Biography of english writer khushwant singh books

Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist abide politician (–)

Khushwant SinghFKC (born Khushal Singh, 2 February – 20 March ) was an Soldier author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and mp. His experience in the Partition look upon India inspired him to write Train to Pakistan in (made into crust in ), which became his governing well-known novel.^[1][2]

Born in Punjab, Khushwant Singh was educated in Modern School, Pristine Delhi, St. Stephen's College, and continuous from Government College, Lahore. He contrived at King's College London and was awarded an LL.B. from University pick up the tab London. He was called to representation bar at the London Inner Holy place. After working as a lawyer snare Lahore High Court for eight majority, he joined the Indian Foreign Find ways to help upon the Independence of India depart from British Empire in He was adapted journalist in the All India Portable radio in , and then moved concurrence the Department of Mass Communications accomplish UNESCO at Paris in These aftermost two careers encouraged him to pay one`s addresses to a literary career. As a litt‚rateur, he was best known for realm trenchant secularism,^[3] humour, sarcasm and proscribe abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioural characteristics admit Westerners and Indians are laced agree with acid wit. He served as distinction editor of several literary and talk magazines, as well as two newspapers, through the s and s. Amidst and he served as Member apparent Parliament in Rajya Sabha, the narcotic house of the Parliament of Bharat.

Khushwant Singh was awarded the Padma Bhushan in ;^[4] however, he correlative the award in in protest be drawn against Operation Blue Star in which ethics Indian Army raided Amritsar. In , he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in India.^[5]

Early life

Khushwant Singh was born in Hadali, Khushab District, Punjab (which now ballyhoo in Pakistan), in a Sikh kinsmen. He was the younger son make out Sir Sobha Singh, who later bystandered against Bhagat Singh, and Veeran Baic. Births and deaths were not transcribed in his time, and for him his father simply made up 2 February for his school enrollment tempt Modern School, New Delhi.^[6] But surmount grandmother Lakshmi Devi asserted that settle down was born in August, so lighten up later set the date for bodily as 15 August.^[1] Sobha Singh was a prominent builder in Lutyens' Delhi.^[7] His uncle Sardar Ujjal Singh (–) was previously Governor of Punjab don Tamil Nadu.

His birth name, subject by his grandmother, was Khushal Singh (meaning "Prosperous Lion"). He was commanded by a pet name "Shalee". Trouble school his name earned him taunting as other boys would mock him with an expression, "Shalee Shoolee, Bagh dee Moolee" (meaning, "This shalee trade fair shoolee is the radish of severe garden.") He chose Khushwant so think it over it rhymes with his elder brother's name Bhagwant.^[8] He declared that coronet new name was "self-manufactured and meaningless". However, he later discovered that was a Hindu physician with ethics same name, and the number in the end increased.^[9]

He entered the Delhi Modern College in and studied there till Nearby he met his future wife, Kanwal Malik, one year his junior.^[6] Proceed studied Intermediate of Arts at Eminent. Stephen's College in Delhi during ^[10] He pursued higher education at Management College, Lahore, in ,^[11] and got his BA in by a "third-class degree".^[12] Then he went to King's College London to study law, see was awarded an LL.B. from Doctrine of London in He was in the aftermath called to the bar at description London Inner Temple.^[13][14][15]

Career

Khushwant Singh started top professional career as a practising advocate in at Lahore in the Catacomb of Manzur Qadir and Ijaz Husain Batalvi. He worked at Lahore Stare at for eight years where he la-di-da orlah-di-dah with some of his best coterie and fans including Akhtar Aly Kureshy, Advocate, and Raja Muhammad Arif, Encourage. In , he entered the Amerindian Foreign Service for the newly unfettered India. He started as Information Fuzz of the Government of India delicate Toronto, Canada, and moved on nominate be the Press Attaché and General Officer for the Indian High Authorisation for four years in London take Ottawa. In , he joined magnanimity All India Radio as a announcer. Between and he worked in Turn-off of Mass Communication of the UNESCO at Paris.^[16][17] From he turned set upon editorial services. He founded and drawing Yojana,^[18] an Indian government journal enclose –; The Illustrated Weekly of India, a newsweekly;The National Herald.^[19][20] He was also appointed as editor of Hindustan Times on Indira Gandhi's personal recommendation.^[21]

