The journey before the first milestone.

Never failing to carry my bottle of mineral water every time I stepped out of the house, I almost got a physical shock when Varun told me, that many a places he served in J&K, the source of drinking water for months was melted snow…

My name is Shormishtha. I am trying to co- present a coffee table book to you with my dear friend and co traveler, Major Varun. Neither I nor Varun is an acclaimed writer or a photographer. So before you, a reader in some part of the world asks me...I shall answer you the question...the question that everyone has asked me last month and half:

WHY ARE YOU DOING IT?

Why have we gone for this extremely difficult project of creating this book? Why did I put down my papers from a well paying corporate job in raging recession? Why Varun sacrificed the pleasure of a home posting after 7 years of service? The answer to all this is the strength gathered from an emotional discussion and the urge to showcase and bring to fore a subject that was never touched upon and was supposedly perceived difficult. It drew strength from the experiences gathered while serving in all those inhospitable terrain and the inability of a loved one to find the other ‘just a call away’.

We humans, as a species are born intelligent and hence arrogant. We display placards saying ‘save the planet’ in large gatherings. It’s funny because we actually cannot do anything to ‘save the planet’. The planet is absolutely capable of saving itself…Should we humans continue to be the nuisance we are today, the planet shall only get rid of us and carry on with the rest estimated 20 million species. So as the beginning…the book is a tribute to the all powerful yet gentle, wild, mysterious, innocent, destructive, constructive, stubborn, loving…and much more, the forces of nature.

It shall take you along with us to the frozen tips of mountains to the barren burning sands. You shall travel with us from the deepest of the blues to the never ending waters from heaven. And you shall meet; meet like you have known them all your life, the people...

Yes, for this book is about people. The people, the men and the women, who comprise the armed forces of this nation. They serve the nation, they do their jobs, they laugh and they complain. They are happy, and not so happy at times. But what they do the best, is they teach us, how to befriend the great forces of nature. How to never say die and believe life to be a miracle from conception to end. How to live as if this was the last day of yours...

We would spend months with them. Living, talking and sharing their moments with them. And we would bring to you, the stories! Stories of how children growing up with fathers getting confused because last when they saw them, they looked different. Of how the fate of entire troops and the country changed from loss to victory because all but one of them refused to give up, Of what is real leadership and what it takes to be on the edge and yet take care of the subordinates. You will come close to understanding how it feels when a twelve feet high wave hits a sailor on face and how one does cooks a meal on an electrical hot plate, on an ever rolling ship. You shall fly with us to understand how a degree to the north and not to the west creates terrible disturbances and how sometimes, on a rescue mission the pilot cries harder than the one he just saved. It’s a journey showcasing virtues like grit, determination, courage and commitment. It’s also a journey in the minds of all those innumerable soldiers, and of that human who puts every aspect of his being on the call of duty.

We are all together in this. And so one afternoon, me and Varun, decided to do this. And as rightly said: all that is needed is the first step. For after that, help came in abundance.

A mention to our team who believed on this project…

Ahtushi and Anju would take over as the photographers. Neeraj will design it for us; he would do the website as well. A real talent there. Nitin promises help with the writing and editing and Ravi with the photo editing.This is how we would put the book together.

I hope we complete it as projected and you like it. I hope so very much. I hope so because, what we represent, is a part of all of us. We represent the soldier, the warrior the fighter in all of us.

So finally, it’s for you, all my dear readers that I, along with my few friends have decided to brave the odds. We decided to do it so that you may never loose hope and faith. So that whenever in life you feel, you have got a raw deal, think of the man guarding you at -25degrees, you immediately shall see that when you feel disappointed, he looses a battle there.

For more info, visit us at:

www.theroadslesstraveled.co.in.