A New Chapter

It's a visit to Chandigarh that's brought back a flood of memories for the man who likes to call himself the Indian Army's 'Barefoot Counsellor',perhaps the first in military uniform.

Written by Jagmeeta Thind Joy

May 29, 2009 03:14 AM IST

3 min read

It’s a visit to Chandigarh that’s brought back a flood of memories for the man who likes to call himself the Indian Army’s ‘Barefoot Counsellor’,perhaps the first in military uniform. The last time he was here,Lt Col (Dr) Samir Rawat was letting go of his wheelchair,one he had been confined to for nearly five months at the Command Hospital,Chandimandir. While Kargil had left him with a serious knee injury thus putting an end to his soldiering career,it could do little to weaken his die-hard fauji spirit. In fact,it was while recuperating at the hospital that the officer sought out reason and meaning to his survival. “As a colleague pointed out,it could have been worse. Had the injury been a few metres up,I would have ended in a body bag,” Col Rawat states matter of fact.

Taking on a new course of life,while still in uniform,the former tank trooper took to studying psychology and acquiring a global certification in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP),transactional analysis advanced hypnotherapy,wellness and health management rehabilitation,psychological assessment and testing. Today,he’s posted as a psychologist in a premier category (A) cadet training institution of the Indian Army where besides training,counselling and mentoring,he conducts classes on leadership,moderation,stress management,resilience building,gender sensitivity for instructors and personnel below officer rank of the entire Indian Army who come to the institute. In fact,Col Rawat has also been applying his “eclectic approach” in counselling soldiers,including war-disabled soldiers and their families.

“Joining the army for me was a passionate decision and I wanted to continue to give back to the forces,” shares the officer who interestingly is also working towards addressing and reducing stress in serving armed forces personnel. “There’s a lot that the man in OG goes through resulting in high stress levels. Having been on their side before,my aim is to help them tackle the situation and deal with their worked up state of mind,” explains the officer who completed his Ph.D in psychology on what he calls,”a very relevant and extremely important” topic – ‘Stress,coping and some related factors amongst serving combat veterans’.

“I am now integrating my military experience including the exposure to combat with the learning acquired academically in a book that aims to encapsulate various facets of leadership in a highly demanding and enduring military environment,” informs the officer who will time the release of the book with the Kargil war anniversary. “It’s been a decade and I feel there is a growing need to enhance and increase coping strategies,both internally and externally. It’s imperative to ensure not just physical toughness but more psychological resilience as well and cater for human dimensions of combat,without which latest technology or tactical and strategic doctrines may all be irrelevant,” opines Col Rawat whose next stopover is the Army War College in Mhow where he will steer a talk on stress management addressing senior officers on a command course.

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