What do you think?
Rate this book
Roll Of Honour
A story of the split loyalties of a Sikh boy in a boarding school in Punjab during the Khalistan movement and is based on the events of the year 1984: Operation Bluestar, Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination, riots …
Synopsis:
1984. Operation Blue Star has just ended and the Indian Army is arresting and killing innocent Sikhs. Appu is back at military school in Jassabad, Punjab, for his final year. He looks forward to three things: being class in-charge, passing out, and securing a place in the National Defence Academy.
Then ex-student Balraj, now a Khalistani separatist on the run, takes refuge on campus and the violence outside comes to school. Some of the seniors decide to help Balraj, the decision splits the school along sectarian lines, and students are forced to take sides. There is rampant bullying — sodomy being the preferred tool of domination — and long-time friends find themselves on opposing sides. As the situation spirals out of control, Appu, who wants nothing more than to live his dreams, is forced to make the impossible choice between community and nation.
Gritty, honest and tautly paced, Roll of Honour is a frank examination of the consequences of misplaced honour, allegiance and integrity.
Synopsis:
1984. Operation Blue Star has just ended and the Indian Army is arresting and killing innocent Sikhs. Appu is back at military school in Jassabad, Punjab, for his final year. He looks forward to three things: being class in-charge, passing out, and securing a place in the National Defence Academy.
Then ex-student Balraj, now a Khalistani separatist on the run, takes refuge on campus and the violence outside comes to school. Some of the seniors decide to help Balraj, the decision splits the school along sectarian lines, and students are forced to take sides. There is rampant bullying — sodomy being the preferred tool of domination — and long-time friends find themselves on opposing sides. As the situation spirals out of control, Appu, who wants nothing more than to live his dreams, is forced to make the impossible choice between community and nation.
Gritty, honest and tautly paced, Roll of Honour is a frank examination of the consequences of misplaced honour, allegiance and integrity.
242 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2012
2 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Amandeep Sandhu
12 books59 followersI was born in Rourkela. I have lived in Orissa, Uttrakhand, Punjab, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. I earned a Masters in English Literature from the University of Hyderabad and am currently settled in New Delhi.
I have worked as a farm-hand, woolen-garment seller, shop assistant, tuition master, teacher, journalist with The Economic Times, technical writer with Novell Inc, Oracle Corporation, and now Cadence Design Systems.
I have worked as a farm-hand, woolen-garment seller, shop assistant, tuition master, teacher, journalist with The Economic Times, technical writer with Novell Inc, Oracle Corporation, and now Cadence Design Systems.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 23, 2014
A first person, non-linear narrative that juxtaposes the realities of two different times: one, when the narrator was a student at a Sainik school in the year of the Operation Blue Star, and two, the present, when the wounds of those who had faced the brunt have healed, as some believe. My best guess of the author’s intention is to expose the permanence of the shadows of those wounds, memories that have been haunting him ever since, pains he needs to shed. The book, for him, is the medium. His catharsis.
Handling a non-linear narrative requires special skill, which I saw at work here.
Appu, the narrator, and his classmates feel let down when they learn on reaching Class 12 that the powers earlier conferred to the seniors have been taken away. At the time, outside the school walls, tensions in the Punjab of the 1984 are rising. As the Indian army conducts its operation to flush out the terrorists from of the Golden temple complex, it creates, in the process, wounds so deep that it affects the entire nation. The students, raw, and under the tutelage of indifferent teachers, are exposed to this catastrophe. It ruins the future of many, among them Appu, who decides not to write the NDA exam, his life time ambition, and ends up living a life of a broken man.
A very moving account that is honest and raises the question: Is a scarred soul really capable of a life? Perhaps not everyone, but to the reader’s delight, the narrator is.
Highly recommended.
Handling a non-linear narrative requires special skill, which I saw at work here.
