Academic & other activities
School education in Jabalpur through the MP Board of Secondary Education, Bhopal. Continued higher education and earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the Government Engineering College Jabalpur (MP), in 1983. Much later, also acquired MBA (Executive) from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, in 2012.
Career
A passionate & patriotic individual, Colonel Hemant Saxena served with Indian Army for over three decades. Post Pre-commission training from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, started military career as Lieutenant in 1984 in the Corps of Engineers. Served in a variety of appointments until April 1991 including Assistant Garrison Engineer in remote and rugged Spiti valley.
Streak of adventure lured him to test choppy waters of the MI (Military Intelligence) where he continued to serve in multiple roles mainly fighting the proxy war with our internal as well as external adversaries, at times persona non grata.
Received citations and commendations for his work and sailed smoothly to the rank of a Colonel. Finally, hung his combat boots in 2015 after superannuation.
The culmination of military service also marked the beginning of his second innings with one of India’s largest corporate houses; Reliance Retails Limited. Headed the Vigilance Management and Risk Mitigation vertical of the North Zone, till November 2020 that ignited more sparks of curiosity and new learnings happened.
The Author Journey
Colonel Hemant Saxena is an Indian Army veteran and a soldier-scholar. A traveller on the quest to become a published author with a collection of stories titled “Olive Diaries” is what best describes him.
His stories go beyond the stereotypical portrayal of military heroes and their lives, who remain largely unaware of the titles that we give them. They whine, whither and sulk when given unfair deals by life but quickly transform into well trained and completely motivated members of the Olive-Green fraternity when the situation so demands. Wearing patriotism on the sleeves does not come naturally to them but qualifying acts do. Having spent a large part of his life with the military persons in or out of army fatigue, Colonel Hemant is able to observe this transition at the cusp itself. It is this moment that he is attempting to bring alive for his readers to earn the title of an Author.
Colonel Saxena has a plethora of anecdotes to share with his readers that are a result of his time with MI, where he has gained a rare insight into the finer points of the world’s second-oldest profession. Admittedly, this has always remained wrapped in the mystery of a proverbial ‘cloak and dagger’. The author hopes to navigate his readers through the darkest alleys of this profession in his first book titled Olive Diaries which is a collection of seven sensitive stories.