What is it that determines grit in a person? It is the ability to find a bright spot in a sea of darkness. You display grit when you pick up the pieces even when the chips are down. And that's why the word lends itself well to the title of a new graphic novel about the life of Major Devendra Pal Singh, a former Army serviceman who lost his left leg during

the Kargil War, only to eventually become India's first blade runner. Grit – The Major Story (Hatchette India) chronicles Singh's life from the time he was a child living with his grandparents in Roorkee. It tells the story of a man who made lemonade when life handed him lemons, which it did at various turns. At first, it was a sense of abandonment that he had to overcome when his mother and father left him to live with his demanding grandparents so that they had some company, when he was only seven years old. Next, he had to undergo the disappointment of failing to clear a string of exams that would have ensured his entry into the Army, his childhood dream. But he kept his chin up and eventually did get through. Then came the most pivotal moment in Singh's life, one that washed all his plans away overnight.