Appu, the narrator, and his classmates feel let down when they learn on reaching Class 12 that the powers earlier conferred to the seniors have been taken away. At the time, outside the school walls, tensions in the Punjab of the 1984 are rising. As the Indian army conducts its operation to flush out the terrorists from of the Golden temple complex, it creates, in the process, wounds so deep that it affects the entire nation. The students, raw, and under the tutelage of indifferent teachers, are exposed to this catastrophe. It ruins the future of many, among them Appu, who decides not to write the NDA exam, his life time ambition, and ends up living a life of a broken man.
A very moving account that is honest and raises the question: Is a scarred soul really capable of a life? Perhaps not everyone, but to the reader’s delight, the narrator is.
Highly recommended.
December 26, 2012
You can read the full review here on my blog - Book Review: Roll of Honour by Amandeep Sandhu
Reading Roll of Honour gave me an insight into the lives of Sikhs after 1984. After partition this was the next big religious event that I was too young and too far geographically to remember, this book helped me understand the people of Punjab better. I’d definitely recommend this book if these kind of stories are your thing. :)
Reading Roll of Honour gave me an insight into the lives of Sikhs after 1984. After partition this was the next big religious event that I was too young and too far geographically to remember, this book helped me understand the people of Punjab better. I’d definitely recommend this book if these kind of stories are your thing. :)
November 6, 2012
The narration style of Amandeep is interesting. After reading the "Sepia Leaves", one should feel easy to read this book. The covers the mind of student in the midst of Punjab crisis particularly during and 1980's. Interesting to read.
January 1, 2013
Set in the riotous aftermath of Operation Blue Star, Roll of Honour creates a realistic, touching, chilling portrait of historic events entering the microcosm of a military school in Punjab. Young Appu's world is off its hinges when he returns for his last year before graduating. In addition to Appu's immediate experiences, the older narrator comments with a strong voice and hindsight. Roll of Honour is a story about finding truth and coping with the past, as much as it is young Appu's struggle with suddenly conflicting loyalties.
May 27, 2019
Just another separatist masquerading as a literary person.
According to the author, we should not have ended the Punjab terrorism but should have nurtured it. Wow.
He also tries very hard to be gay.
He tried to imbibe all traits of a JNU communist very hard (separatism, homosexuality, and pro-terrorism) but the book has nothing in it to offer.
Don't read it even if you are paid to do it.
According to the author, we should not have ended the Punjab terrorism but should have nurtured it. Wow.
He also tries very hard to be gay.
He tried to imbibe all traits of a JNU communist very hard (separatism, homosexuality, and pro-terrorism) but the book has nothing in it to offer.
Don't read it even if you are paid to do it.
January 16, 2019
An interesting read. As much a treatise on the complexity of identity in a time of conflict- or how conflict reduces us to a caricature of ourselves in the pursuit of tribal unity and strength.
Not amazingly written but compelling anyway. The main character is a bit of a hamlet- rendered useless by his torn loyalties. But the historical setting and the examination of the impact of violence and hierarchy on men make it well worth a read, as well as the unexpectedly direct examination of sexuality as both a tool of, and a refuge from, the violence of an all male school.
Good luck finding the fucking thing, though. I lost my first copy half way through and made a trek through every bookshop in Punjab before I found it again.
Not amazingly written but compelling anyway. The main character is a bit of a hamlet- rendered useless by his torn loyalties. But the historical setting and the examination of the impact of violence and hierarchy on men make it well worth a read, as well as the unexpectedly direct examination of sexuality as both a tool of, and a refuge from, the violence of an all male school.
Good luck finding the fucking thing, though. I lost my first copy half way through and made a trek through every bookshop in Punjab before I found it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2021
There is so much written on 1984 that can give you goose bumps and leave you with teary eyes. This, however is a simple story of a young boy who is in the military school in that troubled time in Punjab.
He tries to reason and find the answers of what is happening around him. The story is about his confusion and conflict between faith vs duty, dream vs reality. Confusion of sexuality, struggle of identity and uncertain future.
