Khushwant Singh: Power-packed life and works

, March 20:It is hard to believe that we lost

, but it goes without saying that his verses will continue to be with us. Like his verses, his novels and literary works were a powerhouse of history, nostalgia, and memories of partition.

Life

Khushwant Singh was born in Hadali district of Khushab, Pakistan Punjab on February 2, 1915. Married to Kawal Malik, he studied in St. Stephen's College, Delhi and King's College London.

A secular Indo-Anglian novelist, Singh's humor was more of acid wit than "spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions". This was soubled because of his experiences in writing for various magazines and newspapers. Few of them being The National Herals, the Hindustan Times, The Illustrated Weekly of India.

His readership grew manifold as he stepped into media as a journalist and an editor. The Illustrated Weekly, for instance, became India's top newsweekly, with its circulation raising from 65,000 to a whopping 400000.

He has been an ardent political critic and was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986.

Works

Recipient of India's second highest civilian award-Padma Vibhushan, Singh's works were influenced by characters who have a strong footing in history, especially the Partition of India.

Secularist as a person and a writer, Singh was against the caste system and the social hierarchy based on that. His works range from political commentary and contemporary satire to outstanding translations of Sikh religious texts and Urdu poetry.

Some of his most famous books include 'Delhi', 'Train to Pakistan', 'A History of the Sikhs', 'Women and Men in my Lives', 'The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab' and many others.