Beyond Fear: A Personal Journey to Soma

This is a book about two parallel paths in the life of a combat soldier. One, the external path of duty and fighting grim battles. The other, the equally arduous path of one's inner spiritual evolution. That is why this has been a very personal journey to Soma. It is a military autobiography with a difference as it seeks to record both my life trajectories in the same book. I was advised to treat these as two separate and diverse streams. But the fact is, both were so closely enmeshed together in my life, that it was difficult to isolate the one from the other. So I have tried to say it as the lived through experience in my life. Hence this wholistic approach.

My batch was commissioned in Nov 1971, just a month before the start of the war for the liberation of Bangladesh. We were pitch-forked into that intense conflict as cannon fodder and paid a heavy price. Yet we are intensely proud that we were at the cutting edge of a war that saw Pakistan broken into two. In just 13 breath-taking days, the Indian Army blitzkrieg raced some 550 km to the capital city of Dacca, ensured regime change and created a new nation-state with the force of arms. We saw the largest mass surrender after the Second World War with 93,000 Pakistani prisoners laying down their arms. We changed the map of South Asia. One of my course mates, 2nd Lt Arun Khetrapal won the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), India's highest gallantry award in the Basantar sector, where he destroyed five Pakistani Patton Tanks single-handedly. He laid down his life in the bargain. He will forever be 21, the age at which he sacrificed his life for his country and won the coveted PVC. Many years later, another of my course mates, Col NJC Nair AC, KC would win the highest peacetime gallantry award of India, the Ashok Chakra (AC) posthumously as he charged into a Naga ambush. His gallant action saved his unit from being wiped out. We are therefore justifiably proud to be the only NDA batch that has two of the nation's highest gallantry awards to its credit. Yes, we were special! No other batch can make that claim.

In my own batch, I can claim the dubious distinction of having been in live combat at almost every rank of my military career. As a 2LL, I was fortunate enough to participate in the 1971 war. As a Major, I led a Sikh company in counter-terrorist operations in Punjab, immediately in the wake of Operation Blue Star. As a Lt Col, I commanded my unit 6 JAK Rifles, in intense skirmishes on the Line of Control (LC) in Kargil, involving heavy artillery, mortars, Anti- tank and Air Defense guns. The intensity of fighting can be gauged from the fact that my unit suffered six killed and 21 wounded. We won one Vir Chakra (posthumous), 4 Sena Medals and 20 commendations from the Chief and Army Commander. I was awarded the VSM for my leadership. Later, as a Brigadier, I led 9 Sector Rashtriya Rifles (RR) in fierce count-er-terrorist operations in Kishtwar, one of the toughest and most active sectors then in J&K. One of my boys, Naik Ram Bir Singh Tomar, won the highest award, Ashok Chakra posthumously for his gallantry. In two years plus we had killed 108 terrorists (mostly senior commanders) and foiled the ISI's vicious attempts at ethnic cleansing of the Hindu minority. I left the area totally pacified and was awarded the Sena Medal for leading from the front. As a Major General, I had the proud privilege of commanding Romeo Force looking after the then most turbulent districts of Rajouri and Punch in the wake of the famous large-scale operation Sarp Vinash. I had 18 battalions under my command. In just one year we eliminated 108 senior terrorists and broke the back of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in this sector. I left this turbulent area completely pacified and the year 2005 was a watershed and turning point in this region.

Beyond Fear is the remarkable autobiography of General G.D. Bakshi, the celebrated soldier, speaker, and author, who is equally at ease leading fighters into the battlefield and explaining the mystery and meaning of life. Given two inimical states on its borders, his postings gave him much real-time experience in warfare where he was able to show both leadership and personal bravery and he had time to meditate on deep questions of meaning.

The book is in two parts: the first part is mostly about Bakshi's career and the outward aspects of his life and search, whereas the second part is about his investigations into the Kundalini, the serpentine energy at the base chakra at the bottom of the spine. This energizing of Kundalini leads to Soma, which provides bliss and ecstasy and takes away all fear and pain on the battlefield.

Bakshi's attitude combining worldliness and spirituality, which is a part of the Brahma-Kshatra tradition of ancient India, is not that uncommon among Indian soldiers and it explains why they are among the finest military men and women in the world.

Gen. Bakshi went to elementary school in Udhampur, which was also my true first elementary school after an early year in Basohli. I am familiar with the rhythms of military life in Jammu and Kashmir, as many people our family in friends with those who joined the army, and there was always the fear of a report of death at the border, so his life-story resonates with me. My childhood years in the Himalayas, including Ladakh, were similar to his. Although, I chose academics as a career, there is much overlap in our wider interests. India's border, war, bombs, and stories of the dying and wounded were a part of our lives.