He tries to reason and find the answers of what is happening around him. The story is about his confusion and conflict between faith vs duty, dream vs reality. Confusion of sexuality, struggle of identity and uncertain future.
May 2, 2018
a moving book set across the khalistan insurgency movement and a military school. unusual genre but a good reas
December 26, 2012
By Amandeep Sahu. Grade: B
A history lesson marginalised.
An honest and moving story about life in a military school, in the days of the Khalistan movement.
1984. Operation Blue Star has just ended and the Indian Army is arresting and killing innocent Sikhs. Appu is back at military school in Jassabad, Punjab, for his final year. He looks forward to three things: being class in-charge, passing out, and securing a place in the National Defence Academy.
Then ex-student Balraj, now a Khalistani militant on the run, takes refuge on campus and the violence outside comes to school. Some of the seniors decide to help Balraj, the decision splits the school along sectarian lines, and students are forced to take sides. There is rampant bullying sodomy being the preferred tool of domination and long-time friends find themselves on opposing sides. As the situation spirals out of control, Appu, who wants nothing more than to live his dreams, is forced to make the impossible choice between community and nation.
Roll of Honour by Amandeep Sandhu
Gritty, honest and tautly paced, Roll of Honour is a frank examination of the consequences of misplaced honour, allegiance and integrity.
About the Author
Amandeep Sandhu has been a farm hand, a shop assistant, a tuition master, a journalist with The Economic Times, and now works in the IT industry. He has also lived in various parts of the country, and currently resides in Delhi. His first book Sepia Leaves (2008) was about life under the shadow of schizophrenia.
Roll of Honour, a juvenile voice spurts in this haughty outrage against violence. As one of the characters in the novel says “Violence can never stop violence”, the book reabsorbs the glorious goriness of India. Operation Blue Star, the ugly comet launched by Indira Gandhi seesaws the apple of discord in this precipitous novel. The stark residential aplomb fits naturally. Appu, the central figure or the counterfigure, deludes himself. But that’s how life is supposed to be, arced. The confusion and the turmoil, the moustache grower faces has to be appreciated. A young mind is certainly not a peaceful throne. Amandeep Sandhu has captured the entrancement of a certain black period. Black periods which India is not short of.
1984, the year that ‘ears’ the cries and debates on Operation Blue Star, Rakesh Sharma – the first Indian to travel in space and the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards. These political events are dents in Indian plantain leaf. A Sikh was sick and he could be slapped, kicked and humiliated and even hanged. Indira Gandhi’s administration sadly cannot be reskinned. Though the novel is mum about the Emergency, it spawns a spiralling narrow staircase to the dark frozen state of the killings of Sikhs and the subsequent assassination of Indira Gandhi. Anti-Sikh riots that bottled the pulpy peace over a dead body assume prominence in Amandeep Sandhu’s Roll of Honour.
A rose called by any name smells the same. God called by any name and prayed to in any form is the same. As a civilized society, we should fight for peace and not for States. Religion becomes a box out of which everybody gets something. Saffron, Kirpan, Cross, Kippah; what do they say? No religious text says violence solves everything. There’s no mythical existence that spiritualises killing. The count increases and so does the unrest. Oneness is not achieved in spilling blood, it’s rather achieved in donating. Donating peace and solidarity.
Amandeep Sandhu prolifically gets the Sikh identity right with quotes, turbans and the questions that arise when people from your community are sidelined. The narration is split into two. It goes back and rolls in the present. The schizophrenic penning does not alter and at times it is difficult to vary the two voices, which fail to evoke distinction. Italicisation helps. Appu, faces similar dissimilar thoughts even as an adult. Doesn’t a man grow up at all? Not, in this novel. Sodomy, fun and frightening lays bare facts of boys being boys in residential schools. Balraj, an ex-student gathers support from Appu’s friends. Khalistan, pops up and resides in the novel for Balraj and like-minded people. Power to rule has and will be the dome of contention. A separate State, a separate land, a separate government; they lead to a separate being. Insults, fear, loathing, adolescent fantasies are all paged. With history and pain, Amandeep Sandhu gives his.
