NEW DELHI: The silence in the world of secret intelligence and espionage fascinates former Navy officer and author Harinder S Sikka, whose new show ‘The Chabimaster’ is inspired by the life of a RAW agent and is rooted in real-life intelligence operations.
“Some of the most important stories of this nation are the ones that no one can ever hear… The true heroes of covert operations don’t stand in the spotlight. They work in silence. Sometimes even history doesn’t know their names. And that has never left me,” says Sikka, whose second book ‘Calling Sehmat’ was adapted into the blockbuster film ‘Raazi’ by Meghna Gulzar.
His saying “The Chabimaster” stemmed from one idea.
“Chabimaster is not just someone who opens locks. He opens minds, situations and destinies. At its core, this is the story of a very ordinary man whose entire goal is to see what others cannot open and unlock what others dare not touch,” Sikka told PTI.
“On one level it’s a spy thriller; RAW operations, covert missions, international networks, deception that runs through India, Pakistan, London and Istanbul,” he says of his book, published by Penguin Random House. “But if you strip it all away, what’s left is a deeply human story. This is the book I wanted to write.”
“Sika also poses a question I find myself returning to: What does it really mean to be a patriot? Is it power? Recognition? Or the desire to fade away to give everything and leave no trace?”
According to the author, the silence in the world of secret intelligence and espionage attracts him.
“In the armed forces, bravery has a face. You wear a uniform. You earn a medal. Your rank tells the world what you’ve done and who you are. There’s honor in that vision. And it’s deserved.”
He adds: “But intelligence officers live in a completely different world. Their victories are secret. Their sacrifices are not recognized. They cannot tell their families what they are doing, they cannot claim the risks they take, and they cannot even mourn publicly when they lose a colleague.”
“They live inside a lie, often for years, and when the mission succeeds, someone else gets the credit. When it fails, they disappear on their own,” he adds.
Sica says it is the psychology, the ability to work in complete secrecy, to serve with complete conviction and not ask for anything in return, that he finds exceptional.
“This is perhaps the purest form of patriotism of all,” he says. “No audience. No applause. Just duty. And beneath that silence, there is always a story. A true story. A human story. That’s what keeps drawing me back.”
When asked if he had a film adaptation in mind when he wrote The Chabimaster, Sika said that was not the primary intention.
“Because if you start thinking cinematically, you risk sacrificing the very thing that makes a story worth telling. Literature has depth and inner life, which no screenplay can fully carry. My first responsibility was to the story. To tell it honestly, to let it breathe,” he says.
But he is quick to say: “However, I imagine as I write. I always have. Maybe it’s the journey with Calling Sehmat, maybe it’s simply the way my imagination works, but the scenes take shape in my mind with texture and light and silence. So, yes, there is a natural cinematic quality to The Chabimaster.”
He says that if “The Chabimaster” resonates the way he hopes it does, he would like to see it adapted, as a film, or perhaps a longer series that honors the complexity of the narrative.
“But any adaptation worth doing must capture what no action sequence ever could, which is the invisible weight carried by the men and women who serve this nation from the shadows, in silence, without anyone ever seeing them. That’s the story. Everything else is background,” he says.
The book was launched last month by former Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi in Delhi where former Supreme Court judge Manmohan, director Boney Kapoor and former Indian cricket captain Kapil Dev among others were present.
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