Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh , 15 August 1915 - March 20, 2014) is an Indian writer, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947 Indian Partition inspired him to write Train to Pakistan in 1956 (made into a movie in 1998), which became his most famous novel.
Born in Punjab, Khushwant Singh was educated in New Delhi, and studied law at St. Stephen's College, Delhi, and King's College London. After working as a lawyer in the Lahore Court for eight years, he joined the Indian Foreign Service at Indian Independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. He was appointed journalist at All India Radio in 1951, and later moved to the Mass Communication Department. UNESCO in Paris in 1956. These last two careers encouraged him to pursue a literary career. As a writer, he is famous for his secularism, humor, sarcasm, and his deep love of poetry. The comparison of social and behavioral characteristics of Western and Indian people is mixed with acidic acumen. He served as editor of several literary and news magazines, as well as two newspapers, during the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1980-1986 he served as Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament.
Khushwant Singh was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1974. However he returned the award in 1984 in protest against the Blue Star Operation where the Indian Army invaded Amritsar. In 2007 he was awarded Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in India.
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Kehidupan awal
Khushwant Singh was born in Hadali, Khushab District, Punjab (now located in Pakistan), in a Sikh family. He is the youngest son of Sir Sobha Singh and Veeran Bai. Birth and death were not recorded in his day, and for him his father only made February 2, 1915 for his school enrollment at Modern School, New Delhi. But his grandmother, Lakshmi Bai, confirmed that he was born in August, so he then set a date for himself as August 15th. Sobha Singh is a leading builder in Lutyens' Delhi. His uncle, Sardar Ujjal Singh (1895-1983) was previously the Governor of Punjab and Tamil Nadu.
His birth name, given by his grandmother, is Khushal Singh (meaning "Lion of Peace"). She was called by the pet name "Shalee". At school, his name makes him mock when other kids mock him with the expression, "Shalee Shoolie, Bagh dee Moolee" (meaning, "Shalee or shoolee is a turnip from some gardens.") He chose Khushwant to rhyming with his brother's name Bhagwant. (He states that his new name is "self-produced and meaningless." But he later discovers that there is a Hindu doctor of the same name, and that number then increases.)
He entered Delhi Modern School in 1920 and studied there until 1930. There he met his future wife, Kawal Malik, one year younger than him. He continued his studies at Government College, Lahore, St. Stephen's College in Delhi and King's College London, before reading for the Bar at Inner Temple.
Maps Khushwant Singh
Careers
Khushwant Singh started his professional career as a practicing lawyer in 1939. He worked at the Lahore Court for eight years. In 1947 he entered Indian Foreign Service for a newly independent India. He started as Information Official from the Government of India in Toronto, Canada. He Press Attachà © à © and the Public Officer for the High Commission of India for four years in London and Ottawa. In 1951 he joined Radio All India as a journalist. Between 1954 and 1956 he worked at the UNESCO Mass Communication Department in Paris. From 1956 he turned to editorial services. He founded and edited Yojana , an Indian government journal from 1951-1953; The Illustrated Weekly of India , a news every week; and two major Indian newspapers, The National Herald and Hindustan Times . During his tenure, The Illustrated Weekly became the flagship news of India every week, with its circulation increasing from 65,000 to 400,000. After working for nine years on a weekly basis, on July 25, 1978, a week before he retired, the management asked Singh to leave "immediately". New editors installed on the same day. After Singh's departure, the weekly experienced a large decline in the number of readers. In 2016 Khushwant Singh enters the Limca Book of Records as a tribute.
Politics
From 1980 to 1986, Singh was a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in 1974 for his service to his country. In 1984, he returned the award in protest against the siege of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army. In 2007, the Indian government rewarded Khushwant Singh, Padma Vibhushan.
As a public figure, Singh is accused of supporting the ruling Congress party, especially during the reign of Indira Gandhi. He is mockingly called 'liberal stance'. Singh's conviction in India's political system was shaken by anti-Sikh riots that followed Indira Gandhi's assassination, in which major congressional politicians were accused of involvement; but he remains firmly convinced of the promise of Indian democracy and working through the Citizen Justice Committee filed by H. S. Phoolka who is a senior advocate of the Delhi High Court.
Singh is a bigger diplomatic selector of relations with Israel at a time when India does not want to disappoint Arab countries where thousands of Indians get jobs. He visited Israel in 1970 and was impressed by his progress.
Personal life
Singh is married to Kawal Malik. Malik was a childhood friend who had moved to London before. They met again when he studied law at King's College London, and soon got married. They have a son, named Rahul Singh, and a daughter, named Mala. His wife preceded him in 2001. Actress Amrita Singh is the daughter of her son, Daljit Singh - Shavinder Singh and Rukhsana Sultana. He lives 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. His grandfather Tisca Chopra is a famous TV and Film actress.
Religious belief
Singh is a self-proclaimed agnostic, as the title of his book 2011 Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God that is explicitly expressed. He is primarily against organized religion. He is clearly inclined towards atheism, as he says, "One can be a saint without believing in God and a repulsive criminal trusting him." In my personal religion, there is no God! " He also said, "I do not believe in rebirth or reincarnation, on judgment day or in heaven or hell, I accept the finality of death." His last book The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous was published in October 2013, after which he retired from writing. The book is a constant criticism of religion and especially its practice in India, including criticism of priests and priests. This earns a lot of praise in India, where such debates are rare.
