Sam Manekshaw - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Manekshaw was born in Punjab, Punjab to Parsi parents, Hormusji Manekshaw, a doctor, and his wife Heerabai, who moved to the Punjab from the small town of Valsad on the Gujarat coast. After completing his schooling in Punjab and Sherwood College (Nainital), with distinction in the School Certificate examination of the Cambridge Board, he asked his father to send him to London to study medicine. When his father refused to send him till he was older, in an act of rebellion Manekshaw appeared for and qualified in the entrance examination for enrolment into the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun and as a result became part of the first intake of 40 cadets on 1 October 1932. He graduated from the IMA on 4 February 1934 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the IMA.

Manekshaw recalled at a function on 8 June 1969 on the centenary of Sherwood College after taking over as COAS, that his years at the College had prepared him for war in World War II as he had learnt here to live alone and independently, to fight without relent, tolerate hunger for long periods and to hate his enemy.