Gorkha Hat And Maroon Beret is a

personal memoir of four decades of life in the

Indian Army, as experienced by Lieutenant

General Chandra Shekhar, former Vice Chief

of the Indian Army (1997-2000). It recounts

the rewards and rigours of his long and

distinguished military career, after he was

commissioned in the 2/4 Gorkha Rifles of the

Indian Army in 1959. The book additionally

contains larger reflections on the ethos and

training of the Indian Army, and its seminal

role in shaping the lives of not just military

personnel, but the entire nation. It also

records valuable insights and suggestions

about the way in which the institutional

framework of the Indian Army can be further

strengthened, especially after the experience

of the Kargil War, at which time Lieutenant

General Chandra Shekhar was the Vice Chief

of the Indian Army. Written in an engaging

style, and from the vantage point of his varied

command and staff experiences in various

defence formations all over the country,

the book is published at a time when 200

years of the raising of the first battalion of

the famed Gorkha Rifles have just gone by.

It will be of lasting interest to military and

laypeople alike.