To be able to live a whole
century and relish that life to the fullest is a rare blessing. Khushwant Singh (2 Feb 1915 – 20 March 2014)
is one of those blessed souls. It would
be preposterous to wish his soul eternal rest since he had no such
beliefs. Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God! is the title of one of his many
books.
He was a prolific
writer. A popular writer, I should
say. I don’t consider him a great writer
although he could have been one, as evidenced by his novel, A Train to Pakistan. He was also a very
knowledgeable person as revealed by some of his books on Sikhism
particularly. But he chose to write for
the masses. Probably, his acute
awareness of the absurdity of human existence prompted him to do that.
What appeals to me about
Khushwant Singh is his sheer forthrightness.
With malice towards one and all,
as the title of one of his newspaper columns proclaimed tongue-in-cheek. It was not malice at all, however; it was
plain honesty, utter lack of hypocrisy. He had no pretensions. He spoke out what he believed was the
truth. He refused to put on masks.
In some ways he was like
the gargoyles erected on old, grand buildings.
The gargoyles saved the building from the ravaging effects of rainwater. Khushwant Singh grinned or even snarled at us
like the gargoyles. But we knew there
was the typically humorous, fun-loving Sardarji smiling away behind those grins
and snarls. We also knew that the
Sardarji had much more to offer than his quirky grins and risqué jokes.
“Not forever
does the bulbul sing
In balmy shades of bowers,
Not forever lasts the spring
Nor ever blossom the flowers.
Not forever reigneth joy,
Sets the sun on days of bliss,
Friendships not forever last,
They know not life, who know not this.” [A Train to Pakistan]
In balmy shades of bowers,
Not forever lasts the spring
Nor ever blossom the flowers.
Not forever reigneth joy,
Sets the sun on days of bliss,
Friendships not forever last,
They know not life, who know not this.” [A Train to Pakistan]
Such a fine eulogy
ReplyDeleteThanks, Amrit. Khushwant perhaps deserves more!
DeleteHe is and always be a real gem.
ReplyDeleteHe had certain unique and outstanding qualities.
DeleteA Train to Pakistan remains one of the most haunting books I've read.
ReplyDeleteThe Partition-generated violence remains one of the most painful events in our history...
DeleteWell ! if anything perfectly explains his work its the word "Paradoxical " - "He spoke out what he believed was the truth." I am not sure... he lived in interesting times and was interesting being ... RIP
ReplyDeleteWell, Sachin, for Khushwant Singh a beautiful woman's smiling face would have been a greater truth than facts like water is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen.
DeleteA great tribute!
ReplyDeleteThe news really shocked me, as incidentally I'm midway through his autobiography these days:(
We'll miss some humour, no doubt.
DeleteWish there were many like him, who would speak their mind and let the reader decide. We are not that lucky!
ReplyDeleteNo, indeed, Pattu... Most people want to ram their truths down our throats.
DeleteI have read a couple of his books and some of his columns. Loved that he lived life on his own terms. A fitting obituary.
ReplyDeleteHe'll always be missed in fonts He wrote
ReplyDeleteHi there,
ReplyDeleteIndeed, you have summed it up quite nicely here. His honesty was what distinguished him from his peers. Maybe he did it consciously to demarcate his differentiation.
Great post, keep it coming. And yes, RIP Khushwant Singh.
Regards
Jay
My Blog
Well written Tribute to a legend.
ReplyDeleteNoone can replace him for sure. Thanks for the post Sir.
very well written
ReplyDeleteRIP khushwant singh.
A well rounded account of the great man who did not fear to express his true feelings & expose his earthy self.Thanks for posting
ReplyDelete