“Morality is a matter of money. Poor people cannot afford to have morals. So they have religion,” noted author and journalist Khushwant Singh, who died at 99 on Thursday, once wrote.
Singh gave meaning to the word ‘satire’ and left behind a legacy of memorable books and anecdotes. Though he professed an interest in 'sex, scotch and scholarship', Singh belonged to a generation of enormously influential print journalists.
As news of his death broke on Thursday, Twitter was swept with a wave of shock and despair. While all wished the iconic author, who was the editor of Hindustan Times from 1980 to 1983, rest in peace, others reminisced about the time they spent reading Singh's works.
There were also those who chose to salute the man in his signature way — with humour. "Khushwant Singh, you don't need an RIP. I don't see you ever seeking rest, or peace. Enjoy." tweeted @rameshsrivats. Another user, @doctoratlarge, tweeted, "You can joke on Khushwant Singh's death — he was too good a sport to mind it".
We bring to you a few Twitter tributes paid to the man:
{{/usCountry}}We bring to you a few Twitter tributes paid to the man:
{{/usCountry}}Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
Amitav Ghosh, Author
Shah Rukh Khan, Actor
Narendra Modi, Politician
Shobhaa De, Socialite
Vir Das, Stand-up comedian
Neha Dhupia, Actress
Sanjay Jha, Congress spokesperson
Siddhartha Basu, Producer-Director
Kapil Sharma, Stand-up comedian
Ramachandra Guha, Writer
Divya Dutta, Actress
Pooja Bhatt, Actress
Kiran Bedi, Former cop, Politician
Harsha Bhogle, Former Cricketer
Shashi Tharoor, Politician
Madhur Bhandarkar, Director
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Politician
Vijay Goel, Politician
Vasundhara Raje, Politician