'Force Behind the Forces' explores valour, responsibilities, sacrifices by widows of Indian Army personnel
Nov 16, 2021
New Delhi [India], November 16 : The book 'The Force Behind the Forces' captures the struggle of the widows of the Indian Army who are living with memories of their husband and are not able to escape from the social stigma.
This book brings forth stories of seven such widows portraying a comprehensive picture of the lives of their lives. It describes significant aspects such as societal norms, pains and grievances.
Elaborating on the motives for writing the book, author Swapnil Pandey told ANI, "This is a compilation of stories of seven brave Indian army wives who represent all army wives, the Veer Naris, the women behind the forces who made highest sacrifices of their lives. Their struggle, their pain is different from average Indian women and I believe they epitomise Indian women."
"In 2019, I was talking to Karuna Chouhan, wife of lieutenant commander DS Chouhan who sacrificed his life while saving INS Vikramaditya and they were married just for one and a half months. She told me that she was Googling ways out how to deal with the loss, how Veer Naris deal with such losses and asked me to write so that in the future women who face such a loss can have something to cope with the pain, to read about other such widows and gain strength. It is then I felt the need to write this book," said Pandey.
The book brings to its readers the eternal love, valour, responsibilities and sacrifices majorly stressing on adversities of lives being faced by these women after the deaths of their husbands.
It took her two years to research for her subject, selecting names, approaching them but the major portion of time went for receiving permission for the Indian army as the entire book involves real-life incidents and many important operations.
The book published by Penguin Books is dedicated to 'all the veer naris' who are in their quest of finding strength.