“Before he was born, nobody knew him. After he dies, he wouldn’t know himself.” For such a body and little time, we have to use our sharpened brilliance to co-exist and co-operate.
Originally reviewed at http://vaultofbooks.com/
A history lesson marginalised.
An honest and moving story about life in a military school, in the days of the Khalistan movement.
1984. Operation Blue Star has just ended and the Indian Army is arresting and killing innocent Sikhs. Appu is back at military school in Jassabad, Punjab, for his final year. He looks forward to three things: being class in-charge, passing out, and securing a place in the National Defence Academy.
Then ex-student Balraj, now a Khalistani militant on the run, takes refuge on campus and the violence outside comes to school. Some of the seniors decide to help Balraj, the decision splits the school along sectarian lines, and students are forced to take sides. There is rampant bullying sodomy being the preferred tool of domination and long-time friends find themselves on opposing sides. As the situation spirals out of control, Appu, who wants nothing more than to live his dreams, is forced to make the impossible choice between community and nation.
Roll of Honour by Amandeep Sandhu
Gritty, honest and tautly paced, Roll of Honour is a frank examination of the consequences of misplaced honour, allegiance and integrity.
About the Author
Amandeep Sandhu has been a farm hand, a shop assistant, a tuition master, a journalist with The Economic Times, and now works in the IT industry. He has also lived in various parts of the country, and currently resides in Delhi. His first book Sepia Leaves (2008) was about life under the shadow of schizophrenia.
Roll of Honour, a juvenile voice spurts in this haughty outrage against violence. As one of the characters in the novel says “Violence can never stop violence”, the book reabsorbs the glorious goriness of India. Operation Blue Star, the ugly comet launched by Indira Gandhi seesaws the apple of discord in this precipitous novel. The stark residential aplomb fits naturally. Appu, the central figure or the counterfigure, deludes himself. But that’s how life is supposed to be, arced. The confusion and the turmoil, the moustache grower faces has to be appreciated. A young mind is certainly not a peaceful throne. Amandeep Sandhu has captured the entrancement of a certain black period. Black periods which India is not short of.
1984, the year that ‘ears’ the cries and debates on Operation Blue Star, Rakesh Sharma – the first Indian to travel in space and the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards. These political events are dents in Indian plantain leaf. A Sikh was sick and he could be slapped, kicked and humiliated and even hanged. Indira Gandhi’s administration sadly cannot be reskinned. Though the novel is mum about the Emergency, it spawns a spiralling narrow staircase to the dark frozen state of the killings of Sikhs and the subsequent assassination of Indira Gandhi. Anti-Sikh riots that bottled the pulpy peace over a dead body assume prominence in Amandeep Sandhu’s Roll of Honour.
A rose called by any name smells the same. God called by any name and prayed to in any form is the same. As a civilized society, we should fight for peace and not for States. Religion becomes a box out of which everybody gets something. Saffron, Kirpan, Cross, Kippah; what do they say? No religious text says violence solves everything. There’s no mythical existence that spiritualises killing. The count increases and so does the unrest. Oneness is not achieved in spilling blood, it’s rather achieved in donating. Donating peace and solidarity.
Amandeep Sandhu prolifically gets the Sikh identity right with quotes, turbans and the questions that arise when people from your community are sidelined. The narration is split into two. It goes back and rolls in the present. The schizophrenic penning does not alter and at times it is difficult to vary the two voices, which fail to evoke distinction. Italicisation helps. Appu, faces similar dissimilar thoughts even as an adult. Doesn’t a man grow up at all? Not, in this novel. Sodomy, fun and frightening lays bare facts of boys being boys in residential schools. Balraj, an ex-student gathers support from Appu’s friends. Khalistan, pops up and resides in the novel for Balraj and like-minded people. Power to rule has and will be the dome of contention. A separate State, a separate land, a separate government; they lead to a separate being. Insults, fear, loathing, adolescent fantasies are all paged. With history and pain, Amandeep Sandhu gives his.
