Plan is to become 'modest storyteller': Former chief of Army Staff Gen Naravane after good response to debut novel

Pune: Former Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Naravane (retired) on Friday said his plan for the future was to become a "modest storyteller", his statement coming during an event here related to his book The Cantonment Conspiracy: A Military Thriller.

Speaking at a 'meet and greet' event at a heritage book shop, the retired general said The Cantonment Conspiracy was doing well "for a first time author who had no idea how to write".

"Writing this book has been an interesting journey. Transited from being a soldier to a storyteller, so I enjoyed writing it. Those who have a love for reading will enjoy it," he said.

The book, published in March last year, is about protagonists Rohit Verma and Renuka Khatri, both lieutenants fresh out of the National Defence Academy, trying to solve the mystery behind the murder of a witness in an assault case.

Naravane said he hoped the good response to The Cantonment Conspiracy will perhaps start a "series of Rohit and Renuka mystery books".

"That is my future plan, to become a modest storyteller," he said.

"I have been writing from time to time. Not only military reports but also for various academic journals of the Army. I had also written short stories. One was on the Kargil War but that time I was a Colonel. I could get back to writing when I retired but before that I finished my Ph.D," he said when queried about his passion for writing.

Incidentally, Naravane's unreleased memoir was at the centre of a massive political storm in February this year after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tried to cite excerpts from it in Parliament to allege that Prime Minister Narendra Modi shed responsibility during the India-China conflict in 2020 and passed the buck on to the general.