Khushwant Singh an Indian Author

Khushwant Singh was born on February 2, 1915 in Hadali in Khushab District in modern-day Pakistan. His father, Sir Sobha Singh was one of the most famous builders from Lutyens’ Delhi and was the renowned builder of the South Block and India Gate. He also constructed the Connaught Place Market Complex, All India Radio Building, Modern School, St. Columba’s School, The National Museum, Dyal Singh College, T.B Hospital, Baroda House, Government Medical College in Nagpur, and Pasteur Institute at Kasauli.

Khushwant Singh studied at the Modern School, New Delhi, Government College, Lahore, St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, and King’s College, London. Further he read for the Bar at the Inner Temple. He has been the editor of the Yojana, the Illustrated Weekly of India, The National Herald, and the Hindustan Times. He has authored several books such as: Not a Nice Man to Know: The Best of Khushwant Singh, Uncertain Liaisons: Sex, Strife and Togetherness in Urban India, The Mark of Vishnu and other Stories, The History of Sikhs, Train to Pakistan, I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale, The Sikhs Today, The Fall of the Kingdom of Punjab, Delhi: A Novel, Sex, Scotch and Scholarship, We Indians, Women and Men in My Life, The Company of Women, Burial at the Sea, Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles, The Sunset Club, With Malice Towards One and All, The End of India, Black Jasmine, Ranjit Singh: The Maharajah of the Punjab, Ghadar 1915: India's first Armed Revolution, Truth, Love, and a Little Malice and A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories. He co-authored Declaring Love in Four Languages with Sharda Kaushik. He has mentioned earlier that he wakes up at 4 AM every morning to write and he writes his columns by hand. He has personally known some of the avant-garde writers in Urdu and Punjabi from yester years.

Singh is known for his penchant of poetry and his secularism beliefs. He has also been a Member of the Rajya Sabha: from 1980 – 1986. In 1974, he was conferred the Padma Bhushan; however he returned it in protest against the siege of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the Indian Army. In 2007, he was conferred the Padma Vibhushan. He has also been vocal about his stance and cruelty of the anti-Sikh riots following Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s assassination. He has been optimistic about the democracy in India and has been active via the Citizen's Justice Committee.