“Before he was born, nobody knew him. After he dies, he wouldn’t know himself.” For such a body and little time, we have to use our sharpened brilliance to co-exist and co-operate.
Originally reviewed at http://vaultofbooks.com/
November 30, 2013
Roll Of Honour is the second novel by writer Amandeep Sandhu. It is a work of fiction that is part autobiographical, much like his first novel Sepia Leaves.
The story proceeds as two alternating timelines (a style that I have personally always liked), both narrated by the protagonist Appu. One is in the past, in the year 1984 and covers the last year of school. The other is in the present or near past where Appu is a grown man.
The first timeline is a description of the life of a Sikh cadet in a military school in Punjab in 1984 and how that life changes drastically in the aftermath of The Emergency, Operation Blue Star and assassination of Indira Gandhi. While the world plunges into explicit turmoil outside the secure gates of the school, the dark essence of it all manages to seep in through the boundary walls into the lives of these young cadets who are being trained to be the future defender warriors of the country. But things are not simple anymore. Loyalties are not clear. They are warped. Religion has drawn a line between the people of the state and that line runs through the heart of the school as well. Appu and the other cadets are no longer sure about the direction of their lives or the stance they should take. From turmoil rises groupism, factions, leaders and tormentors. What confounds the situation further is the fact that these boys are at the cusp of premature manhood where they are trying to understand themselves and their sexuality while dealing with their sexual awakening. Some of them are beastly to each other, sodomising the weaker ones while some others find consensual intimacy in each other. The boys live in an excessively physical and brutal world where the abuse comes from the teachers and each other and also transcends from the physical to the mental, abetted by their loneliness. The story tracks how the life of Appu and a few other central characters gets shaped in this most important year of their lives; how they discover themselves while fate intervenes, or at least make a move in that direction. The dialogues in this part are very 'real' and feel rustic. The language used by the characters is strong and explicit. It fits well with the narrative.
The second timeline is about Appu finally coming to terms with what happened to him during that year and how it affected him permanently and to such an extent that it took twenty five years to absorb it all and come out on the other side a survivor. This part of the narrative is more thought driven. It is like a parallel commentary related to the on-goings in the first timeline. The language used in this part is more beautiful and artistic. I enjoyed re-reading some of the lines a few times.
Roll Of Honour takes birth in a dark time in history but is ultimately a story of hope and redemption.
Having read Sepia Leaves as well when it released a few years back and liking it, I can clearly see the writer's growth with his craft. Roll Of Honour starts off steady and keeps improving as the narrative proceeds. This is quality prose which is reflected in it being shortlisted for The Hindu prize 2013. Thumbs up!
The story proceeds as two alternating timelines (a style that I have personally always liked), both narrated by the protagonist Appu. One is in the past, in the year 1984 and covers the last year of school. The other is in the present or near past where Appu is a grown man.
The first timeline is a description of the life of a Sikh cadet in a military school in Punjab in 1984 and how that life changes drastically in the aftermath of The Emergency, Operation Blue Star and assassination of Indira Gandhi. While the world plunges into explicit turmoil outside the secure gates of the school, the dark essence of it all manages to seep in through the boundary walls into the lives of these young cadets who are being trained to be the future defender warriors of the country. But things are not simple anymore. Loyalties are not clear. They are warped. Religion has drawn a line between the people of the state and that line runs through the heart of the school as well. Appu and the other cadets are no longer sure about the direction of their lives or the stance they should take. From turmoil rises groupism, factions, leaders and tormentors. What confounds the situation further is the fact that these boys are at the cusp of premature manhood where they are trying to understand themselves and their sexuality while dealing with their sexual awakening. Some of them are beastly to each other, sodomising the weaker ones while some others find consensual intimacy in each other. The boys live in an excessively physical and brutal world where the abuse comes from the teachers and each other and also transcends from the physical to the mental, abetted by their loneliness. The story tracks how the life of Appu and a few other central characters gets shaped in this most important year of their lives; how they discover themselves while fate intervenes, or at least make a move in that direction. The dialogues in this part are very 'real' and feel rustic. The language used by the characters is strong and explicit. It fits well with the narrative.
