Khushwant Singh

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Khushwant Singh

Khushwant Singh at a reading in New Delhi

Born

Khushal Singh 2 February 1915 Hadali, British India (current Sargodha District, Pakistan)

Died

20 March 2014 (aged 99) New Delhi, India

Cause of death

Natural causes

Nationality

Indian

Alma mater

St. Stephen's College, Delhi King's College London

Occupation

Journalist, writer, historian

Spouse(s)

Kawal Malik

Children

Rahul and Mala

Signature

Khushwant Singh (February 2, 1915 March 20, 2014) was an Indian novelist, lawyer, politician and journalist. An Indo-Anglian writer, Singh was best known for his trenchant secularism,
[1]

his humor, and an abiding love of

poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit. He served as the editor of several literary and news magazines, as well as two broadsheet newspapers, through the 1970s and 1980s. He was the recipient of Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in India.
Contents
[hide]

1 Biography

o o o o

1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Politics 1.4 Personal life

1.4.1 Religious belief

1.5 Death

2 Honors and awards 3 Works

o o o

3.1 Books 3.2 Short story collections 3.3 Play

4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]

Singh was born in Hadali District Khushab, Punjab (which now lies in Pakistan), in a Sikh family. His father, Sir Sobha Singh, was a prominent builder in Lutyens' Delhi. His uncle Sardar Ujjal Singh (18951983) was Ex. Governor of Punjab &Tamil Nadu. He was educated at Modern School, New Delhi, Government College, Lahore, St. Stephen's College in Delhi and King's College London, before reading for the Bar at the Inner Temple.
[2][3]

Career[edit]
Singh started his professional career as a practising lawyer in 1938. He worked at Lahore Court for eight years. In 1947 he entered Indian Foreign Service for the newly independent India. He started as Information Officer of the Government of India in Toronto, Canada. He was Press Attach and Public Officer for the Indian High Commission for four years in London and Ottawa. In 1951 he joined the All India Radio as a journalist. Between 1954 and 1956 he worked in Department of Mass Communications of UNESCO at Paris. He had edited Yojana,
[6] [4][5]

From 1956 he turned to editorial services.

an Indian government journal; The Illustrated Weekly of India, a newsweekly; and two major

Indian newspapers, The National Herald and the Hindustan Times. During his tenure, The Illustrated Weekly became India's pre-eminent newsweekly, with its circulation raising from 65,000 to 400000.
[7]

After working for nine years in

the weekly, on 25 July 1978, a week before he was to retire, the management asked Singh to leave "with immediate effect".
[7]

The new editor was installed the same day.

[8]

[7]

After Singh's departure, the weekly suffered a huge drop in

readership.

Singh is said to have woken up at 4 am each day to write his columns by hand. His works ranged from political commentary and contemporary satire to outstanding translations of Sikh religious texts and Urdu poetry.
[4]

Despite

the name, his column "With Malice Towards One and All" regularly contained secular exhortations and messages of peace. In addition, he was one of the last remaining writers to have personally known most of the stalwart writers and poets of Urdu and Punjabi languages, and profiles his recently deceased contemporaries in his column.
[citation needed]

Politics[edit]
From 1980 through 1986, Singh was a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 for service to his country. In 1984, he returned the award in protest against the siege of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army. the Padma Vibhushan. As a public figure, Singh was accused of favoring the ruling Congress party, especially during the reign of Indira Gandhi. He was derisively called an 'establishment liberal'. Singh's faith in the Indian political system was shaken by the anti-Sikh riots that followed Indira Gandhi's assassination, in which major Congress politicians are alleged to be involved; but he remained resolutely positive on the promise of Indian democracy
[10] [9]

In 2007, the Indian government awarded Khushwant Singh

and worked via Citizen's Justice

Committee floated by H. S. Phoolka who is a senior advocate of Delhi High Court.

Personal life[edit]

Singh was married to Kawal Malik and had a son, named Rahul Singh, and a daughter, named Mala. Actress Amrita Singh is the daughter of his brother Daljit Singh and Rukhsana Sultana. He stayed in "Sujan Singh Park", near Khan Market New Delhi, Delhi's first apartment complex, built by his father in 1945, and named after his grandfather. grandniece Tisca Chopra is a noted TV and Film Actress.
[12] [11]

His

Religious belief[edit]
Singh was a self-proclaimed agnostic, as the title of his 2011 book Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God explicitly revealed. He was particularly against organised religion. He was evidently inclined towards atheism, as he said, "One can be a saintly person without believing in God and a detestable villain believing in him. In my personalised religion, There Is No God!"
[13]

He also once said, "I dont believe in rebirth or in reincarnation, in the day of judgement or in
[14]

heaven or hell. I accept the finality of death."

