is the last argument of the state. They know that after the Indian Army, there is nothing…no fallback..

PATRIOT

The soldier has been mauled, humiliated, insulted, his integrity questioned and his every move analyzed threadbare. Never was there so much..

ONLY THE BRAVE

Gen. Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army had predicted a violent summer, two months back. It is now unfolding before our very eyes.

THE THUNDER OF SILENCE

Gautam Gambhir’s Tweet about killing 100 Jihadis for every soldier insulted, set the cat amongst all the self appointed pigeons, guardians of..

THE IRON IN OUR SOUL

By 5th April, most people had packed their woolens. The sun shone brightly, and the air in Srinagar had a nip, with a hint of pine. I tucked myself..

THE UNIT

17 years have passed, and 17 Kumaon is still my parachute. I was desperately looking for my army photos. Then it struck me..

THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN

The exact date escapes me, but it was around the year 1190 AD when the Muslim armies of King Saladin clashed with the ..

THE NARROW ROAD

A narrow road divides St. Stephens’ and Hindu College. It is not more than 16 steps across, but speak to the students of ..

THE SHADOW OF OUR SILENCE

As a nation, we choose silence. And it is in the shadow of our silence that treason spawns its many sons. Its primary weapons are ..

STEEL FIST

For the last 24 hours, a section of the Indian media has been in an uproar. The center of attention this time is Gen. Bipin Rawat ..

BY WAY OF DECEPTION

The wound of 1962 just would not heal; the humiliation just would not go away. And then came the 1965 war with Pakistan.

A MATTER OF HONOUR

Major AVD Pillay was a soldier’s soldier. His father had served in the army. And he expected his son, Divakaran, to be no less.

MALA FIDE INTENT

Our boys have just about returned from across the Line of Control after a very successful surgical strike. The entire nation is ..

THE CODE

Chetwode’s immortal words are perhaps the most important thoughts that you are encouraged to imbibe on joining the IMA, OTA or NDA ...

THE EDGE OF THE SWORD

For seven decades, there has been a systematic and institutionalized humiliation of the armed forces of India.

THE GREEN CRESCENT

When did it exactly start? No one knows. But it can be said with a degree of certainty that in the early nineties when the..

A STONE WITH MY NAME

When did it exactly start? No one knows. But it can be said with a degree of certainty that in the early nineties when the..

A RED MOTORCYCLE AND A COUNTRY

General Sam Manekshaw paced up and down his office, his furrowed brow almost touching the center of his forehead. His lean typical of ..

PAKISTAN ARMY PVT LTD

On 14th and 15th August 1947, two nations were created. And two armies were carved out of the British Indian Army. On the day of creation ..

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

In the last 48 hours, the Indian Army has lost 7 brave hearts at Nagrota. It is with deep grief, immense helplessness and cold anger that ..

TAMING THE DRAGON

The Middle Kingdom has many achievements to its name, paper and gunpowder the most well known. It has been able to project an image of ..

THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE

The annals of the Indian Army are replete with stories of bravery and uncommon valor. And then there are stories of courage so overwhelming ..

PLAYING SOLDIER

When I was serving in the Indian Army, Capt. Abhay (name changed) would lament, always privately, that the countrymen did not ..

GENUINELY FAKE

Mahender Mishar (Mishra) of Behar (Bihar) was a short, dark man who, had you met him in a dark alley, would have probably greeted ..

SPITTING AT THE SKY

Warren Buffet, perhaps the most successful investor of all time, with a piggy bank creaking under the strain of USD 64 billion ..

THE WOLF PACK – CHAPTER FOUR

Capt. Varun Batra marched into the Commanding Officer’s office and saluted smartly. The CO was in front and Maj. Anuj and I stood on his ..

THE WOLF PACK – CHAPTER THREE

Infantry officers have a unique relationship with officers of the armored corps. We think of them as soft, stylish, un-soldierly, over confident ..

