A person worth emulating
By Reeta Sharma

TILL 1984, I knew Khushwant Singh through his books. He was already a writer of great repute. Whether he is writing on politics, philosophy, history, theology or whatever else, Khushwant Singh always lends it his own particular charm. He is specially known for his wit and humour and the deft light touches that he brings in his work on even the most serious subjects. He is never frivolous and always eminently readable.

However, his writings are received differently by different people. There is a section of his readers who love to hate him and refer to him in a derisive sort of manner. There are others who analyse his writings clinically and rate them quite high. Whatever the reactions of these two sets of people, one thing is sure--- you can’t ignore him.

I have read his books thoroughly and even repeatedly over the years. It is an old habit with me to re-read books that I have liked in order to appreciate them and understand their writers better. For example, my perception of Chekov and Bertrand Russell changed enormously when I re-read some of their books recently. In the case of Khushwant Singh, re-reading has often helped me grasp more fully those delicate turns of phrases and the felicity with which he uses the language. In fact, it is my ambition to write like Khushwantji.

Though he is 85, he has a stamina and discipline that would shame any teenager. I once asked him about it. He just laughed it off. Later, he wrote in one of his columns that the credit for his stamina for writing and strict discipline went to his wife. "She made sure throughout my life that I follow the dictum of early to bed, early to rise".

My first encounter with him was in 1984, at the Sri Ram Centre auditorium in New Delhi. He was watching my play, Goodman Di Laltain, a Punjabi musical comedy which was a political satire on terrorism. He laughed so much that he literally fell off the chair. Late Charanjit Singh of the then Coca-Cola fame was the sponsorer of the show. He and Mrs Khushwant Singh helped him back to the chair. After the play was over, Khushwant Singh came back-stage and demanded to see me. "Are you the same Reeta Sharma who writes for Sunday magazine?" "Yes", I said."Oh, so you are from our biradiri of marassi patrakars". Everybody laughed for he was having a dig at me. I had played the role of a marassan in the play. He then invited me for lunch the next day.

His wife received me with a huge warm smile and said, "You succeeded in pushing him off his chair".

Over the years, my admiration for him has changed into reverence. It is not only his scholarly works that have impressed me. His personality, too, has left an indelible impression on my mind. He is a man of elegance and culture who provides intellectual stimulation through his candid and critical observations. Today, he is, perhaps, the only writer who has written on a variety of subjects. His two volumes on Sikh history are not only well researched, but also remarkably dispassionate in analysing the history of the community. For years I have been using these volumes as my guides to Sikh history while reporting on Punjab politics.

His Hymns of Guru Nanak is also the best book for any stranger keen on Sikhism. His other books, India and We Indians would interest people of any age group. Delhi is another of his books which gripped me. But I could not bring myself to read it without covering its explicit jacket. Nonetheless, I have often presented this book to teenagers who say, "I hate history".

His novels, The Train to Pakistan and I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale are finest examples of creative writing.

He is a multi-faceted personality. Besides writing on a variety of subjects, he is the best speaker I have ever heard. He is always extremely interesting, full of a sense of humour and intensity of thought. He commands the full attention of each person in the audience and holds it throughout his speech. No wonder he gets invited to all the best places. Besides, he is the only columnist whose columns are translated and published in various languages and, undoubtedly, he is the most widely read columnist.

However, it is not that Khushwant Singh is Mr Perfect. After all, he is a human being like any one of us. If he has such remarkable traits to his personality, he suffers from some flaws as well. His tragedy is that he was born with a silver spoon in the mouth. He never struggled, and, therefore, the richness of some specific types of experiences has not rubbed off on him. With his outstanding intelligence he could observe poverty, scarcity and constant denials but he could never feel the pain and indignity that they often cause. His recent remarks on the Sahitya Akademies, condemning their existence and demanding a ban on them, are primarily born out of the lack of struggle in his own life.

There is no denying the fact that most of the akademies have become addas which dole out favours to pseudo intellectuals. But these very akademies have also honoured writers like Mohan Bhandari, S.S. Dheer, Sant Singh Sekhon, Kulwant Singh Virk, etc. They also promote some genuine writers even if they have to do it to build up up their own legitimacy. Nevertheless, his remarks, as Rama Rattan puts it, are " a mere emotional reaction". Whatever, I would still always admire Khushwant Singh as a dispassionate historian, a great creative writer, a wonderful speaker and a muhphutt critic of the politicians and bureaucrats.