Khushwant Singh by Lakshmi Muralikrishna

A presentation on the illustrious life of Khushwant Singh, one of the greatest writers and journalists our country has ever seen.

1. KHUSHWANT SINGH BY, LAKSHMI MURALIKRISHNA 1 st Year PhD. Department of Agricultural Extension

2. EARLY LIFE Born in Hadali , Khushab District, Punjab (Now in Pakistan) The younger son of Sobha Singh Born as Khushal Singh Named by his grandmother Lakshmi Devi Pet name “ Shalee ” Mocked as “ Shalee Shoolie , Bagh dee Moolee ”

3. He chose the name ‘Khushwant’ “Self declared and meaningless” Delhi Modern School (1920-1930) Met his future wife Kanwal Malik Intermediate of Arts – St. Stephen’s College in Delhi (1930-1932) Higher education – Government College, Lahore (1932) Bachelor of Arts degree in 1934

4. King’s College, London to study law LLB from University of London (1938) London Inner Temple – called to the bar

5. CAREER 1939 – Practicing lawyer at Lahore in Chamber of Manzoor Qadir and Ijaz Husain Batalvi 1947 – Indian Foreign Service Information officer, Government of India, Toronto, Canada Press Attache and Public Officer, Indian High Commission, London and Ottawa 1951 – Journalist, All India Radio 1954 – 1956 – Department of Mass Communication, UNESCO, Paris

6. 1956 – Founded and edited Yojana, The Illustrated Weekly of India, The National Herald Editor of Hindustan Times on Indira Gandhi’s personal recommendation The Illustrated Weekly circulation 65,000 to 4,00,000 25 July 1978 – retirement 2016 – Enters Limca Book of Records

7. POLITICS 1980 – 86 : Member of Rajya Sabha 1974 : Padma Bhushan 1984 : Returned the award 2007 : Padma Vibhushan Openly supported nation wide emergency Votary of greater diplomatic relations with Israel

8. RELIGIOUS BELIEF Self proclaimed ‘agnostic’ Against organized religion “ One can be a saintly person without believing in God and a detestable villain believing in Him” Last book “The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous” (October, 2013) Critique of religion and practices in India Critically acclaimed

9. DEATH 20 March 2014 – Natural causes Aged 99 Mourned by President, Vice – President and Prime Minister Lodhi Crematorium, in Delhi He prepared an epitaph for himself

10. Here lies one who spared neither man nor God; Waste not your tears on him, he was a sod; Writing nasty things he regarded as great fun; Thank the Lord he is dead, this son of a gun.

11. HONOURS AND AWARDS Rockefeller Grant ,1966 Padma Bhushan , Government of India (1974) (He returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the Union government's siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar) Honest Man of the Year ,  Sulabh International  (2000) Punjab Rattan Award ,  The Government of Punjab  (2006) Padma Vibhushan , Government of India (2007)

12. Sahitya Akademi Fellowship  by Sahitya Academy of India (2010) 'All-India Minorities Forum Annual Fellowship Award' by  Uttar Pradesh  Chief Minister  Akhilesh Yadav  (2012) Lifetime achievement award by Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest in 2013 Fellow of King's College London  in January 2014 'The Grove Press Award' for the best fiction.

13. BOOKS The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories , (Short Story) 1950 The History of Sikhs , 1953 Train to Pakistan , (Novel) 1956 The Voice of God and Other Stories , (Short Story) 1957 I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale , (Novel) 1959 The Sikhs Today , 1959

14. The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab , 1962 A History of the Sikhs , 1963 Ranjit Singh: The Maharaja of the Punjab , 1963 Ghadar 1915: India's first armed revolution , 1966 A History of the Sikhs , 1966 A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories , (Short Story) 1967 Black Jasmine , (Short Story) 1971 Tragedy of Punjab

15. India: An Introduction The Company of Women , 1999 Truth, Love and a Little Malice  (an autobiography), 2002 With Malice towards One and All The End of India , 2003 Burial at the Sea , 2004

16. Paradise and Other Stories , 2004 A History of the Sikhs: 1469–1838 , 2004 Death at My Doorstep , 2005 A History of the Sikhs: 1839–2004 , 2005 The Illustrated History of the Sikhs , 2006 Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles , 2009 The Sunset Club , 2010

17. Gods and Godmen of India , 2012  Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God , 2012  The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous , 2013 (Co-authored with Humra Qureshi) More Malicious Gossip,  1989 (Collection of Writings) Sex, Scotch & Scholarship,  1992 (Collection of Writings) Big Book of Malice,  2000 (Collection of Writings) Khushwantnama , The Lessons Of My Life,  2013 The Freethinker's Prayer Book and Some Words To Live By,  2012

18. THANK YOU