COURAGE TO FALL IN LOVE
Monday, 12 August 2013 | Pioneer
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Ashali Varma's book, The Victoria Cross:A Love Story, highlights the accomplishments of
COURAGE TO FALL IN LOVE
Monday, 12 August 2013 | Pioneer
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2
3
4
Ashali Varma's book, The Victoria Cross:A Love Story, highlights the accomplishments of her father, Lt General Prem Bhagat. She tells Iknoor Kaur about the role her mother Mohini played in his life
This story might sound like an ideal script to a Yash Chopra film. It features a hero who emerged as a winner in the major wars India had fought and his inspiration was a woman, for whom he lived and loved unconditionally till his last breath. This heroic story, of Lt General Premindra Singh Bhagat, has been told in a way that sometimes makes the reader cry and at times leaves him pondering on what true love is all about. No one other than a person who has lived with this story could have told it better. So, it is shared by Ashali Varma, Prem Bhagat’s daughter, in a book The Victoria Cross: A Love Story (Pearson). The prestigious Victoria Cross was awarded to Bhagat for his undaunting spirit during the World War II where he cleared 55 miles of mined road in 96 hours. The book explores a side to him, that was hidden from the world. On one hand the book talks about his feat as an Army officer and on the other it shares a perfect love story, with Mohini Bhagat, his wife, playing the role of a protagonist.
Ashali said that it took her five years and six drafts to come up with the final version that reads like the one from an author and not like a daughter writing on her parents.
Courage and love are two major aspects of her book. She elaborated, “A story has to be short and crisp to hold a reader’s attention. I focussed on the significant aspects.”
The book has actual letters exchanged between Prem and Mohini before and after their marriage. Mohini preserved them with care. Ashali felt that these letters were the best way to describe her father’s nature, “When my mother was dying she wanted me to write about how my father was. He was not a macho man who was ‘all soldier, no heart’. He believed that you can be brave and still care about your family. Lot of brave men in the Army feel that they can never show grief but he was honest in expressing his emotions. His feelings can only be described through his letters.”
Bhagat, till date, is remembered by Army officers as “the most humble man they met.” But for Bhagat, his biggest achievement was to convince Mohini’s father for their marriage. The book also describes their lives together as they faced the tragedy of India’s Partition. It touches upon the Bangladesh War, building of the world’s highest motorable road in Ladakh and a Hindu-Muslim riot in Calcutta.
The best part of the book is details on the Indo-China War. The Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report is supposed to be a biting reflection of the political leaders during the war — PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon. It describes the poorly strategised ‘forward policy’ towards Tibet and interference in the Army’s operational affairs. Today, the report lies in a safe in the Ministry of Defence under strict vigilance. Even Bhagat’s family never got their hands on the manuscript.
“I have only read parts of the script. It is kept under such high guard that I am sure it contains something that was seriously against the political system,” said Ashali. At present, Ashali is planning another non-fiction book based on the youth of India and how they perceive the present political system.
Mohini played in his life
This story might sound like an ideal script to a Yash Chopra film. It features a hero who emerged as a winner in the major wars India had fought and his inspiration was a woman, for whom he lived and loved unconditionally till his last breath. This heroic story, of Lt General Premindra Singh Bhagat, has been told in a way that sometimes makes the reader cry and at times leaves him pondering on what true love is all about. No one other than a person who has lived with this story could have told it better. So, it is shared by Ashali Varma, Prem Bhagat’s daughter, in a book The Victoria Cross: A Love Story (Pearson). The prestigious Victoria Cross was awarded to Bhagat for his undaunting spirit during the World War II where he cleared 55 miles of mined road in 96 hours. The book explores a side to him, that was hidden from the world. On one hand the book talks about his feat as an Army officer and on the other it shares a perfect love story, with Mohini Bhagat, his wife, playing the role of a protagonist.
Ashali said that it took her five years and six drafts to come up with the final version that reads like the one from an author and not like a daughter writing on her parents.
Courage and love are two major aspects of her book. She elaborated, “A story has to be short and crisp to hold a reader’s attention. I focussed on the significant aspects.”
The book has actual letters exchanged between Prem and Mohini before and after their marriage. Mohini preserved them with care. Ashali felt that these letters were the best way to describe her father’s nature, “When my mother was dying she wanted me to write about how my father was. He was not a macho man who was ‘all soldier, no heart’. He believed that you can be brave and still care about your family. Lot of brave men in the Army feel that they can never show grief but he was honest in expressing his emotions. His feelings can only be described through his letters.”
Bhagat, till date, is remembered by Army officers as “the most humble man they met.” But for Bhagat, his biggest achievement was to convince Mohini’s father for their marriage. The book also describes their lives together as they faced the tragedy of India’s Partition. It touches upon the Bangladesh War, building of the world’s highest motorable road in Ladakh and a Hindu-Muslim riot in Calcutta.
The best part of the book is details on the Indo-China War. The Henderson Brooks-Bhagat report is supposed to be a biting reflection of the political leaders during the war — PM Jawaharlal Nehru and Defence Minister VK Krishna Menon. It describes the poorly strategised ‘forward policy’ towards Tibet and interference in the Army’s operational affairs. Today, the report lies in a safe in the Ministry of Defence under strict vigilance. Even Bhagat’s family never got their hands on the manuscript.
“I have only read parts of the script. It is kept under such high guard that I am sure it contains something that was seriously against the political system,” said Ashali. At present, Ashali is planning another non-fiction book based on the youth of India and how they perceive the present political system.
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