Ravindra Rathee started his career as a journalist with the Times of India in Delhi, writing on human rights and conflict resolution. After graduating from St Stephen's College in Delhi, he did an MA in politics at the University of Hull as a British Chevening Scholar. For the past two decades, he has worked as a banker. This is his first book, stemming from extensive research on the military life of his grandfather.
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True to Their Salt is a radical retelling of
how India came to be colonized by a handful of Europeans in the eighteenth
century, how the British held sway over the country for almost two centuries,
and their sudden departure from India in 1947, all told from the perspective of
Indian soldiers. The British held India by an army predominantly comprising
Indian soldiers, and relied on their fidelity. This loyalty stood the test of
time but was eventually breached during the Second World War, leading to
India's independence. This book looks at the world of the Indian soldiers who
enlisted in the armies of India under British rule. In India, the recording of
military history has been piecemeal, with attention focused on specific
decades, epochs and wars. There has been very little literature that brings
together the rich history of the Indian Army, with its vast experience in
international and national wars. Ravindra Rathee seeks to fill this literary
lacuna--and brings a personal perspective to this urgency. His research stems
from his grandfather's service to the Raj during the Second World War. True to
Their Salt is not just a story of war and bloodshed for another country--it is
an in-depth survey of the professional layers that involved the running of the
military: from recruitment to salary structure, and from how Indian soldiers
preserved their faith to how they dealt with their frustration at the racism
they encountered. With persuasive flair and rich detail, Rathee rewrites
India's military history, even as he tells a page-turning story that takes the
reader through the turbulent centuries of British Indian history.
