Skip to main content

Calling Sehmat

A worthy tribute to one of the greatest daughter of India.

I came across the book after watching Raazi movie and wanting to know more about this girl and her family who sacrificed so much for India. The novel is based on the real-life story of a young Indian Kashmiri girl who sacrificed everything to serve her motherland by becoming a spy for India’s external intelligence agency RAW (Research and Analysis Wing) by marrying into a high ranking Pakistani army family.

The girl's father had been working for RAW for some time setting up the network in Pakistan to gather intelligence and send it across the border. But when during a routine health checkup is informed of having cancer and knowing he has very time left decides to ask his daughter to finish the mission he started. His wish becomes stronger when he realises that Pakistan is preparing for something big for war.

Sehmat is married to the Pakistani army family where she quickly gains the affection of all the family members. She starts innovating to get information about the meetings and secret documents her father in law has. During such intelligence gatherings missions, her cover is almost blown but is saved by her courage and quick thinking. There are many such instances where her intelligence and daring saved the mission.

The intelligence gathered and passed by her proves critical for India to win the war while Sehmat puts herself in grave danger while passing on the information. The information passed by her helps India to safeguard INS Vikrant India's sole aircraft carrier.

She is able to escape Pakistan in nick of time with the help of her Indian handlers and is given state honours on returning to India. But all the things she had to do to get and pass intelligence takes a toll on her and she slips into depression from which she later heals with help and recovers.

The book is a great spy novel and leaves you inspired by the men and woman of the intelligence community who work behind enemy lines and risk so much to serve their country, all the while knowing if they are ever caught the country will deny knowing them since a country cannot be embarrassed.

Book Details:
Title: Calling Sehmat
Author: Harinder Sikka
Genre: Spy Novel
Publisher: Penguin
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-10: 0143442309
ISBN-13: 978-0143442301
Amazon Flipkart
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

An Extraordinary Life: A Biography of Manohar Parrikar

An extraordinary book on the life of an extraordinary Indian This would be perhaps in my humble opinion the best single-line review of the book. Ever since Parrikar Ji became the defense minister of India with his simple living and a man known to get the job done, I have been intrigued by him. So when it came to choosing my next book I actively scouted for books on him and by far this book was the highest recommended. The moment you start reading the book you are struck by two things the objectivity of the authors and how well written the book is. On the objectivity part while reading the book it gives a 360-degree view of Mr. Parrikar and it gives the good and the bad about him in a completely subjective manner, without shying away from the shortcomings of the 4-time chief minister of Goa. On how well the book is written the authors have kept the language simple enough for the public to read while also using the appropriate words while required, which the reader may sometime need to l...
4 comments
Read more

my HANUMAN CHALISA

If there is one book that brings positivity and smile to millions of people its undoubtedly Hanuman Chalisa.  Composed by Shree Tulsidas four centuries ago in the Gangetic plains in avadhi language, it is composed of 43 chaupai and 3 dohas, it has an appeal across the economic strata and the length and breadth of the country. The author takes the reader through the chaupais of hanuman chalisa sequentially and explains the literal meanings of the chaupais and he also elaborates on the subtle and hidden meanings of the chaupais. The way Devdutt elaborates the chaupais it resembles the ancient Indian tradition of guru explaining the hidden meaning of chaupais, shlokas, etc. In the book Devdutt cites an example where through the rebirth cycles of life and death, Hanuman as a kid narrated the story of Ramayan to his mother Anjana about how they created the bridge and defeated Ravana she was not impressed and asked why he didn't just swing his tail and destroyed Lanka instead of ...
3 comments
Read more

The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy

They live well below their means This single line could summarise the entire book and the lifestyle of the majority of American millionaires. This book has been an international bestseller for the reason that it breaks several stereotypes about the millionaires which are generally propagated by the media. The message, generally shown by them is about the lavish lifestyle they live, be it their luxury automobile or their mansions, so on. The authors armed with the data which was collected for research in the profiles of American Millionaires prove that these millionaires constitute a small portion of the millionaires. Most of the millionaires actually live in the normal middle-class neighborhood and drive in average automobiles. The book explains very well the difference between wealth and having a high income. The authors mention what actually motivates most of the American Millionaires which is Financial Freedom. The millionaire told them that the journey to wealth is much more sa...
3 comments
Read more