Book Discussion Observed By Esha Shaunik
The Defence Colony (WA) Club and The Gracious Living Foundation hosted a discussion of the book by Ashali Varma titled Victoria Cross: A Love Story on Friday, 21 Feb 2025. Ashali Verma herself is an author, columnist, and senior journalist. Her book is a biography of her father, the late legend and army icon Lt Gen Premindra S Bhagat VC, PVSM. The book discussion was moderated by Jasjit Mansingh w/o Lt Gen Gurbir Mansingh, who is herself an author.
Jasjit Mansingh started the morning by showing her own book, which, as expected of most books of that period has a full chapter on the army icon Lt Gen. PS Bhagat. She went on to elaborate on the foreword written by Jug Suraiya, who was a close associate of the family. He called it a book that celebrates the bonding between parents and children.
This book is based on the story that evolved out of the letters exchanged by her parents throughout their years of separation, and this is what makes it different from the usual books on famous army heroes. The letters kept so carefully by her mother, Mohini Bhagat, helped her trace the history, particularly about the battle for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. She shared that her father never really talked about the war and always stated that the people who deserved the VC had died on the battlefield. She pointed out an interesting feature of the letters written by him straight from the battlefield wherein he avoided writing about the usual horrors of war but made it sound like a picnic.
The book is a military book but from a personal angle based on the letters preserved by a wife, written by a man in uniform, from the battlefield, each written to the lady who commanded his home base, the safe space that he always came back to. That Friday morning was an interesting dialogue between an army wife and an army daughter sharing their experiences and perspectives with the audience.
The session ended with the usual audience question round. Maj Jasbir asked and shared the story of Lt Gen Bhagat’s days as a cadet, his days at the battle that got him the VC, and his visionary work as an engineer-in-chief. The morning ended with an interesting talk by Lt Gen S N Sharma (Tindi), who shared some incidents of his tenure with Lt Gen PS Bhagat in service and after he retired and was heading the DVP.