THE WOLF PACK – CHAPTER TWO

The army camp at Sundarbani has no evident reason to exist except to feed passing army men. A small mess and camp on the left hand ..

THE WOLF PACK – CHAPTER ONE

The bile in my stomach started to rise and this time, it would not stay down. It came up rushing from my gut as I ran towards the toilet ..

THE SECULARISM OF OLIVE GREEN

Secularism is the separation of religion and state. Simply put, religion has nothing to do with how a country is ruled. The state itself ..

THE FIFTH COLUMN

A few days back (October 2016), the Pakistani Parliament (Senate) published a report titled “Policy Guidelines In View Of The Latest ...

MUSINGS

Everyone works for profit. So do I. But it was always not so. Many years ago, I lived for a cause, as many of my friends still do ...

OF HAWKS AND DOVES

All soldiers want peace, and this is an undisputable fact. They want peace because they are the ones who die in war.

CHECKMATE

Today evening, as I parked my car in front of gate no. 9 and walked into South Block (Indian Army Headquarters), I looked up at..

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

No one writes like this any more. Charles Dickens would approve. After all he wrote those immortal lines.

RETRIBUTION

Yesterday, seventeen of my brothers were martyred in a terror attack in Uri Sector. Seventeen homes were shattered.

BONDS OF BLOOD

I entered the forbidding gates of the Officers Training Academy, Madras (it was Madras then) in the early summer of 1993.

SERVE WITH HONOUR

On 10 September this year, 249 of you (217 Gentlemen Cadets and 32 Lady Cadets) stepped over the “Antim Pag”, slow marching ..

COLD START

It was an unusually warm afternoon in the autumn of 1935. Adolf Hitler sat under a tent, faithful Guderian seated next to him ..

IMAGINARY FEARS

I guess it’s the way we have been brought up; the societal pressure not to question or object, lest someone of significance takes offense.

OF GRAVEYARDS AND OTHER THINGS

Syed Salahuddin, the head of the Hizb ul Mujahideen and the Chairman of the United Jihad Council recently threatened to turn Kashmir..

THE KILLING FIELDS OF BALOCHISTAN

Jan Mohammad Baloch vaguely remembers his parents being worried about his elder brother Karim, an energetic 16-year-old ..

THE KILLING OF HAFIZ SAEED

A few days ago, you exhorted the Pakistan Army to seize the initiative and “teach India a lesson”. You stood at your pulpit, ..

THE PRICE OF OUR FREEDOM

What is the weight of the body of a martyr? No one knows. But those who have carried it on their broad shoulders will tell ..

SOMEWHERE IN KASHMIR

During the last few weeks Kashmir has seen choreographed bloodshed, at a scale not witnessed in the recent past. And you ..

PAKISTAN – THE JIHAD FACTORY PART 2

Pakistan has two narratives. That it is the fortress of Islam, and hence, irrespective of credibility and capability, it is ..

PAKISTAN – THE JIHAD FACTORY PART 1

When people talk about Kashmir and Pakistan’s role in fermenting militancy, and now terrorism in the Valley, ..

THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE

Kashmir continues to burn. Kashmiris continue to beat their chests in an unprecedented outpouring of grief over the death of Burhan Wani ..

LETTERS FROM KASHMIR

The response to my Facebook post “Open Letter to Burhan Wani” has been overwhelming. I received responses from all over the world. And Kashmir.

OPEN LETTER TO GEN. RAHEEL SHARIF COAS, PAKISTAN ARMY

I start by accepting that the difference in seniority between us would take a remarkably gifted physicist to fathom.

THANK YOU

Many friends have asked me why I write only about matters pertaining to the army and other defence issues. Do I have nothing else to talk about?

OPEN LETTER TO BURHAN WANI

Ever since you were terminated in a forces-led operation in the Valley, 23 people have died. I don’t know why they died.

TO KILL A PRIEST

When I took my decision, my own calm surprised me. It was as if the fact was always at the back of my mind, unable to come forth.

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