Darshan Khullar

Brigadier Darshan Khullar was born in Bassi Pathanan, Punjab in 1941 and educated at Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun (formerly the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College) and was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery of the Indian Army in December 1961. He has travelled widely within India and served in remote corners of the country. A soldier mountaineer, he was the leader of the Indian Everest Expedition in 1984 when the first Indian woman reached the summit. He commanded an artillery brigade in Srilanka as part of IPKF and briefly in Kashmir when the insurgency broke out. He took premature retirement from the Army in 1993. He is the recipient of Padma Shri, Arjuna awards and Ati Vashisht Sewa Medal. He is the author of four books; ‘The Call of Everest’, ‘A Mountain of Happines’s, ‘When Generals Failed’ and ‘Security, Peace and Honour’.