KHUSHWANT

SINGH
By: Ankur Singla
Class: +1 Commerce
 Early Life
• Khushwant Singh was born as Khushal Singh in the year 1915 to
the house of Sir Sobha Singh and Veeran Bai at Hadali, Punjab
(now in Pakistan).
• He spent his early childhood days with his grandmother,
Lakshmi Devi in his village.
• During time of his birth, births and deaths were not recorded so
his father set 2 February as his birth date.
• But according to his grandmother's assertion that he was born
in August, thus he set his birth date to be 15 August.
• His father was a prominent builder in Lutyens' Delhi.
Education
• He entered Delhi Modern School in 1920
and studied there till 1930.
• He studied intermediate of Arts at Stephen's
College in Delhi during 1930-1932 and
pursued higher studies at Government
College, Lahore and got his B.A. in 1934
by a "third class degree".
• He went to King's College' London to study
law and got L.L.B. in 1938
Career
◦ He started his professional career in 1939 and worked as an
advocate in Lahore court for 8 years.
◦ In 1947 entered IFS for the newly independent India and
started as Information Officer of the Government of India in
Toronto, Canada.
◦ He was a Press Attaché and Public Officer for the Indian High
Commission for four years in London and Ottawa.
◦ In 1951 he joined the All India Radio as a journalist. Between
1954 and 1956 he worked in Department of Mass
Communication of the UNESCO at Paris.
Career
◦ From 1956 he turned to editorial services.
He founded and edited Yojana, an Indian
government journal in 1951 -1953; The
Illustrated Weekly of India, a newsweekly;
and two major Indian newspapers, The
National Herald and the Hindustan Times.
◦ From 1980 to 1986, Singh was a member
of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the
Indian parliament.
Khushwant Singh
During Partition
◦ Khushwant Singh was also one of the last
survivors of India's independence generation.
◦ Before partition he resided in the Sikh
dominated area of Pakistan.
◦ Rioters attacked the village which started
bloodshed.
◦ He barely escaped being murdered
from Pakistan.
◦ The violence and the flames of partition
inspired him to write his first and one of the
most popular novel 'Train to Pakistan'.
Personal Life
◦ He was married to Kanwal Malik. She was his childhood friend who had moved to London. They met
again at King's College and soon got married.
◦ They had two children a son named Rahul Singh and a daughter named Mala.
◦ He lived in "Sujan Singh Park" which was Delhi's first apartment complex built by his father and named
after his grandfather.
◦ His wife died in 2001 leaving him behind.
◦ Actress Amrita Singh is the daughter of his brother's son.
◦ His grandniece Tisca Chopra is a noted TV and film actress.
◦ He was agnostic by belief.
Notable Works
Khushwant Singh contributed significantly to
the world of literature. Following are one of the
most notable works of him:
◦ Train to Pakistan
◦ Delhi: A Novel
◦ The Portrait of a Lady: Collected Stories
◦ Why I Supported the Emergency
◦ I Shall never Hear a Night
Awards & Achievements
Following are a few of awards presented to Khushwant Singh:
• Rockefeller Grant in the year 1966.
• Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan by Government of India.
• Sahitya Akademi Fellowship by Sahitya academy of India in the year 2010.
• Honest Man of the Year award by Sulabh International in the year 2000.
• Lifetime achievement award by Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest in 2013.
• Punjab Rattan Award by The Government of Punjab in the year 2006.
Death
◦ The great writer died of natural reasons on March 20, 2014 at
his Delhi's residence.
◦ He was cremated in Delhi and his ashes were brought back and
buried in his school at his birthplace Hadali, Pakistan.
◦In 1943 he also wrote his own obituary which was included in
his collection of stories  Posthumous. Under the headline "Sardar
Khushwant Singh Dead", the text reads: "We regret to announce
the sudden death of Sardar Khushwant Singh at 6 pm last
evening. He leaves behind a young widow, two infant children
and a large number of friends and admirers. Amongst those who
called at the late sardar’s residence were the PA to the chief
justice, several ministers, and judges of the high court."
Epitaph 
He also prepared an epitaph for himself,
which runs:
"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."