Academic & other activities
School education in Jabalpur through MP Board of Secondary Education, Bhopal. Continued higher education and earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Government Engineering College Jabalpur (MP), in 1983. Later, also acquired an MBA (Executive) from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, in 2012.
Career
A passionate & patriotic individual, Colonel Hemant Saxena has served the Indian Army for over three decades. In the year 1984 his military career started after pre-commission training at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, after he was granted rank of Lieutenant 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 as persona non grata.
Received citations and commendations for his professional 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 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
Hemant Saxena is an Indian Army veteran and a soldier-scholar. A traveller on the quest is what best 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.
A strong admirer of Charles Bukovski and his advice to aspiring authors “So, you want to be a writer?” 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 aut
hor 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.