On 10 June 1989 I put on this uniform in my father’s footsteps, the late Lt Col P.R. Vishwasrao. On 31 October 2026 I took it off. Thirty-seven years.
People keep asking, “What will you do after you retire?” My brief answer: I will re-attire to help build Viksit Bharat 2047.
Maa Bharati has let me serve Her for 37 years, and I cannot leave this field without saying thank you. So here goes. Please forgive the length. A lot of people have helped me play my small part, like the squirrel in the Ramayana, in securing Bharat (India).
My teams and I neutralised terrorists in Kashmir and Assam-Manipur, and learnt that peace is won with people, not only against enemies.
In 1998–99, all 800 soldiers of 11 Rajputana Rifles came home from the Siachen Glacier, the first team in fifteen years to do so. I spent 144 days up there, which were my only no-shave days in 37 years.
We won peace in Lolab in North Kashmir, in Assam-Manipur and in Kashmir. We set the stage for the Central and Delhi governments to revive Maa Yamuna. NCC Delhi won the Prime Minister’s Runners-Up Trophy in January 2025. We held the first Kangundi Bouldering Festival (January 2026), and we have begun our seva for Maa Godavari.
Along the way, we found words that ordinary people could carry. “Lage Raho 18 Rashtriya Rifles” in Lolab. “All Tribes, One India” in Assam-Manipur. #PakistanLiesDeceitDeception from Islamabad. #TirangaAtLalChowk and #WeAreAllMaqboolSherwani in Kashmir. “Once a Cadet, Always a Cadet” and #NCC4Yamuna in Delhi. “I Love Kangundi” in Andhra Pradesh, and now #SevaHiSnan and #WeAreAllPushkara along the 1,465 km of Maa Godavari River. We also wrote, composed and produced ten songs and a jingle: for peace in Assam-Manipur and Kashmir, for Maa Yamuna, and for Kangundi—Bharat’s newest bouldering and rock-climbing destination.
I did none of this alone. I did almost none of it myself.
To the One above. To God, for bringing me through the moments that took others. Friendly fire in one of my first encounters with terrorists. An avalanche on the Siachen Glacier that buried 18 of us, and all of us are alive today. The race to the Line of Control that took Captain Haneef, Naib Subedar Mangej and Rifleman Parvesh. Terrorists ambushed my vehicle not knowing I was not in it. We neutralised them eight days later. Not nine. Signalman A. Chinnapalle, my radio-set operator, fell to a terrorist bullet a few inches from me. I do not know why I was spared. I know I am grateful. The suicide attack on Bravo Company of my parent unit 11 Rajputana Rifles, at Rajouri on 11 August 2022, I know, was a message for me. I take such messages from the One above and my Guru only.
To my Gurus. To Mahavatar Babaji, whose grace, I suspect, has been flowing for many lifetimes. To Guruji Naushir, who gave me a second career of seva before my first one had ended.
To my family. To my father, the late Lt Col P.R. Vishwasrao, who attending both my passing-out parades and pipped the Colonel’s rank on me when I was given the Holy Charge of 18 RR in Lolab in 2006. I hope I have done him proud. To my mother, Smt Seema Vishwasrao, for her love, patience and blessings. To my sisters, Sonali and Bindiya, who love me only as their brother, stars or no stars. They are with me today to celebrate my transition. To my in-laws, the Mohite family, for helping Sanjeevani bring up Shaurav and Dhruv while I served. To the extended Vishwasrao-Mohite-Thorat family, who cheered every promotion and asked every time, “What is your next mission?”
To Sanjeevani: my better half, financial manager, personal secretary, sounding board, and ‘single’ parent to Shaurav and Dhruv. She helped host over 3,000 guests at 5 Gupkar Road in Srinagar, and poured tea for over a thousand cadets at Cadet House in Delhi. To Shaurav and Dhruv, who grew up with a father who was either away or on the smartphone or laptop, and still turned out kind. Dhruv even took my author photo for Lage Raho Leadership. I owe you all more than a blog.
To the heroes who are not here. Captain Haneef Uddin, Captain Harshan. R. Nair, Naib Subedar Mangej, Naik Chandrapal, Naik Nawab, Rifleman Parvesh, Signalman A. Chinnapalle and many more gave their lives under my command, in 11 Rajputana Rifles, 18 Rashtriya Rifles and 22 Sector Assam Rifles. Forty days after Haneef and Parvesh fell, a few of us went to bring them back from under Pakistani noses in Turtuk, Ladakh. I carry your names every day.
To those who walked with me and have moved on. I pay homage to the citizens and soldiers who worked for peace with me and have gone forward on their soul’s journey: Moushimi of Haflong Lake; Asad and Doungel of the Haflong Highlanders; the journalist Shujaat Bukhari of Srinagar; Lt Col Aditya, company commander of Lal Chowk, Srinagar; the veterans of 11 Rajputana Rifles; and course-mates from the 74th course of the National Defence Academy and the 84th course of the Indian Military Academy. Your faces are in my photographs, and your voices are in my memory.
To our Army’s doctors and nurses. To every Army doctor, nurse and nursing assistant, from the Siachen Glacier to Srinagar, and especially the team of 92 Base Hospital, Srinagar. You saved soldiers who were injured under my watch. You stitched, splinted and scolded in equal measure, and never once said “I told you so.”
To the helicopter pilots. A loud call-out to you for saving so many of my soldiers while risking yourselves. Special thanks to the unknown pilots of December 1998 who evacuated Lance Naik Ajaivir, paralysed by a brain tumour on Darshak Complex at 19,100 feet.
To the citizens. The people of Lolab, Dima Hasao, Cachar, Jiribam and Kashmir did the hard part. Tribal elders said no to extortion and inter-tribal clashes. Kashmiris themselves raised the Tricolours at Haer (Hari) Parbat on 15 August 2021 and at Lal Chowk on 26 January 2022. We only stood behind you.