The second timeline is about Appu finally coming to terms with what happened to him during that year and how it affected him permanently and to such an extent that it took twenty five years to absorb it all and come out on the other side a survivor. This part of the narrative is more thought driven. It is like a parallel commentary related to the on-goings in the first timeline. The language used in this part is more beautiful and artistic. I enjoyed re-reading some of the lines a few times.
Roll Of Honour takes birth in a dark time in history but is ultimately a story of hope and redemption.
Having read Sepia Leaves as well when it released a few years back and liking it, I can clearly see the writer's growth with his craft. Roll Of Honour starts off steady and keeps improving as the narrative proceeds. This is quality prose which is reflected in it being shortlisted for The Hindu prize 2013. Thumbs up!
February 25, 2014
Indian’s like to sale the concept of unity in Diversity around the world. This profound emotion is respected all over the world. The world admires our patience and desire to stick together attitude. For them we are unique. This image is being sold by every Indian government to every foreign representative and every Indians gossips around at the camp fire. The fact might be that, the truth is unknown to them. The fact may be that people are Stuck and living in the notion that they are united. The Roll of Honour helps to understand how false this notion is.
It is could be possible though as we move in future, the difference will be reduced to marginal and in the century we might actually call ourselves as country with Unity in Diversity. This will be possible due to the positive mentality of youth in this era. Though, sadly, it was hard to imagine such world in 1984. For me this book was about how much we have moved from 1984.
The book revealed shocking mentality of Indian youth during 1984. It was like reading today’s terrorist demand for respect and recognition. Today, people rarely differentiate between Hindus and Sikhs. For us today, there is no difference. So it was surprise for me to know such a wild belief held by both religions; Such a wide contrast from today. I wish there had been book on how such differences had been become today, as good as negligible. This book could be very educational.
The boldness with amandeep sandhu has written the book should be applauded. The frustrations among teenagers on lack of sexual openness is covered superbly and are covered in detailed with some surprises. The unity doesn’t come from simply sharing minds; it sometimes need to be shown creatively and boldly. The writer took the effort to show it, I will not reveal it. It was highlight part of the book for me.
Read the complete review at Critic Hawk
It is could be possible though as we move in future, the difference will be reduced to marginal and in the century we might actually call ourselves as country with Unity in Diversity. This will be possible due to the positive mentality of youth in this era. Though, sadly, it was hard to imagine such world in 1984. For me this book was about how much we have moved from 1984.
The book revealed shocking mentality of Indian youth during 1984. It was like reading today’s terrorist demand for respect and recognition. Today, people rarely differentiate between Hindus and Sikhs. For us today, there is no difference. So it was surprise for me to know such a wild belief held by both religions; Such a wide contrast from today. I wish there had been book on how such differences had been become today, as good as negligible. This book could be very educational.
The boldness with amandeep sandhu has written the book should be applauded. The frustrations among teenagers on lack of sexual openness is covered superbly and are covered in detailed with some surprises. The unity doesn’t come from simply sharing minds; it sometimes need to be shown creatively and boldly. The writer took the effort to show it, I will not reveal it. It was highlight part of the book for me.
Read the complete review at Critic Hawk
May 18, 2013
Definitely one of the best books by an Indian writer, I have read in the recent past. The writer gives us a honest, unabridged, impartial account of what a young mind could have gone through at such turbulent times and Appu is reflection of youth when their secure world as they know it is threatened, beliefs shattered and a near one taken away for a reason they cannot comprehend. Full review: http://wp.me/p2DEiS-IV
January 25, 2013
A very powerful subject. Detailed Review here: http://www.anureviews.com/roll-of-hon...
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews