WAFADARI – IMMANDARI – ZIMMEDARI

 

Commonly translated as loyalty, honesty and responsibility, these three words find their place on the cover page of the new book by Lt. Gen. K.J.S. ‘Tiny’ Dhillon (Retd.). Although easily understood by all, only a few know the weight that these three words hold. I was fortunate enough to witness the launch of his book at Chandigarh on  29th May 2025, which was made even more special with the notable presence of our former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. VP Malik.

When the General gave the opening speech, one could not help but notice the fine lines of years of experience behind his words. Words that were chosen to make an impact. He started with an impactful statement, “I firmly believe that leaders are not just born, but they are made through training”. He elaborated on it by emphasising the power of strong self-belief. The belief that- I CAN DO THIS, is 30% influenced by the knowledge and skill you have and is 70% dependent on the ability to handle human resources. After serving as the COAS during challenging times like Kargil and with 41 years of military career, one can hardly not listen to his advice and facts, which are fuelled by years of personal observations on the ground.

He also spoke about his perception of Lt. Gen. K.J.S. Tiny Dhillon as a 6ft 3” not-so-tiny officer with a great sense of humour and amazing command over communication and writing, who advises others to train themselves to always carry a smile.  Gen. Malik explained in detail the value that the book title holds for him. He corroborates it as the Naam-Namak-Nishaan, the three pillars of oath for any soldier of the Indian army.

In the book, written across 11 chapters, Lt. Gen. Tiny Dhillon has laid down the characteristic differences between the corporate sector and the Army. How the leadership differs in both arenas and how the corporate sector can benefit by imbibing the army leadership traits, as these are the ethos that takes a person, a team, an organisation, a society and a generation ahead of its time. Lt. Gen Dhillon further explained that in the army, with continuous rigorous training, a young officer or even a soldier is wired to take ownership. Ownership of his decision, whether right or wrong and ownership of the repercussions of the consequences that follow. This trait of ownership, as rightly highlighted by the Lt. Gen. Tiny Dhillon, is the main axis of the honour code of the Indian Army and its brave counterparts.

In the end, Lt. Gen. K.J.S. Tiny Dhillon elucidated his reasons for choosing this three main ethos as his book title through examples. He described that the only culture of the Indian army is their Naam-Namak-Nishaan, and when a company commander leads its troops into the battlefield, these very same foundation comes into play, bilaterally. The platoon of those 20 or more people follow their commander into the battlefield without even cross-questioning his judgement, wafadaari and on the other hand, the company commander will ensure that all the soldiers following his command come back unscathed, immandari to duty. Lastly, the family of those men who are being taken care of shows their faith that their respective loved ones will come back under the command of an able company commander, zimmedari of the same company commander.

In this book, Lt. Gen. has shared many nuances from his personal and professional life to draw some attention to the leadership traits which a soldier learns in his lifetime and how if we as a nation try we can imbibe and pass them to the future generation as a toolkit to be used in all the diverse field of career. This practice will not only create responsible citizens but also create a chain of leaders in every sector of our country.

Lastly, to sum it up, I recommend all to read this book to pick and adapt the leadership lessons no matter where you work or wherever you are right now and remember that “it’s the nation that goes to war, the army just fights on borders”. Therefore, be a businessman, an economist, an environmentalist, a lawyer, a doctor or an engineer. We need you all as the building blocks to take this beautiful nation to whole new horizons. No matter which field you are the mission should be clear. The mission is to serve and give back to society.

Thank you, Gen. Malik, for inspiring the generations to come through your selfless service and contribution to the nation in the challenging times and beyond and thank you, Lt. Gen Dhillon, for presenting us with an everlasting guiding light and for your selfless service to Bharat. We will be forever
grateful to witness two eminent personalities sharing the same stage during the book launch and patiently answering all the doubts of the readers who were present there.

Jai Hind, Jai Bharat

- Ritika Rana

                                                                                                                     

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A letter to Indu Rebecca Varghese

The day the movie, Amaran was released, a proud martyr, the late Major Mukund Varadarajan came to life again. In April 2014, after a covert mission, news echoed from the valley of southern Kashmir that Major Mukund along with his buddy, Sepoy Vikram Singh was no more. Although The nation mourned the loss of a capable officer who was later honoured with Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry award in 2014, it was his family who were permanently scarred. 

