Biography of khuswant singh

Honours and Awards. However inhe returned the honour as protest to Indian government against the storming of Golden Temple by the Indian Army. In the yearKhushwant Singh was awarded with the Padma Vibhushan. Inhe was given Sahitya academy fellowship award by Sahitya academy of India. Khushwant Singh was a member of the Rajya Sabha from the year to the year Books and Documentaries.

He mainly wrote in English language. Among his major books included Train To Pakistan first Published in which won him international acclaim and Groove Press Award in The book depicts the partition of India and Pakistan in In addition to his immediate family, Singh had a few notable relations, including his niece, actress Amrita Singh, and his grandniece, TV and film actress Tisca Chopra.

Initially, he served as a lawyer in Lahore High Court for eight years, a tenure that brought him into contact with some of his lifelong friends and fans. His editorial stint at The Illustrated Weekly of India was particularly impactful, raising its circulation from 65, toHe was awarded the Padma Bhushan inbut returned it a decade later in protest against Operation Blue Star.

Inhe was honored with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in India. Furthermore, his name was included in the Limca Book of Records in as a tribute to his immense contribution to Indian literature and journalism. Inhe was awarded the Padma Vibhushanthe second-highest civilian award in India. Births and deaths were not recorded in his time, and for him his father simply made up 2 February for his school enrollment at Modern School, New Delhi.

Biography of khuswant singh

His birth name, given by his grandmother, was Khushal Singh meaning "Prosperous Lion". He was called by a pet name "Shalee". At school his name earned him ridicule as other boys would mock him with an expression, "Shalee Shoolee, Bagh dee Moolee" meaning, "This shalee or shoolee is the radish of some garden. However, he later discovered that there was a Hindu physician with the same name, and the number subsequently increased.

He entered the Delhi Modern School in and studied there till There he met his future wife, Kanwal Malik, one year his junior. Stephen's College in Delhi during He was subsequently called to the bar at the London Inner Temple. Inhe entered the Indian Foreign Service for the newly independent India. Inhe joined the All India Radio as a journalist.

During his tenure, The Illustrated Weekly became India's pre-eminent newsweekly, with its circulation raising from 65, toFrom toSingh was a member of Rajya Sabhathe upper house of the Indian parliament. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in for service to his country. Inhe returned the award in protest against the siege of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army.

As a public figure, Khushwant Singh was accused of favouring the ruling Congress partyespecially during the reign of Indira Gandhi. When Indira Gandhi announced nation-wide-emergencyhe openly supported it and was derisively called an 'establishment liberal'. Singh's faith in the Indian political system was shaken by the anti-Sikh riots that followed Indira Gandhi's assassinationin which major Congress politicians are alleged to be involved; but he remained resolutely positive on the promise of Indian democracy [ 27 ] and worked via Citizen's Justice Committee floated by H.

Phoolka who is a senior advocate of Delhi High Court. Singh was a votary of greater diplomatic relations with Israel at a time when India did not want to displease Arab nations where thousands of Indians found employment. He visited Israel in the s and was impressed by its biography of khuswant singh. Khushwant Singh was married to Kanwal Malik.

Malik was his childhood friend who had moved to London earlier. They met again when he studied law at King's College London, and soon got married. His wife predeceased him in He stayed in "Sujan Singh Park", near Khan Market New Delhi, Delhi's first apartment complex, built by his father inand named after his grandfather. Singh was a self-proclaimed agnostic, as the title of his book Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God explicitly revealed.

He was particularly against organised religion. He was evidently inclined towards atheism, as he said, "One can be a saintly person without believing in God and a detestable villain believing in him. In my personalised religion, There Is No God! I accept the finality of death. It earned a lot of acclaim in India. Singh died of natural causes on 20 March at his Delhi residence, at the age of After initial agreement, they had proposed some conditions which were unacceptable to Singh, and hence the idea was later abandoned.

According to his wishes, some of his ashes were brought and scattered in Hadali. In he had already written his own obituary, included in his biography of khuswant singh of short stories Posthumous. Under the headline "Sardar Khushwant Singh Dead", the text reads:. We regret to announce the sudden death of Sardar Khushwant Singh at 6 pm last evening.

He leaves behind a young widow, two infant children and a large number of friends and admirers. Here lies one who spared neither man nor God; Waste not your tears on him, he was a sod; Writing nasty things he regarded as great fun; Thank the Lord he is dead, this son of a gun. He was cremated and his ashes are buried in Hadali school, where a plaque is placed bearing the inscription:.

I have nourished them with tears of nostalgia Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item. Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician — Early life [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. Politics [ edit ].

Personal life [ edit ]. Religious belief [ edit ]. Death [ edit ]. Honours and awards [ edit ]. Literary works [ edit ]. Religion of the Sikhs lecture. Madras, University of Madras, New Delhi, Orient, Indira Gandhi Returns. Editor's Pageedited by Rahul Singh. We Indians. Delhi: A Portrait. The Sikhsphotographs by Raghu Rai. Benares, Lustre Press, My Bleeding Punjab.

Women and Men in My Life. How the Sikhs Lost Their Kingdom. Editor, I Believe. Editor, Love and Friendship. New Delhi, Sterling, Editor, with Qurratulain Hyder, Stories from India. Editor, Gurus, Godmen, and Good People. London, Probsthain, Translator, Hymns of Guru Nanak. Translator, with others, Sacred Writings of the Sikhs. Translator, Amrita Pritam: Selected Poems.