• You had no choice (but to be commissioned).

We grew up in cantonments and some of these cantonments were really frontier outposts. Today you go to Jhansi or Babina, it's different. Those days, Babina was a little village and the army remained in the cantonment there. I studied in a missionary school. We grew up on war stories (and movies) -- To Hell and Back, A Bridge Too Far, The Guns of Navarone, Bridge on the River Kwai.

• My children see them, and I'm sure their children will too.

At that time there wasn't much in the corporate world in India. I thought the army was the best career for me.

• Where were you in the 1965 war?

In Nagaland, countering terrorism.

• That was one time the Indian army fought when it was completely outnumbered.

They came with training and equipment from across the border and subjected us to fire. We had to make sure the very thick jungles on the Indo-Myanmar border were not used by them to sneak in. We were able to catch them in a camp. A whole lot of them surrendered in 1967, so that was a great success.

• In the last three years, you were matching wits with your batch-mate of sorts, Gen Musharraf. Tell us what your experience was like with him in Kashmir. How have you seen the picture evolve?

... contd.