During the Second World War, Field Marshall William Slim, commander of the 14th Army in Burma, discovered that the anopheles mosquito was causing more casualties to his men than the Japanese. Ruthlessly practical, he decreed that catching malaria was a disciplinary offence, punishable by imprisonment in a military prison.
'The Pangong Tso lake is frozen from September-October to February-March. The windchill factor is phenomenal. The night temperature goes to minus 40. The area is like a barren desert. You are out in the open with no trees or bushes to take cover.'
Did the human drama provoked by the Japanese invasion of Burma and the Indian exodus from Rangoon inspire director Vishal Bhardwaj's forthcoming epic?
'The origins of the model of planned economic development adopted by independent India was a direct consequence of the war.' 'The war provided an opportunity for groups at the margins of Indian society to find new avenues for mobility.' 'The war also led to the emergence of India as a major Asian power and set the stage for it to play a wider role in international politics.'
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