Despatches From Kargil

by Srinjoy Chowdhury

BRAND NEW, Exactly same ISBN as listed, Please double check ISBN carefully before ordering.

Genres: Nonfiction, War, India, History

231 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Lakshmi ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impossible not to cry...

[Niki · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent book! Such vivid and descriptive writing, you can feel the depth of the author's experiences. So factually rich and well researched!

[Nainesh Jadwani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Chowdhury has drafted an amazing and sometimes goosebump inducing tale about the Kargil war. Notice, I say 'drafted' instead of 'chronicled'. That's because the timelines seemed a bit haphazard (going back and forth) and some topics seemed to suddenly spill over each other. Hence the loss of a star.

But there were moments in the book when I felt so proud of the Indian Army and the men who fought against such colossal odds. There were multiple times when I felt: "Damn, look at these stories! All true. No fiction. Why isn't somebody making a Bollywood movie? God knows Indian audiences need to be shown a couple of war movies so that they can see things in perspective."

Any ways, there are some technical references to the geographical locations which makes it a bit difficult to understand the war strategies. It would help if you already had some background information about the Kargil war before you plan on reading this book.

All in all, Mr. Chowdhury's novel like style of writing and philosophical observations definitely make this an enjoyable read.

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Confusing narrative

[Shailender Arya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book reads like an Indian version of Ernest Hemingway’s ‘For Whom the Bells Toll’, capturing the follies and atmosphere of war, the uneven pace, and the human emotions. Much like Hemingway’s protagonist Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War, the author Srinjoy wanders around the battlefield from Dras to Batalik, capturing everything he sees - the atmosphere, the uncertainty, the buildup, the bravery, the incompetence, the pain, the motivation, and the hundreds of little stories.

He takes no sides, nor hides anything - the good and the bad. He depicts all kinds of soldiers and officers, each with their worldviews and survival instincts, but mostly do-gooders. Throughout the book, the reader feels being in Srinagar, Dras, Kargil or Batalik - in the melee of excitement and sorrow.

It is not a war history. There are no sequential accounts of how the battle unfolded and the war plans. Guns are constant companions. But there are many human stories and first-hand battle narrations as they unfolded, each with their heroes – some known and some unknown. By capturing them, he has immortalized them. Highly readable.

[Santosh Rana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written by a journalist who saw the Kargil war on the frontiers in Drass, Batalik, Kargil, etc. The book features Kargil war heroes such as Major Padmapani Acharya (MVC), Capt Vijayant Thapar (Vir Chakra), Captain Vikram Batra (PVC), Grenadier Yogendra Singh Yadav (PVC), etc. Informative book, but the initial part is a bit confusing. On some pages, it is difficult to know whether the author is referring to the 1971 war, the 1948 war, or the 1999 war. The book is poorly written in some parts. It could have been written in a better way. However, it is a good informative book. It is like watching the battlefield through his eyes.

[Tajeshwar Kaul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of the two or three books on the 1999 Kargil war which are a must read and give a intense and special look into the everyday lives of the Indian Army officers and Jawans and their unbiased opinion and outlook regarding the war. This book is extremely important to understand the human factor involved in this war.

[Shriniwas Munje · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first page itself you'll realise it has a typical Journalistic Writing and Approach (obviously). What I loved is rather than presenting the war only through the perspective of "WAR", Srinjoy captures the human side of the conflict—the courage, sacrifice, and determination of Indian soldiers.

[Anoop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found the book eminently readable and honest. The author travels to Kargil in the middle of 1999 Indo-Pakistan War in Kargil. He has kept a beautiful travelogue for the period.
The book is full of emotions that are found in a war zone.
Overall a must read for all Indians.

[Amandeep Singh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible. Can't say I enjoyed it. It's just a personal memoir of a reporter in Kargil. It just lacks soul.

[Nilesh Garg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not at all relatable to the war. Not worth reading.

[Ajitabh Pandey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is a journalist and visited the Kargil war torn area in Jammu & Kashmir in the beginning of the conflict and left only when the war was officially over. This book has come out after various interviews / discussions with soldiers present in each and every sector. The author has spoken to the Indian Navy/Airforce officers, Army chief and various folks in HQ area after and during the war to collect information about what was happening.

Overall I found this book very informative as it contains the interviews, living conditions, fighting conditions and tales of valour and interestingly sometimes a few lines about the enemy soldiers also. The best part I liked was that since the author was in the area from the initial days and sometime after the war was officially over, there is a lot of information he is able to share which otherwise people would not have known. Especially, the war was officially over and all journalists started leaving, but the real war for some of the soldiers was just beginning where they had to visit each and every post previously occupied by enemy and verify that they have withdrawn behind the Line of Control (LoC). These soldiers found while in some posts the enemy actually withdrew in haste, but they have placed anti-personal mines very heavily and in large numbers, making it difficult and dangerous for the Indian soldiers to clear the area. In many cases they found that on certain positions just on the LoC the enemy was still there and not willing to withdraw and the fight would go on for days/months to kick them out of there.

[Zubin Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

srinjoy chowdry was alian to military and it shows in his writting. I odered the book as more of military history point of view. But it was narrative of a report reporting about war. it is a readable book a good book but it falls really short in providing you the information that one really looks for in war books. the writting is sensitive and not very informative.

[Prasanna Sekar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful and engaging despatches from the Kargil war......a war correspondent's perspective