Hemant Saxena is an Indian Army veteran and a soldier-scholar. A traveller on the quest is what describes him best. 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 attempts to bring alive for his readers. If this process earns him the title of an Author then it is a win-win situation.

Colonel Saxena has a plethora of stories to share with his readers. These stories were picked up during 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 have navigated his readers through the darkest alleys of this profession in his first book titled ‘Olive Diaries’, a collection of eight sensitive slice of life stories.

He remains a strong admirer of Charles Bukovski and his advice to aspiring authors “So, you want to be a writer?” to the extent he follows it in letter and spirit.