A Sailing Ship, a Girl in Love, and the Setting Sun

Book excerpt: Caught in the terrifying blood bath of the partition of India, a young boy flees the city of Lahore on one of the last trains to newly independent India. One of the few passengers to reach Delhi alive, he struggles to begin a new life. An Indian Navy advertisement inspires him to join the Navy. Amongst his many postings are a deputation to the Nigerian Navy, where he is witness to the Nigerian military coups, and to Jamnagar in Gujarat during the Indo Pak war of 1971. A Sailing Ship, a Girl in Love, and the Setting Sun: A Memoir is written from his daughter Neena’s perspective who sketches his life in pre-partition Lahore, his narrow escape to Delhi, his life in the Navy, and his marriage to Chanchal Khosla. As Commander Shivraj Krishan Sarin’s grandson wonders what his aging grandfather must have been like in his youth, the years unfold, and we read a story of love, loss, and fortitude.