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Where Destiny Commands: 1939-1945 A Time Of Love & War
Based on true events and discovered memoirs, Where Destiny Commands is a love story set against the flaming backdrop of World War II.…... It is 1940. Invoking the protection of the warrior goddess Kali, destroyer of evil, mother goddess of redemption, time and change, a young Indian doctor prepares to join the IMS in the British Indian Army. The war takes him from his home town of Calcutta (Kolkata) in India to the Middle East where global history is in the making, and the dispute over religious beliefs and the rights to homeland will change and divide the peoples of this world for decades to come. With his Battalion, The Prince of Wales’s Own 2/4 Gurkha Rifles, he advances through the ancient cities of Iraq, Syria and Persia (Iran) to Cairo, and the erupting deserts of North Africa. Serendipity plays its hand in Cairo, a tumultuous city of political intrigue and espionage seething with Allied forces from all around the world. There he meets a young woman who has fled the Armenian genocide in Turkey to find safe haven in Egypt. His capture, on a fateful day in June 1942, by Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps in the chaotic Battle of the Cauldron, cannot deter their destiny. Despite separation and the global turmoil surrounding them, the story of their love transcends the tragedies of war, the boundaries of far flung countries, and the barriers of time and fate.
567 pages, Paperback
First published May 18, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 5, 2018
It is hard to do this book justice in a short review. The sub-title ‘1939-1945: A Time of Love & War’ sets the scene and timing but provides no hint as to the considerable details and information included within this true tale of life and experience.
In this book the reader will be presented with vivid insights into various religious and social beliefs and customs; cultural understandings and acceptances; detailed accounts of World War Two (WWII) campaigns and battles; the human costs of war; the undying determination of true love; the fears of change; the loyalties of family; and much more.
The preface centres upon explanations of the goddess Kali that helps the understanding of those not of Indian extraction. This is followed by a prologue detailing much about the roots and participants leading up to WWII. Thereafter, the primary protagonist’s (Santi Pada Dutt) tale commences. Though this is a time when India was seeking to free itself from British control the imminent aspect of impending war caused many to refocus. Yes, they still wished to throw off the British yoke but most realised this would have to be postponed so as to deal with the evil ambitions of those who sought to subjugate them. To this end Santi Dutt, a doctor by profession, enlisted.
The primary setting for this tale is the Middle East and the North African desert warfare campaign which saw mixed results until the British forces were ultimately victorious. There are incredibly detailed accounts of the campaigns, battles, skirmishes and tactics and of those who participated. The historic detail really is quite something and there is little doubt the book could be used, by those interested, as a reference work. Accepted, this may not appeal to all readers however, the author’s style makes it very readable. It is also the realistic, brutal background to the tale of love and perseverance which helps the reader understand the uniqueness of the romance playing out in such a scenario.
The historic detail is not limited to WWII. The histories of individuals, families, cities and cultures are intermixed with those pertaining to the war. These include the horrors and tragedies of war both personal and communal. The ‘human costs’ are more than communicated and may well bring a tear to the reader’s eye. The author also uniquely conveys the emotions, fears and conflicts of all participants whether it be in the scenarios of war, society, family or love. The love story in itself is captivating.
The tale also moves smoothly and effectively between scenarios: from Santi’s war experiences to Hedeya’s (Santi’s love) home where the reader receives not only information about her family but also about her own cultural practices and beliefs. Readers are also treated to dietary insights, many based upon the unique seasonal food grown within the regions.
Though a longer than average book (at least for these days at 567 pages) it is very readable and one most readers will wish to revisit. There is so much contained within the pages that one read is not really adequate to take it all in though, due to the author’s excellent writing style, it is by no means an arduous read. All characters (not just the protagonists), locations, scenes and actions are conveyed in a manner that enables the reader to clearly visualise them without difficulty.
A considerable amount of research must have gone into this book for which the author is to be commended. She has certainly conveyed all information in a very presentable and understandable manner; no need for anyone to have a degree in wartime history. The contents of her families papers (the author is the daughter of the protagonists) are also presented in a meaningful manner which tie into the tale very well. The supporting photographs, especially those from the family archive, also add another valuable dimension for the reader.
So much more could be said but rather than make this review excessively long readers are recommended to obtain the book for themselves.
This is truly a literary work that adds to the world’s treasure-trove of such.
Five (5) (+) (+) stars. - The usual five star rating offered by most book related sites is considered inadequate to reflect the quality of this book.
In this book the reader will be presented with vivid insights into various religious and social beliefs and customs; cultural understandings and acceptances; detailed accounts of World War Two (WWII) campaigns and battles; the human costs of war; the undying determination of true love; the fears of change; the loyalties of family; and much more.
The preface centres upon explanations of the goddess Kali that helps the understanding of those not of Indian extraction. This is followed by a prologue detailing much about the roots and participants leading up to WWII. Thereafter, the primary protagonist’s (Santi Pada Dutt) tale commences. Though this is a time when India was seeking to free itself from British control the imminent aspect of impending war caused many to refocus. Yes, they still wished to throw off the British yoke but most realised this would have to be postponed so as to deal with the evil ambitions of those who sought to subjugate them. To this end Santi Dutt, a doctor by profession, enlisted.
