A General's diaries are curated into a breezy military history of India

Commanded by Destiny:  A General’s Rise from Soldier to Statesman

by General S M Shrinagesh

Published by Penguin

328 pages ₹699

  Satyawant Mallanna Shrinagesh (1903-1977) served as the army chief between 1955 and 1957. Post-retirement, he served two stints as governor of undivided Assam in the 1950s, and early 1960s, and also served as governor of Mysore State (1964-65) and of Andhra Pradesh (1962-64). In between the periods when he was ensconced in sundry Raj Bhavans, he served as the principal of the Administrative Staff College, Hyderabad. 

This book was put together by his grandson, Gaurav Shrinagesh, presumably by curating the late general’s diaries and memorabilia. It reads like a series of breezy anecdotes written in the late 1960s or early 1970s — certainly most of it, if not all, before the Bangladesh War. Think of it as stories told to friends and family, seasoned with the general’s views and opinions. It is written in a simple, lucid style that allows the general’s observations to be assessed and digested without distractions. 

Given the wealth and breadth of the author’s experiences, it’s not surprising the book offers sharp insights into what is now history. The general was both a participant in, and a keen observer of, military and political events across the first two decades of Independence. 

He had clearly stated opinions on managing insurgency, on civil-military relations, and on the necessity for maintaining the federal structure of the nation. He was also an early advocate for an integrated national security architecture. Some of these views may seem prescient. 

However, some of the views may also seem dated, in that they stem from the early years of independence when there were “concerns” about the abilities of Indians to govern, and to lead troops in battle. But importantly, these are the thought processes of somebody who played a role in shaping the events of his time.  

Shrinagesh was a Kannadiga, born in Kolhapur (Maharashtra). But he was brought up in the princely state of Hyderabad in the lap of what  may be called “earned privilege”. His father, Shrinagesh Mallannah was a microbiologist trained under the legendary Robert Koch, (who identified the bacteria responsible for tuberculosis and cholera). Shrinagesh was the personal physician to the Nizam and financially comfortable enough to have his children educated at British public schools. 

The author did a very brief stint in Cambridge after Sixth Form. But this was just after the First World War. Inspired by nationalism and by stories of that conflict where many of his friends and seniors had participated, he opted for a military career. 

He was among the first to qualify as a King’s Commissioned Indian Officer for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. After being commissioned in 1923, he was posted with the erstwhile Madras Pioneers in Burma. Then he served on the troubled North-West Frontier where he saw action against Pashtun tribes. He was then posted with the erstwhile Hyderabad Regiment (later amalgamated into the Kumaon Regiment) in Singapore. During the Second World War he commanded the Kumaons in Burma and served as a brigade commander. In the early post-war era, he led the post-war British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan and also served with the Indian Military Mission to Germany. 

In early 1948, he was appointed commander of the troops serving in J&K and played a critical role as a strategist during the ongoing conflict with Pakistan. After that, he served as general officer commanding of Western Command, and then of Southern Command, before he was appointed chief.  

One of the most detailed parts of the book deals with his time as corps commander in charge of the divisions that saw action in the first India-Pakistan War. The meticulous descriptions of the sieges of Leh and Poonch are brilliant. His recollections of the actions and operational plans are very illuminating.  He says, incidentally, that there was pressure from the Commonwealth to avoid escalation beyond the borders of the princely state, to which the two army commanders (both British) succumbed. 

Notably, as he says, the Indian army was fighting for the first time wholly under the command of young Indian officers (many of whom had few years of service and little command experience) and for their own country, rather than serving colonial aims. They learnt on the job. 

Another area of interest to historians would be the attitude towards the Indian National Army in military circles. Figuring out what to do with the Indian National Army personnel posed a huge dilemma to the fledgling Indian state. Nehru himself had been among the legal luminaries defending the INA trio, Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Kumar Sehgal, and Gurbaksh Singh Dhillon at the Red Fort trials in 1946. But the army could not condone mutiny on a vast scale as had occurred with the INA. 

The General retired five years before the 1962 debacle against China and he is a little circumspect in writing about that conflict in detail, while expressing grief and anger at the mismanagement of the war. By then, he was in the thick of gubernatorial appointments and had also shaped the curricula and set the standards at the Administrative Staff College. But his stints in undivided Assam also involved touring what is now Arunachal Pradesh where much of the fighting occurred. 

The book is an easy read. In this case, a simple writing style indicates clarity of thought, not a simple mind. However, the lack of footnotes, indexing and appendices is somewhat disappointing.  Any reader who wants context and background will have to work hard. I hope these lacunae may be rectified in the next edition.