Born Without Backup
Stories of Soul, Struggle & the Uncelebrated Spine of India

You’ve heard the loud names. This book is about the ones history forgot.

A 12-year-old boy who refused to ferry British soldiers across a river. A tribal woman who fought with no flag in her hand, only a forest behind her. A teacher disguised as a sadhu. A priest who turned pilgrimages into revolution. A poet with a gun hidden under his bed.

They had no leaders, no cameras, no organisations, and no guarantee that anyone would ever remember them. Most of them were poor. Many were tribal. Many were women. Many were barely out of childhood. They fought anyway.

Born Without Backup brings together more than 80 untold stories of India’s unsung freedom fighters, from the hills of the North-East to the snow-bound valleys of Ladakh, from the forests of the Eastern Ghats to the shores of Goa, Puducherry and the islands. Some stories you may half-know. Most you were never taught.