In a life-span full of uncertainties, one near certain milestone is the date of superannuation unless one is surprised by an extension or increase in date of retirement. Hence, nobody can really proffer any excuse for not preparing for second innings. In my case, the date was set as 31^st July 2016, after logging fifty years and six months, in uniform. I started wearing uniform in January 1966, as a nine and half year-old kid in Sainik School. The uninterrupted five decades plus roller coaster ride included seven years in school, four years in NDA/IMA and thirty-nine years of commissioned service. 

The most important decision that I made was to attempt to re-attire instead of retiring to golf and partying. Having done personal SKOT analysis, I decided to leverage my scholastic aptitude. In effect, most retiring senior officers harbor the desire to become ‘Scholar Warrior’. This term got added to military jargon about a decade back, when tribe of side-cap wearing officers with assorted fauji embellishments became regular fixtures in TV debates. Unfortunately, they got stereotyped with their moustaches, hyped-up mannerisms and argumentative interventions, ultimately getting a bad name from the community. I certainly lacked skills for this role, so I decided to plough a different furrow and limit my TV appearances.

My major limitation was that I decided to drop anchor in Chandigarh-Tri-city. Khushwant Singh once described it as a place with “hari-hari jhadiyan and chitti-chitti dhadiyan” – lots of greenery and grey beards. The city has five odd golf-courses, multiple clubs but no think-tanks and no convention center like India International Centre or Habitat. As an Army Commander, I decided to push the envelope and set up a regional think tank named Gyan-Chakra in Mar 2016, three months before my hanging up the uniform.  This move of democratizing strategic dialogue and setting-up regional think tanks with Command HQs was first proposed by me in 2012 but shot down. My belief has been that this thinking is not exclusive preserve of Lutyen’s Delhi and should move out of Raisina Hill. The idea has now found traction and regional think tanks came up in Lucknow (STRIVE), Pune (PIC), Bengaluru (Takshashilla), Kolkata (CENERS-K) and Chennai (Peninsula). The latest to join the list is Gyan-Shakti think tank in Jaipur. In a recent meeting with Army Chief, he assured me that he is promoting this endeavor.  The need is to synergize by coordinating their activities and support them.  

The second initiative was inspired by Kasauli Litfest, which is organized with Army assistance in club under their administration. We decided to organize the first Military Literature Festival in Chandimandir. The idea was initially dismissed as oxymoronic, attempting to combine military and literary pursuits. Yet, this two-day event was successfully organized in June 2016. Luckily, ownership of this venture was taken by trust assisted by Punjab Government. It has become global brand and has spawned similar fests in Lucknow, Pune, Delhi, Bengaluru and Mhow. Unfortunately, while large number of students and youth flock to Chandigarh fest but sadly, representation of veterans and serving officers is nominal. 

I was indeed lucky to be conferred with Maharaja Ranjit Singh Chair in Panjab University (PU), soon after my re-attirement.  Unlike foreign universities, chairs in PU are neither well-funded nor academically organized. I decided to use this opportunity to teach like an adjunct faculty and set-up university rooted think tank, Gyan-Setu. Seven years since inception, think tank organizes 8-10 seminars and roundtables, every year living up to its name of knowledge bridge between students and veterans assisted by domain experts. I also used this period to earn PhD in 2023, on interesting topic of ‘Strategic Analysis of China Pak Economic Corridor’. New Education Policy (NEP) has opened possibilities of becoming Professor of Practice. Having donned this role for a year in Chandigarh University, I found it both challenging and educative. Veterans inclined to Academics can assist as guest faculty, paper setting and correction work. 

Veterans after an eventful career have large reservoir of stories and experiences.  These need to be unlocked and shared through blogging, newspapers/magazines and social media. To facilitate cataloging of their work and for easy retrieval, it is recommended to use customized hashtags. Tribune encourages new writers through ‘middle’ column, which is approximately 500 words. I have been lucky to get many of my stories published. I hope other newspapers emulate The Tribune and design columns for general interest stories. Encouraged by this, I also attempted longer format articles of approximately 900 words on contemporary issues in the Tribune, other newspapers and magazines/on-line journals, which can be 1500-1800 words. It is not always that all output can meet an editorial benchmark. LinkedIn (500 words) and Facebook (10,000 words) can be used to articulate such inputs and even refine them after getting comments. I have considerable material and may publish them with a catchy title- “Unpublished Ones” or even “Spinster Stories”. Those who don’t like writing, can try the medium of podcasts. 

I also convinced the regional edition of a newspaper for writing fortnightly column. Seven years down the line (of column writing) with 200 odd pieces and 50 other articles, I decided to organize these into a book. I soon realized that writing a book is different kettle of fish to decide target readership, customize content to make it useful, with reference value, while keeping it readable.  General’s Jottings is an attempt to demystify national security issues and provide the readers a sort of primer. It also gives out a simplified template to analyze problems. It covers all important contemporary issues and is laid out in 18 chapters, with key take-aways duly highlighted. It will also be very useful for aspirants of competitive examinations with analyzed data supported by maps, graphs and tables. It also has some interesting compilations like the one on Pak Army Generals. 

I have enjoyed writing my first book and hope readers find it interesting and useful.

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