The war hero who urges youto Know Your ArmyGen Tej Kaul. The man with the illustrious real life story. A readymade hero for filmmakers, who usuallytake great pains to imagine and create one. In Kaul, they have found a man who has created a history byliving their story of dreams.

The man, Maj Gen TK Kaul, as a young army school pass-out, was incidentally commissioned in thelegendary Kumaon Regiment in 1968. For the background, he was born, brought up, and schooled at thecentre of Srinagar’s Kashmir valley. As if born to guard and serve his country, and take up hugeresponsibilities, his natural course was to get enrolled at Chennai’s Officers Training Academy.

If you don’t know much about the Kumaon Regiment, it has existed and has grown over two centuries. Itoriginated in the late 17th century and was the Nizam of Hyederabad’s contingent. Over eight generationsof valiant Indian Armymen have been part of it making it one of the most distinguished regiment. Severalbattles — Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, andSiachen — which went into history as the operations of great consequence, after independence, werefought valiantly by this regiment’s battalions.

The most remembered feat of this regiment is the one performed during the 1971 war against Pakistan, asthis war helped Bangladesh attain freedom. Later, operation BlueStar, ordered by the then prime minister,brought laurels to this regiment, including two Ashok Chakras. Yet another battle, the operation Pawan, isremembered as mark of Kumaon Regiment’s admirable performance.

Coming back to Gen Tej Kaul, he is among the rare servicemen, who have won an astonishing number ofaccolades during his 40 long years of career in the Indian Army. He is the Chennai Officers TrainingAcademy’s first such pass-out who has received the nation’s highest honor, the Param Vishisht SevaMedal. He also got the Ati Vishisht and Vishisht Seva Medals. Another proud achievement is aCommendation Card from the General Officer Commanding in Chief – Northern Command fordistinguished services of the most exceptional order. He was given the Saraswati Award by Kailash Math,Maharashtra in 2006 January, for social service.

Maj Gen TK Kaul has great faith in the mental excellence, physical strength, and character that isachieved by providing the right training and education. He proved his philosophy by assuming roles ofvarious degrees during his life.

Already a commissioned officer, he went on taking higher education even after finishing his education inthe prestigious National Defense College and then the Army War College. Later he also went to theDefense Services Staff College of Wellington.

His total qualification includes:

An MSc (Military Science and Management) from Madras University

An M Phil (Management and Military Science) from Indore University

And an MBA in Management

Besides strategy building, the most important training an army officer receives, his interests andknowledge maps vast subjects like business, science, and management. This wide knowledge, coupledwith extensive travel for management seminars across the world, made Maj Gen Tej Kaul an all roundpersonality. He represented India for years at several international delegations. Various forums all overIndia regularly invite him to address Human Resource seminars.

Gen Tej Kaul held the most coveted posts while he was a part of the armed forces. And those posts were:

Deputy Director General Military Intelligence – Foreign Division

Assistant Military Secretary

Instructor Military Intelligence Training

The Infantry Brigades of two states — Jammu & Kashmir and Mumbai Sub Area – have been under hiscommand for some time.

Forty years of service not just made him a tough military man, but Gen Tej Kaulcame to be known as aman respected for his sincerity and diligent work. His last official appointment was General OfficerCommanding – Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa. However, during operations, the area included Rajasthanand many Union Territories. When he was serving his last tenure, Maj Gen TK Kaul got to closelyinteract with the people of Mahrashtra. He was especially attached to Mumbai.

The tireless and tough military man of action, after retirement from the armed forces, began his secondinnings in the form of the innovative Know Your Army campaign. Media reports speak loudly andgloriously about the Know Your Army program. The aim was to offer civilians a peep into the armedforces’ lives. People go about their lives happily, oblivious to the tough situations that our soldiers arefacing day-in and day out while safeguarding the frontiers and territories of the nation from the enemy.

This program, conceptualized and brought to life by Maj Gen Tej Kaul, showcases through a displayexhibition, the Indian Army’s real might. This is done by putting on display all the assortment of weaponsystems Indian defense has, as well as the weapons captured from terrorists during various operations.Through this, the army expected to educate the youth and the common man by colorfully narrating themthe aspects of the army life and its strengths. The program sought to instill confidence into the people ofthe country by bridging the gap between the civilian and the army man.

The first show of this program was organized at Shivaji Park in Mumbai. It was an instant hit and wasthen organized at many other places across the state. Looking at the amazing response it was getting andthe enormous number of youths it was influencing, the Indian Army adopted it formally and held regularshows at Nagpur, Pune, and Nasik.

The Government of Maharashtra needed an experienced disaster strategist for the Maharashtra StateDisaster Management Advisory Board. Maj Gen Tej Kaul was a readymade disaster management expertit got to seek advice from. The government immediately took him on the advisory board. Later, he alsoheld the positions as the Director on Board of Su-Raj Diamonds & Jewellery Ltd and the OTC Exchangeof India (OTCEI). OTCEI, under his guidance, closely studied US’s NASDAQ market and brought inseveral novel ideas to the Indian capital markets.

At present, Gen Tej Kaul is the Chairman of Tricolour Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd, which has severalother services too. Among them too, he holds a position of the Managing Director of Tricolor Consultants

Pvt. Ltd, the Director of Tricolor Risk and Security Solutions Pvt. Ltd, and the Director of TricolorHospitality Pvt. Ltd.

The umbrella organization Tricolour Advisory Services, which carries the mark of national pride, theTricolor, in its name has been successfully placing and guiding candidates, especially ex-servicemen, intosuitable jobs and services across the industry. Its sister concern, the Tricolor Risk and Security Solutions,by virtue of its leader’s profound experience and expertise in the subject, has been successfully servingrenowned organizations, one of which is the well-known Sai Baba Sansthan of Shirdi.

The man remained busy all his life. He is still busy. But he never let his professional pursuits sideline hislove for philanthropy. His heart goes to the Indian Army that, he says, made him what he is today. It washis way of paying back to the army when he agreed to take the vice presidency of India Pakistan SoldiersInitiative for Peace (IPSI).

The already loaded Gen Tej Kaul has happily taken up the responsibility of becoming the trustee of SnehBandhan, an organization that has been constituted to help ex-servicemen and their families. At the sametime, he also has the energy to work hand in hand with Kashyap Social Foundation and Citizens Councilfor a Better Tomorrow.

Officially, he has retired, but by heart Maj Gen TK Kaul is still the soldier with the highest commitment.