His last book The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous was published
[15]

in October 2013, following which he retired from writing.

The book was his continued critique of religion and

especially its practice in India, including the critique of the clergy and priests also earned alot of acclaim in a country like India, where such debates hardly happen.
[16]

Death[edit]
Singh died due to natural causes on 20 March 2014 at his Delhi-based residence, at the age of 99. His death was mourned by many including the President, Vice President and Prime Minister of India.
[17]

He was survived by his son

[1]

and daughter. He was cremated at Lodhi Crematorium in Delhi at 4 in the afternoon of the same day.

Honors and awards[edit]

Rockfeller Grant,1966
[18]

Padma Bhushan, Government of India (1974)(He returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the Union government's siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar)
[5] [19] [5]

Honest Man of the Year, Sulabh International (2000)

Punjab Rattan Award, The Government of Punjab (2006) Padma Vibhushan, Government of India (2007)
[5]

Sahitya academy fellowship award by Sahitya academy of India (2010)

[20]

All-India Minorities Forum Annual Fellowship Award by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav (2012)
[21]

Lifetime achievement award by Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest in 2013
[5] [18]

Fellow of King's College London on January 2014

Works[edit]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2014)

Books[edit]

The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories, 1950 The History of Sikhs, 1953 Train to Pakistan, 1956
[22] [22] [22]

The Voice of God and Other Stories, 1957 I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale, 1959 The Sikhs Today, 1959
[22] [22]

The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab, 1962 A History of the Sikhs, 1963
[23]

[22]

Ranjit Singh: The Maharajah of the Punjab, 1963

[22] [22]

Ghadar 1915: India's first armed revolution, 1966 A History of the Sikhs, 1966 (2nd edition)
[24] [22]

A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories, 1967 Black Jasmine, 1971
[22] [22]

Tragedy of Punjab, 1984 Delhi: A Novel, 1990

[22]

Sex, Scotch and Scholarship: Selected Writings, 1992

[22] [22]

Not a Nice Man to Know: The Best of Khushwant Singh, 1993 We Indians, 1993
[22] [22]

Women and Men in My Life, 1995

Uncertain Liaisons; Sex, Strife and Togetherness in Urban India , 1995 Declaring Love in Four Languages, by Khushwant Singh and Sharda Kaushik, 1997

The Company of Women, 1999

[22]

Truth, Love and a Little Malice (an autobiography), 2002 With Malice towards One and All The End of India, 2003
[22] [22] [22] [25]

Burial at the Sea, 2004

Paradise and Other Stories, 2004

A History of the Sikhs: 14691838, 2004 Death at My Doorstep, 2005

[22]

A History of the Sikhs: 18392004, 2005

[26] [22] [22]

The Illustrated History of the Sikhs, 2006

Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles, 2009 The Sunset Club, 2010

Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God, 2012 ISBN 978-9-381-43111-5 The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous, 2013 (Co-authored with Humra Qureshi)

Short story collections[edit]

The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories. London, Saturn Press, 1950. The Voice of God and Other Stories. Bombay, Jaico, 1957. A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories. New Delhi, Hind, 1967. Black Jasmine. Bombay, Jaico, 1971 The Collected Stories. N.p., Ravi Dayal, 1989. The Portrait of a Lady The Strain Success Mantra A Love Affair In London

Play[edit]
Television Documentary: Third WorldFree Press (also presenter; Third Eye series), 1983 (UK).
[27]

See also[edit]

Karma, a short story by Khushwant Singh

Notes[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b TNN (20 March 2014). "Khushwant Singh, journalist and writer, dies at 99". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 March 2014. 2. Jump up^ Khushwant Singh, Forward, in Aditya Bhattacharjea and Lola Chatterjee (eds), The Fiction of St Stephen's 3. Jump up^ Vinita Rani, Style and Structure in the Short Stories of Khushwant Singh. A Critical Study., PhD Thesis

4.

