The 24th Mile: An Indian Doctor's Heroism in War-torn Burma

Written by Tehmton S. Mistry

Narrated by Suyash Mohan

'A story of heroism, grit and courage and most eminently readable: since it is also filled with humour and fun.' Fali S. Nariman

Dr Jehangir Anklesaria has come up the hard way. Having graduated from medical college in Bombay in 1914, he launches his medical career in Rangoon. Life is good until December 1941, when the Burmese city is bombed by the Japanese, and everything changes overnight.

Duty-bound, he decides to stay back and join the war effort, working tirelessly to quell a cholera epidemic. Under relentless attack, the army falls back towards the Indian border, where Jehangir suffers an ambush, losing all he has to rogues at gunpoint. Now he is just one of thousands crawling their way up and down the 5,000-foot-high, jungle-clad mountains of Assam, his body ravaged by malaria, dysentery, blood-sucking leeches and starvation.

In The 24th Mile, Tehmton S. Mistry, part of the next generation of Jehangir's larger family, evocatively recreates the story of his grit and heroism in his death-defying journey to safety.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins India
• Release date: Jan 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9789354223334

Tehmton S. Mistry

Born and raised in Mumbai, Tehmton S. Mistry met his wife in St. Xavier's College. Her uncle, Dr Jehangir Anklesaria, was integral to the couple's early years. They moved to America for post graduate medical studies in the early 1970s, where Tehmton started practice as an obstetrician and gynaecologist. The couple settled in St. Louis, where they currently reside.