Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 17. 12. 23

Sam Manekshaw

16 December 1971. It was on this day that India won a war that changed the world map. Pakistan was severed into two, and a new nation was born: Bangladesh. It was India’s most decisive victory in modern history. It was also the quickest, lasting only two weeks.

It was Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, the General of Indian Army who crafted the victory, backed by the indomitable will and courage of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. India secured the surrender of 93,000 Pakistani prisoners of war at a rare public ceremony. Manekshaw chose to keep away, and instead, sent his Army Commander, Lt. Gen. J S Aurora, to accept the surrender.

That was Sam Manekshaw, fondly called Sam Bahadur. How he became known as Sam Bahadur- is a fascinating story? As per one of Manekshaw's interviews, he once visited a battalion of 8 Gorkha Rifles in July 1969. He asked an orderly if he knew the name of his chief. The orderly replied that he did and said "Sam Bahadur".

Manekshaw was born in Amritsar in 1914 to Parsi parents, Hormusji Manekshaw, a doctor, and his wife Heerabai, who moved to Punjab from the small town of Valsad on the Gujarat coast. He joined the first intake of the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, in 1932 . In his 40 plus years military career, Manekshaw fought five wars - World War II, 1948 Kashmir War Against marauding Pakistani and Afghan tribes, 1962 Indo-Sino war, 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars.

Sam Manekshaw was well known for his courage, strategic brilliance, and sense of humor. He was well known for his simplicity and down to earth nature.

His finest moment as a soldier was 1971 war, which tested his mettle to the maximum. His brilliant orchestration of the lightning campaign has made him a legend in his lifetime. But what made him a part of the folklore was his humaneness.

He treated the prisoners of war (POWs) decently, strictly following the Geneva Convention. Indian troops were asked to vacate their quarters for them and live in tents. The prisoners celebrated their festivals. On repatriation, each soldier was given a copy of the Quran and gifts.

The Indian Army quit Bangladesh precisely after three months, which was and remains a rarity if one examines the military annals of any country, at any time.

After the 1971 war, Manekshaw became the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1972. Manekshaw retired from active service on 15 January 1973 and settled with his wife, Silloo, in Coonoor, Tamilnadu, where he succumbed to illness on 27 June 2008.

He was a true bahadur, who lived the life of a soldier.

Book Fairs

Winter season in Eastern India happens to be the season of fairs and social festivals, including book fairs. Recently I went to Kolkata and visited the Bangladesh Book Fair organized in the College Street area.  Kolkata Book Fair,   Asia's largest book fair and one of the largest book fair in the world would follow from 18 to 31 Jan. 2024. Started in 1976 by the Kolkata Publishers and Booksellers Guild, it has acquired a prominent space in the socio-cultural space of Eastern India.

Kolkata was also the city, where the first book fair in India was held in the year 1918 under the watchful eyes of Rabindranath Tagore, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gurudas Banerjee, Bepinchandra Pal, Satish Mukherjee (founder of Dawn Society), Dr. Nil Ratan Sarkar, Rashbehari Ghosh, Chittaranjan Das, Aurobindo Ghosh and many others. It was held at College Street, the hub of Bengal’s learning and publishing industry. Among the participants in this fair was Motilal Banarasidass Publishers from Benaras, one of the earliest publishing houses of the country, which started in Lahore in 1903.

The first New Delhi World Book Fair was held from March 18 to April 4, 1972. The first book fair in Bhubaneswar started in the mid-eighties by National Book Trust.

The credit for holding the first book fair in the world goes to Frankfurt, Germany. The Frankfurt Book Fair has a tradition spanning more than 500 years. Before the advent of printed books, the general trade fair in Frankfurt was the place for selling handwritten books, as early as the 12th century.

As I was strolling around the Odisha State Book Fair in Bhubaneswar and chatting with the publishers- there was a sense of gloom: not many readers of books now, sales have become stagnant, days of the books are numbered.. so on and so forth.

I looked around and remembered Gary Paulsen:

Who do I read?

I just can’t help myself.

Tailpiece: Save Trees

It takes 15 trees to produce the amount of paper that we use to write one exam.

Join us in promoting the noble cause of saving trees. SAY NO TO EXAMS!!!

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