Frontier India Strategic and Defence - News, Analysis, Opinion

Written on January 4, 2008 – 6:32 pm | by Lt Col (Retd.) A.K Sam Sharma |

A Book Review

“Leadership: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw MC” by Maj Gen Shubhi Sood (Retd) Published in 2006 by SDS Publishers 1709, Sector 29, Noida-201301 Pages 290 Price $ 34.95 ISBN 81-902828-4-0

He was a larger than life figure. A chief one could look up to and idealize/idolize. Man looked bold, acted bold and did not hesitate to take action. Had a charisma (he was not a ‘water-walker’; by any stretch of imagination, though) about him that is found rarely. Not that charisma is bad. And what is this charisma? It is different things to different people. Adolf Hitler, who had the charisma to mesmerize top German Generals (and politicians), brought up in the strict Prussian military mould; who would snap to attention at his every whim & command; did not command any charisma with his personal servant, according to the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire; one of six Mitford sisters still surviving at 87. Deborah recalls, that, when she, along with Unity and their mother, had visited Hitler in Munich in June 1937, no one responded when Hitler repeatedly rang for the servant to order tea! He may have been hard of hearing, who knows…? Adolf Hitler had oodles and oodles of charisma; else he could not have united the whole of WW1-defeated German nation behind him! What ever, it should be understood that charisma ought not be confused with competence, else one is bound to fallaciously fall prey to the ‘fundamental attribution factor’. One cannot think of any Chief who carried that kind of aura round him except, perhaps Thimayya, and to a limited extent, may be, Sundarji. But as opposed to Sundarji, Sam came out a clear winner in all operations he under took; which is a sure sign of a military genius, if ever there was one. Manekshaw was our finest chief. The army then believed in it; there was even some idealism.

Essentially largely biographical, this latest book on Sam, by his former Senior Aide de Camp of many years; Major General Shubhi Sood; is anecdotal in format. Generally adulatory towards his boss, Shubhi Sood regretfully, verges on hero-worship many a time, which does not do too much of a good in a book being touted around as one on leadership per se, and one that seeks to replace those on FM The Viscount B L Montgomery of Alamein, in as far as study of military leadership goes. Beside, in Shubhi’s book, there is only one solitary chapter on leadership, and that too at the very end. It connects the rest of the book to leadership traits with a hope, that, the tidbits (read deductions) fit in, like deriving a plan out of deductions whilst writing a military appreciation! To this extent Shubhi Sood could have chosen a different title befitting content, like for example; “Sam Bahadur: the Man & His Style” on the lines of the title of Col A K Sahni’s article in ‘The Gorkha’ of 2006;“Field Marshal SHJF Manekshaw, MC As an Individual, A Soldier and a Leader”.
The opening set of photos have never been seen before except a few that appear in the UNESCO’s Parzor publication, ‘In War & Peace The Life of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, MC’ Some can do with annotation, in the interest of meaningfulness. More maps would be just great for aiding comprehension of military operations. Compared to ‘LFMSM’, Shubi’s ‘Younghusband: A Troubled Campaign’ was much better; it had great rhythm, a vivid style, and immediate impact…it transported you back to a bygone era, and brought the battles live (sic). A pity, that, this one doesn’t read as well; poor editing is one reason for this. With hardly any punctuations; though there is an over-dose of the double inverted comas and the parenthesis; one has to re-read the sentences to make out what exactly is meant to be conveyed!
Some of Sam’s sayings/quips—–

v Discipline is the code of conduct of decent living.

v What is moral courage? It is the ability to distinguish right from wrong and having so distinguished it, be prepared to say so, irrespective of the views held by your superiors or subordinates and of consequence to yourself.

v To those of my commanders, who took an inordinately long time to come to a decision —–I coined a Manekshawism “ If you have to be a bloody fool, be one quickly.”

v When dealing with your men you have to be a very humane man. When dealing with the Government, and the bureaucracy, you have to have great moral courage. Naturally, you have to have professional knowledge. If you find a man with all the three things he will make a Good Chief……….There is always one thing or the other missing…and then you will get a Chief like me, who has all the three things missing!

v The three great leaders, Caesar, Napoleon and Wellington had one facial characteristic in common.they all had long noses…so had Cleopatra and Indira Gandhi.

v God has ordained that I take orders from two women: my wife at home; and PM Indira Gandhi in office!

v Any one who says he knows no fear, is either lying, or Gurkha!

It is quite clear that this book is a labour of love. Though the author makes no bones about the fact that, he is an avid fan of the subject of his story, and at times he does get carried away by the sheer weight of Manekshaw’s imposing and lovable personality, hence, it is entirely to his commendable credit, that, he does manage to keep his head down and maintain objectivity, because at the best of times, Sam Bahadur affords a myriad of mirror-images of all the facets of leadership. And to condense his more than forty years of a glowing, and very vibrant career without losing impartiality, must have been a intimidating task, which General Sood; indeed, has handled with aplomb and great panache.

(The Writer Lt. Col A.K. ‘Sam’ Sharma is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Kharakvasla. Col Sharma was commissioned into the 3rd Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in Februray 1964, He retired in 1997 after serving for 33 years. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, he holds a MSc Degree in Defence Studies from the Madras University. This officer has been on the instructional staff of two of Indian Army’s premiere training institutes: the College of Combat; now known as the War College; (Directing Staff Junior Command Wing-1972-1975) and the Infantry School ( Senior Instructor, Platoon Commander’s Wing—1984-87) both located in Mhow (MP); where he taught tactics at the unit and sub-unit levels to students, some of who were from friendly foreign armies. He has also served at the world- renowned Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. Col Sharma can be contacted at aksh9@airtelbroadband.in)