INM MAGAZINE VOLUME 8 | FEBRUARY 2016
#Book Review
Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw
The Man And His Times
Srishtika Nayan
MBA-HR 1st Year
NMIMS Mumbai,
S
am Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw,
popularly known as Sam Bahadur was the eighth
Chief of courage, Army Staff and the first Indian
Army officer to be promoted as Field Marshal. His
extraordinary military career spanned four decades
and five wars, from the British era and World War II,
to the three wars against Pakistan and China after
India's independence in 1947.
'Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, The man and his
times', is a biography written by Brigadier Behram
Panthaki (retd) and Zenobia Panthaki. This book gives
an insight into the life of Sam Manekshaw and his
military career which is studded with achievements
including the successful campaign of the Indo-Pakistan
War of 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Sam wanted to pursue medicine in England but upon
rejection from his father he joined the first batch of
forty cadets at Indian Military Academy ( IMA),
Dehradun. Though he joined Indian Army as an act of
rebellion, he rose to become India's first Field Marshal
and was adorned with awards like Padma Vibhushan
and Padma Bhushan.
Sam was a man of precise military bearing and his
sharp intellect, clarity of thought, decisiveness and
Sammy moustache set him apart. His most
outstanding attribute was his ability to reach out to his
subordinates and his sense of fairness. He stood up to
anyone who trampled on the dignity of his officers.
But for those who circumvented rules, he could be curt
an