On August 28th 2009, Major Mukund married his long-term college sweetheart, Indu Rebecca Varghese and the couple was blessed with a daughter in 2011.

I am sure that everyone who was around him remembers him to this day but you, Indu, you got him back to life again, therefore, this is for you,

To,

Indu Rebecca Varghese, 

I am sure that all of us are well aware of the ordeals of Fauji's wives. I am sure we are aware of how proud you must feel every day. I am sure you will meet him someday and that you love him with everything you have. I just want to convey certain things to you. You, Indu, are the epitome of grace and endurance for so many.

for you have shown the true meaning of courage, for you I have understood the meaning of 'army behind the true army'. 

Through you, I tried to understand the divinity of the power of commitment, unwavering love and support which exists even after mortal lives.

I am sure you must have felt anger, distrust or void but you might've masked them well for Arshea. I know that being  'Mukund's Wife' is the armour of strength for you and I just want to hold your hand and as a friend tell you that, "he too must be so proud of you".  

Indu, I know that sharing your story and grief with the world must have been like reliving everything and I do not know if, once certain years have passed, someone can miss their loved ones without feeling the pinch of pain in their hearts. we all might have known your grief but you have lived that loss and no one can truly understand your state of despair.

you have truly risen from it like a phoenix and shared a beautiful poem with all of us in memory of Major Mukund on the same day when you lost him.   

How do you do this? 

To the strong woman that you are, I salute you and would love to meet you and know more about you someday. I can confidently say that Arshea must be a really bright and strong girl because she is the offspring of a fearless couple. 

The 17th century witnessed one of the seven wonders being built to commemorate the ever-lasting love but this 21st century witnessed a woman, who might not be a Mughal emperor but with her true devotion towards a man in uniform, moved millions of people by just sharing her story and ultimately eternalising the brave martyr Major Mukund Varadaranjan, a heroic soldier, a loving husband, caring son and dedicated father.

your character of great height soaring sky inspires everyone and your endurance of great depth made tough things possible. 

Thank you, Indu Rebecca Varghese, for sharing your story and showing us a glimpse of Major Mukund's life.

the nation owes you and to the family.

regards

a girl you inspired

yoga : a meeting with self

how I started yoga is an interesting journey in itself. I was stuck in emotional turmoil myself and was feeling disconnected from myself constantly. well, in short, I was desperately seeking a connection with my inner self. That's when the universe mystically presented itself in the form of the opportunity of joining yoga. 

I have to thank my yoga instructor Taniya for taking me along on the beautiful journey called yoga. 7 months back I used to think that yoga only meant a bunch of stretches but oh boi! I was so wrong.

never been so happy about being wrong! 

in these past 7 months, I have never regretted even one day of my yoga session. the session always starts with a bunch of stretches and warm-up, followed up by asanas which can be balancing, strengthening or flexibility asanas, in the end, the session always finishes up with pranayam and meditation for 5 minutes and on Friday especially we have 35-40 mins of meditation of different type. 

now when I look back I don't know how I never realised that just being consistent with 50 minute routine for a long period can transform us inside out.

Yoga has so far taught me to find balance in the simplest thing which is our breathe. it has shown me the power of consistency and just showing up every day has improved my strength and flexibility. it has forced fed me to learn about being truly conscious of my emotions, thoughts, and feelings and then letting them go. 

I have been an emotional person who gets attached in less time, so naturally, many a time my mind feels like a mess. Be It uncertainty of the future, broken friendships or feeling like no one understands you. yoga has truly helped me to consciously observe these thoughts and deal with them more maturely and ultimately use the art of letting go. it surprises me how I have been able to selectively think of the situational aspect and consciously decide if it is worth my time and energy and if the answer is 'no' I simply accept it. hence, I automatically and patiently let that situation or person go.

I'm extremely proud of myself for choosing better. I know I'm just a novice in the journey where some people have decided to invest their whole life but I'm taking that first step and I encourage you to take that first step too and start with just 10 minutes of pranayam or meditation because yoga ultimately gives you a choice. choice of choosing better for yourself.

I strongly believe that the whole universe that we seek outside is evolving inside of us. just take the first step and experience the ultimate truth which cannot be described but just experienced. 

seek inside your mind.