What is the role of spirituality in your work?
I would say it is about a number of values and an attitude I have always displayed. As Chief of Army Staff, I tried to emphasize the human dimension, bringing a greater focus on the respect of human rights. The days are gone when the sword was predominant, and even though terrorism must obviously be fought with an iron fist, the soldiers and their leaders must have a human dimension. Of course collateral damage cannot be zero. But the philosophy and the principles must be right. If you drop a bomb on a village to kill two terrorists who have moved away in any case, and instead kill twenty innocents, you create twenty families of sworn enemies. And what is the responsibility of those women and children? This attitude has proven successful as violent incidents in Kashmir and Assam have gone down in the last three years. Surrender of terrorists, peace talks and other signs of improvement have also multiplied.
My concept of spirituality and approach to life have also manifested in my leadership style. As the Army Chief, I felt like a father of 1.2 million soldiers and really did my utmost best to ensure an even level playing field between soldiers, and remove injustice as much as possible. I would also encourage them to think and shy away from yes-men attitudes, which enabled them to blossom and grow. I would often scold them and ask if they are keeping their brain for their next life!
To be a winner ---and there is no such thing in the army or at war as being number two--- one needs to constantly innovate, be original, do the unexpected. One inspiration on that topic came from spending time on the Normandy coast, on the beaches where the Allies landed in 1944 to defeat Germany. I noticed that the best beaches for landing were the largest graveyards of soldiers, because the enemy obviously knew the Allies would land there. On the other hand, the most challenging ones saw very little casualties as nobody expected an assault there. So a general who went the easy way, with no element of surprise and chose a place which in the end meant larger casualties, is for me a poor general. I would never accept a plan if there was no element of surprise, which meant harder work, but never an impossibility.

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