^ Jump up to:a b Press Trust of India (20 March 2014). "Khushwant Singh could easily switch roles from author to commentator and journalist". The Indian Express. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

5.

^ Jump up to:a b c d e "Life and times of Khushwant Singh l". India Today. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

6. 7.

Jump up^ "Yojana". Retrieved 18 September 2013. ^ Jump up to:a b c Khushwant Singh (1993). "Farewell to the Illustrated Weekly". In Nandini Mehta. Not a Nice Man To Know. Penguin Books. p. 8. "On 25 July 1978, one week before he was to retire, he was abruptly asked to leave with immediate effect. Khushwant quietly got up, collected his umbrella, and without a word to his staff, left the office where he had worked for nine years, raising the Illustrated Weekly's circulation from 65,000 to 400000. The new editor was installed the same day, and ordered by the Weekly's management to kill the "Farewell" column."

8.

Jump up^ "Khushwant Singh's Journalism: The Illustrated Weekly of India". Sepiamutiny.com. Retrieved 9 August 2009.

9.

Jump up^ "Those who said no to top awards". The Times of India. 20 January 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2008.

10. Jump up^ Singh, Khushwant, "Oh, That Other Hindu Riot Of Passage," Outlook Magazine, November, 07, 2004 , available at [1] 11. Jump up^ "Making history with brick and mortar". Hindustan Times. 15 September 2011. 12. Jump up^ "Grandniece Tisca Chopra remembers granduncle Khushwant Singh". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 20 March 2014. 13. Jump up^ Nayar, Aruti. "Staring Into The Abyss: Khushwant Singh's Personal Struggles With Organized Religion". sikhchic.com. Retrieved 21 March 2014. 14. Jump up^ Khuswant, Singh (16 August 2010). "How To Live & Die". Outlook. 15. Jump up^ "Veteran Writer and Novelist Khushwant Singh passes away at 99". news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 20 March 2014. 16. Jump up^ Tiwary, Akash (21 March 2014). "Khushwant Singhs demise bereaves India of its most articulate agnostic". The Avenue Mail. Retrieved 21 March 2014. 17. Jump up^ "President, Prime Minister of India condole Khushwant Singhs Demise". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 20 March 2014. 18. ^ Jump up to:a b "Khushwant Singh awarded Fellowship". King's College London. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

19. Jump up^ "Khushwant Singh, 1915". Library of Congress, New Delhi. Retrieved 21 March 2014. 20. Jump up^ Mukherjee, Abishek. "Khushwant Singh and the cricket connection". The Cricket Country. Retrieved 21 March 2014. 21. Jump up^ "Akhilesh honours Khushwant-Singh". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 March 2014. 22. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w "Khushwant Singh". Open University. Retrieved 21 March 2014. 23. Jump up^ Singh, Khushwant (1963). A History of the Sikhs. Princeton University Press. 24. Jump up^ Singh, Khushwant (1966). A History of the Sikhs (2 ed.). Princeton University Press. 25. Jump up^ Singh, Khushwant (2004). A History of the Sikhs: 14691838 (2, illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 434. ISBN 9780195673081. Retrieved July 2009. 26. Jump up^ Singh, Khushwant (2005). A History of the Sikhs: 18392004 (2, illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 547. ISBN 9780195673098. Retrieved July 2009. 27. Jump up^ "Third Eye: Third World Free Press?". BFI. Retrieved 21 March 2014.

References[edit]

Chopra, Radika."Social Criticism through Social History in Khushwant Singh's non-fiction". Muse India Journal. Issue 44. JulyAugust 2012.

Chopra, Radika. "Fiction as Social History:A Study of Khushwant Singh's Novels". The IUP Journal of English Studies Vol 1. viii, No. 2 June 2013. pp. 5977.

External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Khushwant Singh.

Khushwant Singh at the Internet Movie Database Essay on Khushwant Singh on Literary Encyclopedia Interview with Khushwant Singh

Biography: Khushwant Singh Published works at Amazon Published works at Google Books

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1915 births Modern School (New Delhi) alumni Alumni of King's College London Indian columnists Indian journalists Indian newspaper editors Indian novelists Indian skeptics Indian writers 2014 deaths Recipients of the Padma Bhushan Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan People from Lahore People from Punjab, Pakistan

Punjabi people Indian Sikhs Government College University, Lahore alumni Indian agnostics Sikh scholars University of Delhi alumni Sikh writers Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha

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