Khushwant Singh: A Study In His Biography

Khushwant Singh, born in Hadali on 2 Feb.,1915, Under Khushab District, Punjab (now Pakistan) , In a Sikh family, The son of Sir Sobha Singh, Was educated at Modern School, New Delhi, St.Stephen’s College, Delhi, Government College, Lahore, King’s College, London And called to the bar at the Inner Temple. After having practised law for some years At Lahore Court, They moved to India And in 1947, he joined the Foreign Service In various capacities, As Information Officer of the Govt. of India in Toronto, Press Attaché and Public Officer For the Indian High Commission In London and Ottawa, Working in the Department of Mass Communications Of the UNESCO in Paris, All India Radio as a journalist. In 1956, he turned to editorial assignments And edited the Yojana, the Illustrated Weekly of India, The National Herald, the Hindustan Times, From 1980 to 86, had been a member of the Rajya Sabha He had been an establishment liberal, Supported the emergency too But was disturbed as for the siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar In 1984 And returned the award given by the Govt., Again, he got hurt When the anti-Sikh riots broke out In the aftermath of India’s assassination. A recipient of several prizes and awards, Padma Bhushan in 1974, Honest Man of the Year, Sulabh International in 2000, Punjab Rattan award, the Govt. of Punjab in 2006, Padma Vibhushan in 2007, Fellow of King’s College, London in 2014 And others, Khushwant Singh is also known as A novelist, a short story writer, an essayist, A columnist, a journalist, A historian and a translator. A writer he had been always in the line of fire, Earning a trenchant for biting satire And secularism, Though not a politician But politicked he sometimes, A journo he knew the politics Of coming into light And doing politics, Fearless and undaunted In his acerbic attacks, Using fun and humour As his tools To keep hale and hearty, One doing caricature, Drinking, joking and making fun of Even though was sober and serious And this the range of gossips and idle chats. A long-living writer, for him, The whole century had been the canvas of his, An album of pictures and images, ideas and trends, A gallery of faces, Portraits and images, Those in art, science, theatre And he taking them up, Recollecting the meets and visits, Giving time to friendships and get-togethers And some meeting him Over the lunch time, Partaking of the drink And adhering to hilarity And the coluring and painting of the mood And as a satirist he learnt from life Which taught him And the experiences of it Rather than being scholastic As his career shows it to be. As a writer, he is but a satirist, A laugher, Laughing and joking And commenting And in his mockery was the aesthetic sense of art, The art of satire and criticism, Literature as the criticism of life, The element of fun, pun and humour, The art of humour and the humorist And he deriving from To correct and comment, To say them ironically As humour was the forte of his, The feast, To engage and entertain The art of the gossip-master, The great old talker, Holding the hand, Conversing with. Something of travels and tours, The Punjab, Lahore and Delhi And London, Of Paris and Ottawa, Something of migration and domicile, His birth, rearing, Attachment and departure, Schooling and profession, Discovery of Punjab And the history of Sikhism, Art and architecture, Knowledge and wisdom, thought and idea, Conversation and gossip, Reminiscence and recollection, He carries with him, A writer of male domination, Love, sex and relationship Combined with drinks and jokes, A drinker’s verse lying on the table. As a short story writer of The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories,1950, The Voice of God and Other Stories,1957, A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories,1967, A novelist of Train to Pakistan,1956, I Shall Not Hear The Nightingale,1959, Delhi: A Novel,1990, The Company of Women,1999, As an autobiographer of Truth, Love and a Little Malice,2002, A historian with the titles The History of Sikhs,1953, Ranjit Singh: The Maharajah of the Punjab,1963, And others, He is prolific and wide-ranging. A writer as controversial as Thomas Hardy, D.H.Lawrence and G.B.Shaw, He had been of his stance, A Kubla Khan and Omar Khayyam Of his type, Talking about wine and the company of women, Kisses and misses, Wine, sex and literature, Leaking out The extra-marital affair and live-in relationship Or enlightening, Sometimes making a reference Of the women loved and lost And the women lodging casing against him As for skirmishes or jokes, Mystified or understandable, Saucy, salty and spiced For literature and popularity sake. Instead of being a great a comedian, A caricature-doer, A satirist in verse, A writer controversial And politicking, Drinking and feeling The pleasures of writing He was sarcastic and sardonic, Honest and confessional, A romantic And this the portrait of an artist As a young man And he was Apart from being the grand old man of letters, The Great Sardarji, I mean the Lion of Punjab, Mr. Khushwant Singh. Though the critics of his may charge With a libel, As for the sleaze May designate him, The dirty old man of literature, As he knows not To rein in And instead keeps on saying Whatever it comes to his mouth, Love, sex or friendship, A writer earning the sobriquet of Eat, drink and be merry, He draws from the theory of consumption, Hedonism and consumerism, The bottle the source of his inspiration, His Muse and the moonstruck, Cupid-hit heart And after having drunk, He hearing thumri, ghazal and shayari, Old wine drenching slowly And classical music too going on slowly. A lover of controversies, which never left him behind, Followed him wherever went he, A drinker drank he wine And the varieties of it, Telling about tastes and flavours, Drank it himself, Made others too, Keeping the company of, Tried to blackmail Or got he blackmailed, Wanted he to be a politician, But fell short of, A reader, a commentator, A critic of life, He was, Mr.Khushwant Singh The man and writer, The journo and the politico As he knew the politics of Being in the limelight Dodging the age Gossiped he about Love, sex and company.