On March 20th 2014, India lost Khushwant Singh, a legendary writer and journalist who passed away in New Delhi at the grand age of 99. In this article we take a look at the life of one of the world’s most well-known satirists. Read on to find out more.
Early Beginnings
1915 was the year Khushwant Singh was born in Hadali, a town which is now in Baluchistan, Pakistan. He was educated at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and was also a student at King’s College in London. His professional work experience consisted of practicing law in Lahore for several years, before joining the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in 1947.
“Train to Pakistan”
During the lead up to the partition of India in 1947, Khushwant Singh was still working in Lahore. Like many other Sikhs, he made the journey over to the Hindu-majority India. During these travels, he heard many horrific stories of the conflicts between Muslims on the one side and Hindus and Sikhs on the other, and vice versa, which inspired his most celebrated book “Train to Pakistan”, which was published in 1956. Other well-known books by Khushwant Singh include “I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale” and “A History of Sikhs”. He authored over 30 novels, and numerous anthologies of short stories, for which he had a particular passion.
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Career as a Journalist
In addition to be prolific writer, Khushwant Singh was also an esteemed journalist. In 1951, he began work as a journalist for All India Radio. He then founded Yojana, the Indian government journal. In addition, he held the position of editor of llustrated Weekly of India, the National Herald and the Hindustan Times.
Accolades
Khushwant Singh had an illustrious career. A major award he received was in 1974, which was the Padma Bhushan. However, he returned this as a part of his protest against the storming of the Golden Temple by the Indian army in 1984. In 2007, he was awarded India’s second highest civilian award; namely Padma Vibhushan.
Controversial
Khushwant Singh was a fearless writer, who spoke his mind. Although this was a great strength of his, it also made him a controversial figure. He had a knack for writing erotica, and was open about his love for women and drink. His favourite drink of course was Scotch whiskey.
His Legacy
Although Khushwant Singh is no longer with us, he leaves behind a legacy that will continue to impact the world for many, many years to come. He will be remembered for his books, his iconic personality, and probably most importantly for all, being true to his beliefs and never compromising on them.
Tributes
Tributes have simply been pouring in, including from the celebrity and political worlds. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had the following to say in his statement, “Throughout his life, Khushwant Singh worked hard to make it easier for the rest of us to understand and come to terms with the major social, economic and political changes that our country and the world witnessed. His writings, whether as a journalist, editor, historian, author or provocative raconteur, never failed to shed light on the human condition.”
Image credit: akabyam on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/hv1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Hiten Vyas is the Founder and Managing Editor of eBooks India. He is also a prolific eBook writer with over 25 titles to his name.[/author_info] [/author]