Ayo Gorkhali! The Gurkhas are upon you! is the battle cry of one of the worlds most famous fighting forces. Yet the Gurkha story is not only about bravery in combat. It is also a story of tragedy. In WWI alone, 200,000 Gurkhas out of Nepals five million people took up arms for the British cause. A further 250,000 Gurkhas fought alongside the British in WWII. In their 200-year history, the Gurkhas have served in places such as Malaya, Singapore, Borneo, East Timor, Hong Kong, Cyprus, the Falklands, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. Although the British Empires reign in Asia has ended, some 3,500 Gurkhas are currently serving in the British Army in the UK.
Tim I. Gurung joined the British Gurkhas at the age of 17, as his grandfathers and uncles had before him. He served for 13 years and retired as an army corporal. He then became a businessman in Hong Kong before making a life-changing decision to become a full-time writer on his 50th birthday. To research this book, he spent the best part of two years travelling through Nepal, Britain, Myanmar, Malaysia and Singapore.
Very few Gurkhas have written and published their stories in the form of books. And less than a handful have done so in the English language. The scant stories written by retired Gurkha soldiers are generally in the Nepali language and have seldom reached a global audience. I cannot emphasize the importance of such writings enough. They help break the stereotype built by western authors who oftentimes present a skewed image of the Gurkhas by glamourizing and valourizing their bravery, martial prowess, and loyalty. Western authors seldom pick up on or highlight the harrowing experiences faced by the Gurkhas both on and off the battlefield. Ayo Gorkhali disrupts this one-sided narrative by offering a more comprehensive and multidimensional view of the recruitment, pre- and post-recruitment, and post-retirement facets of Gurkha life. The author has done extensive fieldwork within Nepal and beyond, and talked to over a hundred veteran Gurkhas in order to bring forth many of their unheard stories. The Record, Nepal
"Gurung describes the Gurkhas as having historically been "simple and straightforward people", with a degree of loyalty that allowed little to no scope for their own agency. He hopes the book will help people, especially Nepalis themselves, better comprehend more than two centuries of the Gurkha experience. "The impact it had on our people, community and the country was huge, and people need to understand that," he says." Straits Times, Singapore
Ayo Gorkhali takes us on a journey of the Gurkhas, starting with their induction into the British Indian Army. Impressed by their bravery in the Anglo-Nepal War, the British decided to recruit soldiers from Nepal, and the 1st Gurkha Rifles was raised in 1815. This was the beginning of a 200-year-old legacy that survives till today.
As an officer who has worn the Gurkha badge for 40 years, I can relate to the passion and sentiment of Tim Gurung and his attempt in the book to go beyond the stories of valour and fighting skills of the Gurkhas. He has, therefore, covered a whole range of issues like Gurkha women, Gurkhas in literature, recruitment policy, etc. The Tribune, India
