Hills and Vales
By R Chandrashekhar | September 17, 2025
About the Book
Hills and Vales is a beautifully written collection of inspiring short stories and essays celebrating lesser-known places and unsung heroes. Carefully curated over three decades by Chandrashekhar, the book vividly brings to life landscapes and characters that make a deep connection with the reader’s mind and soul. The heartfelt narration makes it a compelling read for people of all ages, inspiring young and old alike.
Lt Gen VK Ahluwalia
PVSM, AVSM**, YSM, VSM (Retd)
Former Army Commander and the author’s longstanding guide and inspiration
Chandrashekhar, the author and my cousin, has been highly communicative and displayed a great sense of humour, even as a child. He was addicted to reading English books from an early age, so much so that when he joined college in Pune, he was already teaching English to many foreign students. He is gifted with a great narrative style and could come up with an appropriate anecdote in any conversation or group. No wonder that he has chosen now, after his retirement, to publish this collection of excellent real-life incidents in short story…
About the Author
R Chandrashekhar, former Member of the Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Service, is an alumnus of St Vincent’s High School, Fergusson College, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune and the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Post-superannuation from service, he has been Senior Fellow at the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies, New Delhi.
Rooks and Knights: Civil-Military Relations in India, the book authored by him, is regarded as a seminal work on the subject. He has also authored several articles, monographs and papers, especially on Higher Defence Organisation in India and has besides been Consulting Editor with the South Asia Defence and Strategic Review.
An Emeritus Resource Faculty at the Rashtriya Raksha University, Gandhinagar, he has been member on two government-appointed committees, particularly the Committee of Experts to recommend Measures to Enhance Combat Capability and Rebalance Defence Expenditure for the Armed Forces (Lt Gen DB Shekatkar Committee - 2016).
Though a resident of New Delhi for well over four decades, he considers himself to be essentially a ‘Punekar’ in heart and mind.
Praise for the Book
Ms Swati Singh, New Delhi
Sir, just finished reading your book. I am truly moved by the way you have woven together such a diverse tapestry of life stories—each one brimming with raw emotion and profound lessons. Your writing is so engaging that it was difficult to put the book down. The way you have turned personal encounters into universal truth is one of the high points of your writing.
I particularly loved how each story, whether uplifting or heart-wrenching, carried a meaningful takeaway, some profound life lessons. Reading the book felt like a journey through the human experience, and I must say that your ability to capture “ordinary occurrences” with such clarity and empathy is remarkable.
I especially loved the one liners like “The power of God is in the gentle breeze, not in the storm”, “idols may be fractured, not the Gods, or their divine grace”…..
I got goosebumps on page 24 when you mentioned about Leo gone missing….. I think this story will always stay with me.
Your talent for storytelling and your compassion for the people you’ve met, shines through every chapter. Your writing gives a sense of you having lived each…
