K H U S H W A N T S I N G H February 2, 1915 — March 20, 2014 All that I hope for is that when death comes to me, it comes swiftly, without much pain, like fading away in sound slumber. Till then, Ill keep working and living each day as it comes, he wrote in the book ‘Absolute Khushwant: The Low-Down on Life, Death and Most Things In-Between’ in 2010. His wish was realised: Khushwant Singh Long innings as a storyteller Vandana Shukla Journalists rarely earn longevity with their writings, the kind Khushwant Singh earned. The daily, weekly or quarterly remains relevant only till the next issue hits the stands. But a few exceptions change this rule. It required Khushwant Singhs unique skill — of being prolific and yet never allowing his writings to be irrelevant — to strike that a rare balance that makes journalistic writing mature into literature. No wonder, retirement never knocked at his apartment door that had this written on it, Please do not ring the bell unless you are expected. No condom was invented for his pen, as he famously claimed. This made his readers receive a rich supply of novels, memoirs, collections of essays, short stories and even well-researched history books on the Sikhs. In a market where genres are invented to get fresh readership, Khushwant Singh remained a delight for his publishers — his books sold well and were translated into other languages. As is with most literary works, only few survive the vagaries of time to remain historically significant. Of all the literary works of Khushwant Singh, ‘Train to Pakistan’ will be read with admiration for its layered themes of love, loyalty and the horrors of partitioning a land, claimed by diverse communities for all times to come. Journalists are accused of recording history in a hurry, but Khushwant Singhs first-hand experience of witnessing this bloody chapter of history rendered a kind of immediacy and passion that is found rarely in the works produced on this theme. The pulsating life of a Punjab village Mano Majra, close to the border where Radcliffe had drawn a line, a local money-lender was murdered. Khushwant weaves many characters in this backdrop to tell a tale of trust and betrayal, and above all, of redeeming humanism. The village gangster Juggut Singh and his raw passion for the Muslim weavers daughter, the cowardly Iqbal Singh with his ambiguous identity and jingoistic communism, the corrupt magistrate with his circumstantial humanism for the nautch girl on a sultry pre-monsoon day are sketched with such realistic details that they ring a bell across cultures. The conflicts of loyalty are rooted in values that carry a universal appeal. ‘Train to Pakistan’ was published soon after Partition (in 1956) and was accused of lacking objectivity required for treating such a complex theme. As it turned out, the close proximity of the writer to the event and its characters became the strength of this novel. It was turned into a film by Pamela Rooks in 1998. Prolific, yet relevant •No condom was invented for his pen, as he famously claimed. This made his readers receive a rich supply of novels, memoirs, collections of essays, short stories and even well-researched history books on the Sikhs •In a market where genres are invented to get fresh readership, Khushwant Singh remained a delight for his publishers — his books sold well and were translated into other languages
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 13:30:23 +0000
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