Death
Singh died of natural causes on March 20, 2014 at his residence in Delhi, at the age of 99. His death was wounded by many people including the President, Vice President and Prime Minister of India. He survived his son and daughter. He was cremated at Lodhi Crematorium in Delhi at 4 pm on the same day. During his lifetime, Khushwant Singh was very interested in burial because he believed that by burial we restored what we had taken to earth. He has asked the management of BahÃÆ'¡'ÃÆ' Faith if he can be buried in their funeral. After the initial agreement, they proposed some conditions that Singh could not accept, and hence the idea was later abandoned. He was born in Hadali, Khushab District in Punjab Province in modern Pakistan, in 1915. According to his wishes, some of his ashes were carried and scattered in Hadali.
In 1943, he had written his own death report, included in his short story collection Posthumous. Under the heading "Sardar Khushwant Singh Dead", the text reads:
We regret to announce the sudden death of Sardar Khushwant Singh at 6 pm yesterday evening. He left a young widow, two infant children and a large number of friends and admirers. Among those summoned at the late sardar's residence are PA for Supreme Court justices, some ministers, and high court judges.
He also prepared a tombstone for himself, which runs:
Here there are people who do not allow humans or God; Do not throw your tears at him, he is the ground; Wrote bad things that he thought were great; Thank God he is dead, this is a gun boy.
He was cremated and his ashes buried in Hadali's school, where a placard was placed reading:
IN MEMORY OF
SARDAR KHUSHWANT SINGH
(1915-2014)
A SIKH, A SCHOLAR AND PUTRA HADALI (Punjab)
'This is where I come from. I have fed them with tears of nostalgia... '
Awards and awards
- Rockefeller Grant, 1966
- Padma Bhushan, Government of India (1974) (He returned the decor in 1984 in protest against the Union government's siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar)
- Honest Man of the Year , Sulabh International (2000)
- Punjab Rattan Award, Government of Punjab (2006)
- Padma Vibhushan, Government of India (2007)
- Sahitya Akademi Fellowship by Sahitya academy of India (2010)
- 'All-India Minority Forum Annual Fellowship Award' by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav (2012)
- Lifetime achievement award by Live Literature! The Mumbai Litfest in 2013
- Fellow King's College London in January 2014
Work
Books
- Vishnu and Other Stories , (Short Stories) 1950
- Sikh History , 1953
- Train to Pakistan , (Novel) 1956
- God's Voice and Other Stories , (Short Stories) 1957
- I Will not Hear the Nightingale , (Novel) 1959
- Sikh Today , 1959
- The Fall of the Punjab Kingdom , 1962
- Sikh History , 1963
- Ranjit Singh: Maharaja Punjab , 1963
- Ghadar 1915: India's first armed revolution , 1966
- Sikh History , 1966 (2nd ed.)
- Bride for Sahib and Other Stories , (Short Stories) 1967
- Black Jasmine , (Short Stories) 1971
- Punjab Tragedy '"
- Stories Collected from Khushwant Singh , N.p., Publisher Ravi Dayal, 1989
- Delhi: A Novel , (Novel) 1990
- Not a Good Person to Know: The Best of Khushwant Singh , 1993
- We are Indian , 1993
- Women and Men in My Life , 1995
- Declaring Love in Four Languages, by Khushwant Singh and Sharda Kaushik, 1997
- India: An Introduction, by Khushwant Singh
- Female Company , (Novel) 1999
- Truth, Love and a Little Malik (autobiography), 2002
- With Malice to One and All
- End of India , 2003
- Sea Funeral , 2004
- Paradise and Other Stories , 2004
- Sikh History: 1469-1838 , 2004
- Death on my doorstep , 2005
- Sikh History: 1839-2004 , 2005
- The Illustrated History of the Sikhs , 2006
- Why I Support Emergency: Essays and Profile , 2009
- The Sunset Club , (Novels) 2010
- God and Godmen of India , 2012 ISBN: 978-9-350-29244-0
- Agnostic Khushwant: No God , 2012 ISBNÃ, 978-9-381-43111-5
- Good, Bad and Ridiculous , 2013 (Written with Humra Qureshi)
- More Dangerous Gossip 1989 - Posts Collection
- Gender, Scotch & amp; Scholarship, 1992 Collection of Writings
- Malice's Great Book, 2000, Posts Collection
- Khushwantnama, The Lessons Of My Life, 2013
- Freethinker Prayer Book and Some Words To Live By, 2012
Short story
- The Portrait of a Lady
- Suspense
- Success Charms
- A Love Affair In London
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Play
Television Documentary: Third World - Free Press (also presenter; Third Eye series), 1983 (UK).
See also
- "Karma", a short story by Khushwant Singh
Note
References
- Chopra, Radika. "Social Criticism through Social History in Khushwant Singh's non-fiction". Muse India Journal. Issue 44. July-August 2012.
- Chopra, Radika. "Fiction as Social History: Study of Novel Khushwant Singh". The IUP Journal of English Studies Vol 1. viii, No. 2 June 2013. pp 59-77.
External links
- Khushwant Singh in IMDb
- Essay on Khushwant Singh on Encyclopedia Literature
- Interview with Khushwant Singh
- Biography: Khushwant Singh
- Published work on Amazon
- Published working on Google Books
- Books By Khuswant Singh
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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