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| KHUSHWANT
SINGH |
Writer and journalist, Khushwant Singh - without malice
towards anyone.
 Meeting
Khushwant Singh, that grand old man of letters, is like
entering Red Fort or exploring Purana Kila; he too has
that indefinable quality of timelessness that surrounds
all things that have endured. Born in 1915, he
knew Delhi when it was still a walled city - with only
scattered Gujjar villages beyond the walls - and he witnessed
the construction of Lutyen's Delhi at close quarters,
being the son of Sir Sobha Singh (the main builder
of modern Delhi). It's appropriate; therefore, that
he should be the first amongst Delhi's best.
When I asked him his thoughts on today's Delhi, he preferred
to retreat behind the walls of the Delhi he had known
as a child.
"The walled city had grace and charm. Life moved at
a pace that one could keep up with…. mujras, mushairas,
Chandni Chowk with its courtesans, the gracious courtliness
of Urdu, these are what I like to remember. Pre-partition,
Delhi was a very Mughal city, despite the British presence.
Indians, both Muslims and Hindus, did not mingle with
the British. We were happy with our own culture, our own
people…I find it very difficult to adjust to the Delhi
of today."
Yet, despite his preference for the old ways, Khushwant
Singh is a thoroughly modern man. Far from being an anachronism,
he is a trailblazer even today, at 85. He was always before
his times, speaking out forcefully against religious
bigotry and never afraid to call a spade a spade.
 "
I was the only journalist - Sikh or other - to
speak out against Bhindranwale and the demand for Khalistan
when I addressed a large crowd in Chandigarh. I was initially
heckled by a number of young men who, nevertheless, heard
me out because I wore the outward symbols of the Khalsa…
Later, at the end of the meeting; many came to me for
my autograph. I didn't escape the consequences of my speech
completely, however. Death threats followed and my home
was guarded by the police for almost fifteen years after
this."
Later, to his very great pleasure, he was honoured the
Nishan - e - Khalsa (an honorary doctorate of Guru
Nanak University) by his own community.
"It is very heart-warming to know that I have not been
rejected by my community, even though I have never been
a religious person and have always called myself an agnostic…Yet,
I have always had a sense of belonging to my community."
Always a maverick with a quirky sense of humour,
he has enjoyed standing accepted norms on their heads
and has had great fun shocking the establishment in an
almost deliberate manner as though by wearing masks like
a player in a Greek drama. Referring to his most recent
award: The Sublabh Honest Man of the Year Award that
which he received earlier this year, he says:
"I did say then (to the audience) without being facetious,
that had I been really honest I would have turned down
this award because I don't regard myself as more honest
than anyone else I know…and had it been a sum of 10 or
20,000 rupees I may have made the grand gesture… but since
it was ten lakhs I couldn't resist it! This caused
enormous laughter and applause from the audience…Indians
take themselves so seriously - they don't have a sense
of laughter in (sic) anything directed against themselves…I've
attended other functions for awardees and they (sic) were
so sanctimonious in their humility."
This short article can only give the reader a hurried
glimpse into the mind of a man who has been many things
to many people - but to Indians in general he has been
a teacher and a guide - deliberately opening himself to
scrutiny and even small-minded disapproval in his constant
efforts to be true to himself.
- Shanta Bhalla
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