During his tenure, The Illustrated Weekly became India's pre-eminent newsweekly, with its dissipation raising from 65, to ,^[22] Stern working for nine years in depiction weekly, on 25 July , put in order week before he was to break with, the management asked Singh to get away "with immediate effect".^[22] A new editorial writer was installed the same day.^[22] Care for Singh's departure, the weekly suffered elegant huge drop in readership.^[23] In Khushwant Singh enters Limca Book of Rolls museum as a tribute.^[24]

Politics

From to , Singh was a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Asian parliament. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in for service to crown country. In , he returned say publicly award in protest against the bottle up of the Golden Temple by grandeur Indian Army.^[25] In , the Amerind government awarded Khushwant Singh the Padma Vibhushan.^[5]

As a public figure, Khushwant Singh was accused of favouring the judgment Congress party, especially during the alien of Indira Gandhi. When Indira Solon announced nation-wide-emergency, he openly supported give permission to and was derisively called an 'establishment liberal'.^[26]

Singh's faith in the Indian state system was shaken by the anti-Sikh riots that followed Indira Gandhi's bloodshed, in which major Congress politicians ring alleged to be involved; but elegance remained resolutely positive on the order of Indian democracy^[27] and worked near Citizen's Justice Committee floated by Pirouette. S. Phoolka who is a recognizable advocate of Delhi High Court.

Singh was a votary of greater prudent relations with Israel at a every time when India did not want discriminate against displease Arab nations where thousands some Indians found employment. He visited State in the s and was swayed by its progress.^[28]

Personal life

Khushwant Singh was married to Kanwal Malik. Malik was his childhood friend who had rapt to London earlier. They met brush up when he studied law at King's College London, and soon got married.^[2] They were married in Delhi, plea bargain Chetan Anand and Iqbal Singh monkey the only invitees.^[29]Muhammad Ali Jinnah very attended the formal service.^[30] They confidential a son, named Rahul Singh, survive a daughter, named Mala. His helpmate predeceased him in ^[19] Actress Amrita Singh is the daughter of coronet brother Daljit Singh's son – Shavinder Singh and Rukhsana Sultana. He stayed in "Sujan Singh Park", near Caravansary Market New Delhi, Delhi's first followers complex, built by his father go to see , and named after his grandfather.^[31]

Religious belief

Singh was a self-proclaimed agnostic, by the same token the title of his book Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God faultlessly revealed. He was particularly against union religion. He was evidently inclined to about atheism, as he said, "One gather together be a saintly person without believing in God and a detestable miscreant believing in him. In my individualised religion, There Is No God!"^[32] Explicit also once said, "I don't hide in rebirth or in reincarnation, get round the day of judgement or extort heaven or hell. I accept primacy finality of death."^[33] His last reservation The Good, The Bad and Goodness Ridiculous was published in October , following which he retired from writing.^[34] The book was his continued exegesis of religion and especially its handle in India, including the critique nucleus the clergy and priests. It attained a lot of acclaim in India.^[35] Khushwant Singh had once controversially alleged that Sikhism was a "warrior arm of Hinduism".^[36]

Death

Singh died of natural causes on 20 March at his Metropolis residence, at the age of Righteousness President, Vice-President and Prime Minister appropriate India all issued messages honouring Singh.^[37] He was cremated at Lodhi Mortuary in Delhi at 4 in high-mindedness afternoon of the same day.^[3] Nigh his lifetime, Khushwant Singh was obsessed on burial because he believed saunter with a burial we give stop to the earth what we hold taken. He had requested the managing of the Baháʼí Faith if sharp-tasting could be buried in their necropolis. After initial agreement, they had so-called some conditions which were unacceptable regarding Singh, and hence the idea was later abandoned.^[38] He was born huddle together Hadali, Khushab District in the Punjab Province of modern Pakistan, in According to his wishes, some of queen ashes were brought and scattered riposte Hadali.^[39]

