How much can a man do in the face of adversity? The book Did I really do all this? explores this eternal question of existence through the memoirs and personal experiences of Vijay Raman. The book was published in 2024. The book has been invited to seven prestigious Literature Festivals at Dehradun, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bhopal, and Trivandrum.

Vijay Raman was the son of a Second World War Veteran from Kerala, born on 18 January 1951. Raman was disturbed as a young man by the discrimination faced by the local farmers, and this led to his decision to pursue a career in law and justice. He enrolled in LLB and topped the exam, winning three Gold Medals. The book Did I really do all this? is a collection of memoirs published by Rupa Publications posthumously after Raman succumbed to cancer last year.

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In conversation with Veena, she informed, “My husband was one of the leading police officers in the country. He has performed in various aspects of policing. Here is actually a real-life hero you want to read about. You can read his first-hand accounts in this book, decimating Pan Singh Tomar and his gang in Chambal, which earned him the President’s Gallantry medal in 1981; hardly 29 years of age at that point in time.” During his three tenures in J&K, as I.G. BSF Srinagar, he spearheaded the encounter in which the dreaded terrorist Gazi Baba, the mastermind behind the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament, was annihilated.

The book contains 14 chapters, starting from Raman’s early childhood memories up to his retirement in 2011, when he retired from active service and settled in Pune. Every chapter of the book comes with a neatly boxed message as if an epiphany from the man himself. Sometimes, the message reads, “When adversity strikes, remain brave. Accept the circumstances, and continue to do your best.” The book is a testament of a time in India when modernity was still creeping in and parts of India knew what dacoits were.

Encounter with dacoit Pan Singh Tomar in Chambal ravines

“As the sun came up, the firing stopped. I gradually left my position, walked a few steps, and turned to the right. There lay a body, fallen to the ground, clearly with no sign of life. From the unusual height, I knew who it was.” This book historically records the duty of a police officer and how 1981 early morning saw the birth of a new man, Vijay Raman, in the midst of chaos in the Bhind district.  Raman describes in absolutely lucid language the whole endeavor of the shooting and the aftermath of the subjugation of the famous dacoit in his book. Veena stated, “He took every challenge thrown at him and turned them into opportunities.” Unlike other police officer biographies, this book does not just concentrate on certain aspects of crime or policing, “whereas with Vijay it was very different, he was dealing with everything that comes under policing, and crime you could say. Whether it was dacoits, it was murder, or a law and order situation,” commented Veena.

Around the world in 39 days

An excerpt from the book reads, “It took Navin Kapila a while to convince me, and he did so by explaining the conditions of the circumnavigation. First, we would have to cover a distance of 40,075 km, which was the length of the equator. We had to touch all five continents and drive a minimum distance of 2000 km on each one. Next, we could select our own route and our own starting point, and there would be no gun fired to send us off unless we fired it ourselves, as the time of starting would also be up to us.”

Raman made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for circumnavigating the globe in 39 days, 7 hours, and 55 minutes, starting from New Delhi and circling back to the capital in an Indian Contessa. This chapter of the book records a travel journal that is very rarely seen in humans. The adversities, adventures, and, most importantly, the sheer strength it takes to go around the whole world are marvelous. Veena shared, “At the immigration office, an Australian officer had bet 100 dollars to Vijay that they could not complete Australia coast to coast in time. Not only did they complete the route, but after winning the 100 dollars, the team bought gifts and gifted them to the immigration officer, asking him never to underestimate Indians and their unwavering spirit.”

Every chapter of this book brings out the image of a man steeped in his own ideology and, at the same time, who remained humble and introverted all his life. “He did not like the limelight,” added Veena. Protecting four prime ministers of India, one chief minister of Jammu Kashmir, and countless acts of bravery portrays a man who never backed away from his duty towards his nation. Steeped in his sense of morality, Vijay also helped children from the disturbed grounds of humanitarian conflicts, helped in subduing terrorist attacks on the country’s parliament, and even fenced off parts of Kashmir to stop infiltration by any means necessary.

It is through and through a journal of a man defying his humane limitations and striving for more than his duty asked him to do. Veena recollects, “After Vijay suddenly and very abruptly left us, I would not have survived had not this book been there. I have lived every moment and relived it through this book. I have always been proud of my husband, but this book stands as a record in history that man can do anything if he wants.” The last line of the book says, “I hope and pray I did not disappoint the lord.” Reading the book, the readers will feel similar emotions of catharsis for the man who stood for what he preached.