Born into an army family—more precisely 2 RAJPUT, which was his father’s battalion—the author’s early childhood was tempered by the fact that most soldiers were then posted in field areas away from home. Brought up under the watchful eye of a remarkable mother, after his initial schooling at St Joseph’s Academy and a year at Fort Benning in the United States, he was sent to the Doon School, an institution that would shape his entire outlook towards life. After graduating from Madras Christian College in Tambaram, his initial years were spent working with Tiger Tops Mountain Travel in Ladakh and Nepal.

Subsequently, a journalist, a filmmaker, and a writer, he has worked briefly with India Today, the Associated Press, and Sanctuary Films before he teamed up with his associate Dipti Bhalla and formed KaleidoIndia, under whose banner some classic films like Salt of the Earth and Standard Bearers were shot and produced. In 1999, he filmed the Kargil War and, in the last decade and a half, has authored some exceptional books that include the Northeast Trilogy, 1962: The War That Wasn’t, and 1965: A Western Sunrise. He is now working on the seminal Value Education Program for schools that aims at bringing India to Indians especially at the school and college levels.