To my seniors, who dared to dream big with me. Lt Gen P.S. Chaudhary, for a thousand repetitions of the bayonet drill, “ek-aani-ghoop, shuru kar”. Maj Gen R.P.S. Bhaduria, my divisional officer at the NDA and later my mentor among Delhi’s think tanks. Colonel Pankaj Nath, my first company commander, who taught me tactics and battle drills in Sri Lanka. Colonel Raj Singh, who trusted me as his adjutant. Colonel Anil Bhatia, who believed in “All back home alive from Siachen.” Lt Gen Deepak Summanwar, who asked me in 2006 to volunteer for 18 Rashtriya Rifles. Lt Gen K.T. Parnaik (now Governor of Arunachal Pradesh), who let me argue for a patch of land in 2012—Chhatabal Military Farm—that became the fountainhead of the Tricolour Revolution ten years later as the Chattabal Military Art & Sports Centre. Lt Gen Ata Hasnain (now Governor of Bihar), who brought me into the Chinar Corps’ fight for hearts and minds, and introduced me to The Tipping Point and political Islam. Lt Gen Rajinder Singh, who picked me as his Colonel Military Secretary and who prepared me for Pakistan. Lt Gen A.L. Chavan, who gave me From Dictatorship to Democracy to read. Lt Gen V.G. Khandare, who posted me to win peace in Assam-Manipur, believed my analysis from Pakistan, helped me reach Srinagar for Tricolour Revolution, and backed our cadets’ podcast, Voice of Red Hackle. Ambassadors Gautam Bambawale and Ajay Bisaria, for lessons in diplomacy. The late General Bipin Rawat, from 2012 to 2021, believed in and actively supported my idea that Tricolours and toffees could win what bullets could not. Lt Gen B.S. Raju, who approved Red to Blue—people-friendly convoys and ethos in Kashmir. Lt Gen D.P. Pandey, who stood with us from Haer (Hari) Parbat to Lal Chowk to Kachri Mohalla—Dal’s first floating hamlet. I asked for your help, and you gave me your belief.
To Delhi’s principals and their professors and teachers who doubled as Associate NCC Officers. You made “NCC ne thaan liya hai, swachh karenge Yamuna” your own.
To NCC Delhi’s cadets. You gave me a family of 36,000. You taught me that a podcast can be a studio, that a studio can be a movement, that NCC Bhawan is your home, and that a general in a crew cut is harder to forget than one giving a speech. Once a Cadet, Always a Cadet.
To my colleagues in uniform, thank you for every tough day shared, and for making my visions your own, and then making them happen. Special thanks to Colonel Rajeev Raina (Veteran) and Smt Ranjna Raina for believing me when I said that Kashmiri Hindus will return to the Valley and reverse their seventh exodus.
To my colleagues out of uniform; Sujoy Langthasa, Nandita Gorlosa, Limi Nampui, Sushant Sareen, Aditya Raj Kaul, Veteran Rashid War, Ashok Behuria, Farooq Renzu Shah, Javed Beigh, Sajid Yousuf, Altaf Ganderbali, Tajamul, Sahil Bhat, Shaheena Bhat, Aaqib Renzu Shah, Farhana Bhat, Nasir Ali, Saba Sheikh, Jamal Badgami, Anika Nazir, Emaad Makhdoomi, Raja Muneeb, Wajahat Bhat, Kamran, Junaid Sadaat, Shahid, Maqbool Ronu, Mansha Bashir, Gulzar Ganie, and Irfan and Bilal. I am sorry for the names I have missed. The list is too long. You stood beside the Tricolour when it was not easy. Thank you, Munirathnam Garu, Padmanabhan Garu and Sarpanch Dhanasekhar Garu for accepting our seva in Kangundi. And now, thank you, people of Maa Godavari for embracing Mahavatar Babaji TadEkam Foundation’s #SevaHiSnan and #WeAreAllPushkara Strategy.
To the fauji wives of my seniors and colleagues, thank you for your quiet sacrifices, unflinching support, food demanded at untimely hours, and so much more.
To my buddies and drivers, Jeevan Ram, Sukhdarshan, Mandeep, Bidhyadhan Thaosen, Irshad, Wapang Ao, Rajesh and Vineet. Thank you for caring for me and driving me through snow, traffic and my “just one more job.” You always seemed to know where I was going before I did.
To the sevaks of the Mahavatar Babaji TadEkam Foundation, who turned a quiet village into a climbing destination and are now walking the length of the Maa Godavari with me. Seva is better with laughter.
What next. From 1 November 2026, I will write, starting with the second edition of Lage Raho Leadership (2015), my Pakistan manuscript (2019) and the story of bloodless peace in Kashmir through the Tricolour at Lal Chowk. I will speak where I can be useful, and offer counsel to any institution facing a problem it has already tried to fix. I will also be visible on social media. And I will keep doing seva in Kangundi and along Maa Godavari. If any of this can help your university, school, company, think tank, trust or channel, I would be glad to hear from you at MajGenVishwasrao.com/ majgenvishwasrao@gmail.com.
On 31 October 2026 my uniform came off, but the seva bhaav, like the discipline, remains. My first seva after re-attiring is for Sanjeevani; she had to travel fourteen years of this journey alone in Pune, while I served Maa Bharati, from Ladakh, Kashmir to Assam and Pakistan.
I have not retired.
Website: MajGenVishwasrao.com
Email: majgenvishwasrao@gmail.com
LinkedIn: @sanjayvishwasrao (Major General, Veteran)
Instagram: @sanjay.p.vishwasrao
Facebook: @SanjayVishwasrao
YouTube: @majorgeneralvishwasrao a
