Shaping Destiny

Book excerpt: Major Kanwal Sethi was a prominent character in the early days of independent Kenya’s military story—but his personal story is more fascinating still. Here he regales readers with tales of his life, from its beginnings as an ambitious young man who learned early on about the importance of honour, hard work and selflessness. Shaping Destiny tells Sethi’s story, from the migration of his Indian family to colonial Kenya, where he witnessed his new homeland’s nascent evolution. In this environment, Sethi launches himself on a military path that’s colourful, dramatic, and often grippingly turbulent. In Shaping Destiny, readers get intimate access to Sethi’s adventures as a distinguished and decorated career soldier—a nontraditional choice for an Indian. More than that, they get access to the ups and downs of an emerging country and continent during a period in world history that saw a great number of former colonies break free and establish themselves in a newly independent era. The resulting storytelling is excellent; peppered with tumult, courage, resilience and the conviction of a man of his word. Here is a soldier through and through, from his enlistment in the King’s African Rifles of the British Army in 1962, through his esteemed officer training at Sandhurst and Camberley in the UK, and his time served with the newly formed Kenya Army. Throughout, this remarkable man—who lifted his life from truly humble beginnings in rural Africa to a reinvention as a businessman in Canada, the country to which he retired at the end of his army career—offers extraordinary adventure, encounters with captivating characters, and the opportunity for authentic enlightenment.