“Binding through books”

We were travelling and just got to read "Binding through books” (Parsiana, April 21, 2014) in which we found major errors.
Our intention is not to nit-pick, but given the stature of the late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, and the fact that we have a number of armed forces personnel in the community, the write-up about our presentation at the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress in Bombay in December 2013 carries inconsistencies.
It is stated that the book was launched on April 5, 2014 in Delhi, two days after Sam Bahadur’s birthday. This is a glaring error since the book was launched on his birthday, April 3, 2014, by the Army Chief. (The April 5 date pertains to the Delhi Parsi Anjuman launch – editors)
When Manekshaw was Army Chief, he offered to carry a parcel from Zenobia to me while I was on the front during the 1971 war. This has been incorrectly indicated as "a remote location.” The Army has a very efficient postal service that delivers mail (including parcels) to the remotest of locations, especially during wartime.
Manekshaw would walk away from the bacon and eggs available in the officers’ mess and go to the langar (community kitchen) to eat puri saag (vegetables and puris) with his jawans. In the write-up, the distinction between officers and jawans (by calling them ‘staff’) and between a mess and a langar has been lost. In Army parlance "staff” has a completely different connotation.
It was totally out of character for Manekshaw to publicize anything. He did not publicize, but he did mention that his wife and he went round with a begging bowl so that his soldiers and their wives wouldn’t have to. The Field Marshal’s distinct strength lay in his concern for the welfare of his jawans.
Brig BEHRAM and ZENOBIA PANTHAKI
Washington DC
behrampanthaki@hotmail.com

Parsiana regrets any inadvertent errors.