The primary setting for this tale is the Middle East and the North African desert warfare campaign which saw mixed results until the British forces were ultimately victorious. There are incredibly detailed accounts of the campaigns, battles, skirmishes and tactics and of those who participated. The historic detail really is quite something and there is little doubt the book could be used, by those interested, as a reference work. Accepted, this may not appeal to all readers however, the author’s style makes it very readable. It is also the realistic, brutal background to the tale of love and perseverance which helps the reader understand the uniqueness of the romance playing out in such a scenario.
The historic detail is not limited to WWII. The histories of individuals, families, cities and cultures are intermixed with those pertaining to the war. These include the horrors and tragedies of war both personal and communal. The ‘human costs’ are more than communicated and may well bring a tear to the reader’s eye. The author also uniquely conveys the emotions, fears and conflicts of all participants whether it be in the scenarios of war, society, family or love. The love story in itself is captivating.
The tale also moves smoothly and effectively between scenarios: from Santi’s war experiences to Hedeya’s (Santi’s love) home where the reader receives not only information about her family but also about her own cultural practices and beliefs. Readers are also treated to dietary insights, many based upon the unique seasonal food grown within the regions.
Though a longer than average book (at least for these days at 567 pages) it is very readable and one most readers will wish to revisit. There is so much contained within the pages that one read is not really adequate to take it all in though, due to the author’s excellent writing style, it is by no means an arduous read. All characters (not just the protagonists), locations, scenes and actions are conveyed in a manner that enables the reader to clearly visualise them without difficulty.
A considerable amount of research must have gone into this book for which the author is to be commended. She has certainly conveyed all information in a very presentable and understandable manner; no need for anyone to have a degree in wartime history. The contents of her families papers (the author is the daughter of the protagonists) are also presented in a meaningful manner which tie into the tale very well. The supporting photographs, especially those from the family archive, also add another valuable dimension for the reader.
So much more could be said but rather than make this review excessively long readers are recommended to obtain the book for themselves.
This is truly a literary work that adds to the world’s treasure-trove of such.
Five (5) (+) (+) stars. - The usual five star rating offered by most book related sites is considered inadequate to reflect the quality of this book.
November 2, 2025
From a love story spanning Egypt and India complicated by World War II battles, readers will discover a romantic and erudite memoir in Leila Sen’s Where Destiny Commands. Sen’s story begins with the scattering of her parents ashes in ceremonies around the world a year after the new millennium to her father’s ambitions as a young surgeon named Santi Dutt determined to “play his part” as a doctor enlisted in the 4th Prince of Wales’s Own Gurkha Rifles unit during World War II. While serving on the frontlines of battle in Iraq treating the wounded and soon to be deployed to a military post in Egypt, Santi meets a nurse who asks him to contact her relative, a young Armenian refugee, now living in Cairo. Keeping his promise to deliver this message leads to a once in a lifetime meeting with Hedeya, an attractive single mother with three children, making ends meet as a school teacher and seamstress, and rebuffing the attention of suitors while caring for her elderly widowed mother and children. Santi and Hedeya’s attraction is instant, but the whirlwind romance against the backdrop of desert sands and pyramids, is interrupted by his call to duty treating the wounded in the Battle of the Cauldron, one of the deadliest battles between the English and Germans. With echoes of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient and Abraham Verghese’s Covenant of Water, Sen shifts from the passion of star-crossed lovers to the senseless loss of lives during war. In unflinching detail, the author describes the carnage in the makeshift medical tents in the desert between battles, where Santi and his Gurkha aides are inundated with casualties arriving at the camp and the young doctor must make snap decisions of life and death and whether to operate or medicate with dwindling medical supplies. Between descriptions of gory wounds and medical triage, Sen weaves in vignettes with flickers of magical realism as Santi’s parents and large family of siblings in Calcutta and Hedeya in Cairo seek the advice of fortune tellers and deities that bring good omens when Santi goes missing in action. A baby survives a miraculous fall, an egg buried by the train tracks contains objects that promise the return of errant lovers, and Santi escapes lethal cannon fire by a hair’s breadth. When Santi is captured as a prisoner of war by the Italians, Sen uses historic records and her father’s letters and recollections to piece together the interminable wait for freedom when he can return to Cairo to ask for Hedeya’s hand in marriage. The reader is along for the epic resolution of this romantic story as the protagonists in this drama are reliable observers of rarely reported World War scenes such as ship battles offshore of India to gold literally raining down on the shores of India from the wreckage as the Japanese attack British warships off of Burma to pre and post colonial rule of India. The love story of Santi and Hedeya comes to fruition in the midst of sectarian violence in India even after V-Day is celebrated across Europe. Leila’s birth in India and Santi’s decoration as a war hero will bring this story to a happy conclusion but Sen’s tribute to her parents transcends the fairytale to considerations about the futility of war and a profound contemplation of the roles of fate and destiny as animate forces influencing the lives of innocent people for generations to come.
August 2, 2018
Authentic and immensely entertaining. The researched detail is amazing, the characters are three-dimensional, and the story, grand in scope and scale, carries the reader back to a time in history of world-wide war. In the midst of it all, the chance meeting of two people from very different worlds, and their evolving love story stand at the core of the book. Beautifully written, and an excellent read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews