India to the Rescue
by Sushant Singh with Shruthi Rao
“India to the Rescue” by Sushant Singh with Shruthi Rao and illustrated by Shagnik Chakraborty. Published by Juggernaut Books. An action packed account of “Operation Cactus” which is one of the most daring operations in the history of Indian Military.
While we have heard about Indian military operations in the context of action against Pakistan and China in the northern front, seldom talked about are some of the equally challenging and daring missions that they undertake. One such mission was “Operation Cactus” in which India flew to rescue the island country of Maldives which had been attacked in the dead of the night in November 1988.
Just before dawn, armed rebels stormed the capital of Maldives and opened fire on the NSS (National Security Service) headquarters which was responsible for maintaining peace and security in the country. The Maldivians were outnumbered and sent SOS messages. One such call came to Arun Banerjee who was the Indian High Commissioner to Maldives. He was on a short break in New Delhi.
Within ten hours, Indian military had planned Operation Cactus and set the rescue mission in motion. All three branches of the military had to be involved. From being clueless about the whereabouts of Maldives and lack of maps to executing such a daring mission, the book is an edge of the seat thriller till the last page. One cannot help getting the feeling of pride and respect for our daredevil soldiers. Believe it or not, it was the presence of Arun and his coffee table book on Maldives which got used for planning the mission. He was the only person to have visited Maldives and know anything about it at all! Sounds so weird these days but one can imagine how exotic a nation it must have been. Wonder how many common people knew of its existence in those days.
My seven year old and I enjoyed reading the book. We just couldn’t put it down. This was his first book in this genre and he loved it. The story is peppered with various facts about the military and Maldives. This was very useful as we could understand the story better. Lots of new words like paratroopers, brigadier, MEA, Indian High Commission, grenades, etc added to his dictionary now, I am sure :) He was also amused by the fact that there was no Google Maps in those days to locate the places in Maldives. The account was originally written by Sushant Singh who is a journalist and adapted by Shruthi Rao for children. Overall a must read for everyone aged 7+.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Juggernaut Books here.
An independent indie bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.