I can't think of a better title for Delhi than describing it as the 'phoenix city' - one that rises from the dead to live again and again.
Khushwant Singh writes.
I laud the decision to induct Sachin Tendulkar in the Rajya Sabha. To construe it as a reward for his spectacular performance in cricket would be unfair. Khushwant Singh writes.
Journalists who claim to be Sabjantawallas (know-all) have pounced on men and women who will be in running for the posts of President and Vice President.
It is an elementary principle of jurisprudence that punishment should fit the crime. Does killing a killer by hanging him meet this requirement?
Khushwant Singh writes.
The basic rules to be observed when drawing up a budget are to save something after catering for your daily needs and to provide for unforeseen events like accidents or illnesses.
As soon as I heard Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa banning The Satanic Verses and sentenced its author Salman Rushdie to death, I went out of my way to acquire a copy, which I had already read in manuscript form.
Recollection of happy events fade from memory in a few years; hurtful episodes rankle in the mind for ever. I can recall a few which continue to disturb my siestas.
Khushwant Singh writes.
You do not know Delhi till you know its dargahs: graves of its many Sufi pirs. Historic monuments like the Qutub Minar and the Red Fort mark victories of Muslim armies as explicitly claimed by the Quwat-ul Islam mosque next to the Minar.
As an ardent dog-lover I find myself in the dog house (provoked by an article written by Baba Umar in the latest issue of Tehelka, entitled Who Let the Dogs Out? Khushwant Singh writes.
When Saeed Naqvi suggested I hold a Mushaira in my falt, I readily agreed to do so. Saeed has a phenomenal memory and he delivers poems with panache that no one can match.
Khushwant Singh reports.
India knows Anupam Kher as one of the many stars of Bollywood: he has starred in over 450 films. India does not know there is another side to him; he is also a thinker. He has put his thoughts in a newly published book of some 200 pages, illustrated with scenes from nature to match his observations. He has entitled his publication The Best Thing About You is You, (Hay House). He tackles questions like: “Where do we come from? What are we expected to do? And, where do we go after we die?”
Every Republic Day I draw up my own honour list for Bharat Ratna and Padma Awards. I impose two pre-conditions. First, anyone known to have convassed for any award should be banned from receiving any honour. Nine out of 10, men and women do so.
Khushwant Singh writes.
At the end of last year some journals published what eminent personalities were reading at the time. Sonia Gandhi replied: She was reading Vinod Mehta's autobiography Lucknow Boy (Penguin Viking). I assumed Vinod would be on cloud nine and celebrating with his friends.
Salman Rushdie came into my life briefly as I was adviser to Penguin-Viking (India). I was one of the millions of his fans who had been bowled over by his classic novel Midnight’s Children.
Khushwant Singh writes.
Anna Hazare has made fasting into a tamaasha. I observe the same kind of fast daily. I don't eat between breakfast and lunch. Nor between lunch and supper. He makes the front page of all newspapers and top news on TV channels. No one takes the slightest notice of my two fasts a day. I think this is most unfair.
Khushwant Singh writes.