Shoot. Dive. Fly is a book written by Rachna Bisht Rawat, also the author of The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories and 1965: Stories from the Second Indo-Pak War, though I haven’t read them. This paperback edition is priced less than the cost of a medium-sized pizza.
When my teacher nominated me to review this book, to be honest, I was a bit skeptical about reading it, because I usually like continuous content novels, with plenty of character development. But this book, a medley of 21 real-life experiences of unique people in the army, took me by surprise. As soon as I started reading, I realized that merely ten pages about a particular person were enough to feel for them, to empathize with them. When I saw that the Foreword was written by M.S. Dhoni, I quickly skimmed through it, only to find out that, to my surprise, he is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army! A new piece of information for the day, that was.
All real-life experiences documented in this book have been written in the third person, giving them a story-like form. If I didn’t know better, I would have mistaken them for a set of fictional stories, with unbelievably brave-hearted main leads. The tasks that men and women accomplish in the army are so exhilarating and adventurous that it is easy for ‘lesser mortals’ to not come to terms with them.
Each narration in this book, either made me smile at the heroic victories or triggered a dull ache in my heart over the loss of lives. From rescuing kids stuck in bore wells to jumping from a plane, there is nothing that the Army doesn’t offer.
You might have run after your friends in school but have you ever chased wild African lions? That’s what Lt.Col. Anupam Gaur did. So you don’t particularly like extremely cold and windy places? Try telling that to Major Deepika Rathore, a two-time Everest summiteer.
Okay, on a much more serious note, have you ever considered chopping off your own leg because it got mangled after stepping on a mine during a war? Sounds downright outrageous, right? But not to Major General Ian Cardozo, who, with immense willpower, did just that and rose to become a role model of leadership in the army, for others to emulate.
The detailed account of the life of a lady officer, narrated by Major Marian Antony, busts the myth that “It’s not a career for women”.
The men who lost a limb, and still doing better in life than ‘normal’ people, question the term ‘physically challenged’ and according to Major D.P Singh, the Kargil war veteran, and a blade runner, “differently-abled people are not the physically challenged ones – they are the challengers.”
Imagine the competence of helicopter pilots rescuing colleagues from the icy crevasses of the Siachen glacier. Or the sense of gratitude that the civilians, stuck in a mountain ropeway trolley, literally hanging between life and death, would have had towards Major Crasto, for saving them, in an act of sheer bravery and immense personal risk.
Each story in the book typifies what life is all about in the army.
Read on.
This book is but the tip of the iceberg, a small account of the great things done by a few good men and women, albeit very enrapturing accounts at that. I would definitely push my friends into reading it because it is a fact that many kids haven’t explored the multitude of career options offered by the Army. The army doesn’t just provide you with the choice of pursuing what you want to while serving the nation, it also gives you the chance to achieve a healthier lifestyle.
It was a wonderful read, very informative, and written in a way that made you want to read more. It has the features of a good book – easy to understand, yet hard to put down. I learned a lot about the Army that I didn’t already know of.
Being the daughter of an Army officer, like the author herself, I have been exposed to a lot of things offered by the Indian Army. I can vouch, just by seeing my dad in his uniform, that yes, the Army is indeed one tantalizing career.
When I visited the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun last year, for the Silver Jubilee reunion of 89 Regular Course (my dad’s batch, December 1991), I saw everything that is mentioned in the book, making it more relatable. The bond that my father shares with his coursemates is wonderful. Seeing my dad act like a youngster amongst them was amusing, to say the least. It wasn’t hard to imagine them in their olive greens, ready for battle or for that matter, anything in life! It is extremely humbling to be around people who have risked their lives time and again, in the service of our motherland.
Finally, the author mentions in the Acknowledgements, that her greatest reward will be if this book manages to lure in the next-gen enough, to consider a career in the army. Well, I for one, certainly think she deserves that award because anyone who reads this book is unlikely to be able to stop his or her adrenaline from rushing!
That perhaps is the sure-shot way of living a life less ordinary.
I wrote this review in 10th grade (2017) and it was published in my school magazine. I think my writing style was a bit different back then, maybe even better. Talk about a glow-down.
Anyway, I hope you like this book review! Check out my other posts: Legacy and Marching On.
