KHUSHWANT
SINGH - MASTER
OF THE PERIPHERY
I had long
decided to write on Khushwant Singh on
his death ! This was after reading his articles on the death of Amrita
Pritam and R K
Narayan both writers of great repute! What I found astounding was
that Khuswant was unfair to them. Instead of paying tribute to them on the tragic occasion
he talked of their private matters which I felt was very insensitive. Regarding R K Narayan he
narrated as to how he would continue to talk to his wife even after her death
and that once when he was with the
novelist on their visit to Singapore how
fussy R K was about the food and searched all around for curd and rice; further
he did not accompany Khuswant to the X rated films but was inquisitive to know of
it on Khuswant’s return to the Hotel where the two were staying. He was
particularly nasty about Amrita , whom
he boasted to have promoted by translating her famous novel on the subject of
partition- Pinjar from Punjabi to English . He
further complained that she did not pay him a penny for that and stated that
there were two types of people in the
world ;Giver and Taker and that
Amrita was among the latter.
Reading his
views on the two great writers I felt that death was not an occasion to say bad
things of people unless that person has
done some harm to society as was the case on the death of the Margaret Thacher ,when
the people publically protested the decision of the British Government to give
her a State ceremonial funeral; as she
was against the poor and during her reign among the many anti poor policies had stopped free milk supply in schools for
children. Khuswant had broken a social norm by simply saying –with malice
towards all…
However I
will be fair to him and would not run him down as he did to many in his long
writing career! He was a prolific writer and columnist and was followed in India and
abroad. His articles were syndicated in many newspapers and by his on admission;
earned a lot! I will therefore attempt
to carry out the correct assessment of the person.
I have read
him regularly in the Hindustan times columns. I have also read three of his famous books-
Delhi, his autobiography ‘Truth lies and some
malice’ and ‘Men and Women in my life’.. I could not complete his
history of Sikhs though I attempted it once. His famous book ‘A Train to
Pakistan’ also I have not read . His son Rahul Singh on his death has stated in
an article that his father’s lasting legacy would be his two works-‘ A Train To
Pakistan’ and his book on the history of the Sikhs. I was disappointed by
his comments on ‘Men and Women in my life’ in the book he made fun of the
curly hair of Chetan Anand and also was critical of Amrita Shergill; but showed
regard for ISJohar and Balwant Gargi.
He emerged
into limelight with ‘Illustrated weekly’
which he single handedly brought to the forefront as its circulation rose from
mere 60,000 to 4.5 lakhs during his long tenure . Illustrated also helped
Khuswant breakout into big league , however in
creative and commercial terms he could not match the
success with the Newspapers he edited .Maybe he was better cutout for
socio-cultural aspect than politico-economic!
Firstly ;
his writing was simple, informative and interesting. He had the knack of
knowing what the reader liked and therefore
related and highlighted those facts only, he wrote on sex and related
gossip which widened his base and his joke books were also popular. However his
book on history of Delhi is regarded very high
for its simplicity and narrative of the history of the city in a very
intimate manner . The book is recommended to international students in some
institutions in order to understand the history of one of the oldest cities in
the world. I learnt a lot of the famous poet Meer Taqi Meer from the book, it
traces through a journalist and a eunuch the history of the city from
Mahabharat till the assassination of Mrs Gandhi. His ‘Autobiography’ is exhaustive; named
‘Truth, love and a little malice’ it was delayed publication as it got
entangled in some legal issues with Meneka Gandhi, but on publication was
received very well, incidentally Meneka
was one of the many writers whom Khuswant encouraged and patronized and helped
her with her publication ‘Surya’. The Autobiography recounts his early days in
Baluchistan, his education in England, his unsuccessful legal practice in
Lahore, the partitition , his father joining the league of the great Thekedars
who built the Luetans Delhi! His joining
the information service and being posted to England, his joining the
Illustrated weekly, his days in The Hindustan Times, his rise as The Rajya
Sabha member, his fondness for Sanjay, The Golden Temple tragedy etc etc…
Among the
many facts what is revealed to us is that during one of the visits of Nehru to
England Khuswant was there and being in the Foreign service information
department interacted with Nehru and that Nehru treated him shabbily as he was
upset to see his photograph in the British press visiting Lady Mountbatten late
at night. It seems Khuswant carried the grudge all his life and was not favorably disposed to Nehru.
As the Editor
of The Hindustan Times , he invited the criticism of one Mr Menon, who
succeeded him as the Editor . Mr Menon in one of his articles in the paper
highlighted the flaws in the English language of Khuswant; it made no
difference to the admirers of Khuswant, and he continued to flourish, however
no one knows of Menon!
In my
opinion Khuswant was a lucid writer but there was no beauty in his writing, perhaps
that was one reason why he appealed to so many, he was a star writer not a
great writer! He also lacked intellectual depth. He was prolific , but often
profane .What he had in plenty was ‘social sense’, but less of ‘political
depth’. His fondness of Sanjay Gandhi and his policies explains his
limitations! What I also observed was that he did not give much importance to
religious writings , rituals etc , but
interestingly was regular in reciting the sikh prayer ‘Japji’ each morning. He
preferred literary pursuits in old age
rather than religious and recommended the same ,to which I agree. He promoted
many writers which shows his generosity and is visible in the wide ranging
tributes being paid to him. He was very popular in Pakistan and considered Punjabis of Pakistan as the
warmest hosts in the world! Though he wrote in English he promoted Urdu and
lamented its decline! His legacy is being carried forward by many writers the
foremost among them is Shobha Dey! She writes the similar substance and style!
How will the
future remember Khuswant? Perhaps as ‘ The Master of the Periphery’! As a
novelist and writer he would be never equal or match R K Narayan and Amrita Pritam
and as a journalist not comparable to Nikhil Chakravorty or Girilal Jain .