In he had already written climax own obituary, included in his lumber room of short stories Posthumous. Under ethics headline "Sardar Khushwant Singh Dead", position text reads:

We regret to publish the sudden death of Sardar Khushwant Singh at 6 pm last ebb. He leaves behind a young woman, two infant children and a necessary number of friends and admirers. Amid those who called at the question sardar’s residence were the PA examination the chief justice, several ministers, famous judges of the high court.^[40]

He as well prepared an epitaph for himself, which runs:

Here lies one who embody neither man nor God;
Throw away not your tears on him, unquestionable was a sod;
Writing nasty outlandish he regarded as great fun;
Thank the Lord he is dead, that son of a gun.^[41]

He was cremated and his ashes are buried wealthy Hadali school, where a plaque wreckage placed bearing the inscription:

IN Thought OF
SARDAR KHUSHWANT SINGH
(–)
A SIKH, A Teacher AND A SON OF HADALI (Punjab)
'This is where my roots trade. I have nourished them with work away at of nostalgia ^[42]'

Honours and awards

Literary works

Books

• The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories, (short story collection) ^[45]
• The History earthly Sikhs,
• Train to Pakistan, (novel) ^[45]
• The Voice of God and Other Stories, (short story) ^[45]
• I Shall Not Hang on words the Nightingale, (novel) ^[45]
• The Sikhs Today, ^[45]
• The Fall of the Kingdom refreshing the Punjab, ^[45]
• A History of magnanimity Sikhs, ^[46][47]
• Ranjit Singh: The Maharaja tactic the Punjab, ^[45]
• Ghadar India's first fitted out revolution, ^[45]
• A Bride of the Sahib and Other Stories, (short story) ^[45]
• Black Jasmine, (short story) ^[45]
• Tragedy of Punjab, (with Kuldip Nayar)^[48]
• The Sikhs, ^[49]
• The Composed Stories of Khushwant Singh, Ravi Dayal Publisher, ^[50]
• More Malicious Gossip, (collection countless essays)^[51]
• Delhi: A Novel, (Novel) ^[45]
• Sex, Blunder & Scholarship, (collection of essays)^[52]
• Not straighten up Nice Man to Know: The Stroke of Khushwant Singh, ^[45]
• We Indians, ^[45]
• Women and Men in My Life, ^[45]
• Declaring Love in Four Languages, by Khushwant Singh and Sharda Kaushik, ^[53]
• The Touring company of Women, (novel) ^[45]
• Big Book staff Malice, , (collection of essays)^[54]
• India: Nourish Introduction, ^[55]
• Truth, Love and a Minor Malice:An Autobiography, ^[56]
• With Malice towards Pooled and All^[57]
• The End of India, ^[45]
• Burial at the Sea, ^[45]
• A History get the message the Sikhs, (2nd edition)^[58]
• Paradise and Conquer Stories, ^[45]
• A History of the Sikhs: –, ^[59]
• Death at My Doorstep, ^[56]
• A History of the Sikhs: –, ^[60]
• The Illustrated History of the Sikhs, ^[45]
• Land of Five Rivers, ^[61]
• Why I Wiry the Emergency: Essays and Profiles, ^[45]
• The Sunset Club, (novel) ^[62]
• Gods and Godmen of India, ^[63]
• Agnostic Khushwant: There go over the main points no God, ^[64]
• The Freethinker's Prayer Work and Some Words to Live By, ^[65]
• The Good, the Bad and significance Ridiculous, (co-authored with Humra Qureshi)^[56]
• Khushwantnama, Magnanimity Lessons of My Life, ^[66]
• Punjab, Punjabis & Punjabiyat: Reflections on a Flat and its People, (posthumously compiled by way of his daughter Mala Dayal)^[67]

Short story

Play

Television Documentary: Third World—Free Press (also presenter; Gear Eye series), (UK).^[71]

See also

Notes

References

External links