Khushwant Singh
Rahul Singh
Roli (Family Pride series)
2004
Price: Rs 395
Pages: 144
ISBN: 81-7436-315-7
Hardcover
Khushwant Singh is almost 90 years old. His lifespan not just includes all the years of India independent of imperial rule, but also overlaps a significant portion of the struggle towards that independence. And as has been evident from Khushwant Singh's writings, the movement towards independence and the reconstruction that followed have been significant in his life.
And as his son Rahul traces back moments from his father's rich and varied life, In a way, he also retells what shaped India as we know her today.
Part of Roli's Family Pride series, wherein a descendant writes about his or her ancestor, the book is at once a biography and a personal memoir, a look into one of the leading figures of modern India that only a family member could provide.
Khushwant Singh has rarely been out of the news in the last five odd decades, from the young author of Mano Majra in the early 1950s to the hob-nobber in the highest political echelons during the times of Indira Gandhi.
The book not just traces Khushwant Singh's life, almost chronologically, it also provides insights into a man most have known through his writings and his associations with many a leading personality of Indian public life.
The book has many anecdotes that are missing even from Khushwant Singh's own pretty voluminous biography. Perhaps understandably. But an offspring's view of a celebrity parent is always unique and the son provides information that would be only available to him. For example they way his father reacted when he was sacked from The Times of India or when Rajiv Gandhi dropped to party at the famed Sujan Singh Park residence.
{{/usCountry}}The book has many anecdotes that are missing even from Khushwant Singh's own pretty voluminous biography. Perhaps understandably. But an offspring's view of a celebrity parent is always unique and the son provides information that would be only available to him. For example they way his father reacted when he was sacked from The Times of India or when Rajiv Gandhi dropped to party at the famed Sujan Singh Park residence.
{{/usCountry}}The interspersed peeks into Khushwant Singh's private life, and his equations with his family members, including his son, make for really interesting reading. Reactions to when the son cut off his hair, or when Khushwant Singh's wife, Kaval was struck with Alzheimer's are valuable vignettes. As are anecdotes about Khushwant's life in Lahore as a lawyer or his time at the All India Radio, where "he had not much work to do, and was spending most of his time gossiping and drinking tea or coffee."
The book has 13 chapters, which cover the subject pretty comprehensively. There is also a personal note by the author, which puts the writing in perspective.
The pictures in the book of course make it very special. From personal ones with family members to those with public that became part of his life, eg VK Krishna Menon, Balraj Sahni, Sanjay Gandhi and many others, the book is sure to interest even a lay reader.
Anecdotal and to-the-point, the memoir is among the better ones to come out this year.