| In a politically charged time, it's unusual not to put
politics on the cover of the magazine. Unless, of course, the reason comes in the shape of
an unusual person, a self-confessed "dirty old man". But Khushwant Singh isn't
just any old man at 84. Arguably India's best-known jokester, writer, historian and
eccentric, he's the author of the definitive history of Sikhs on the one hand and a
compiler of silly joke books -- which sell by the thousands -- on the other. Like him or
suffer him, the unkempt man is a disciplined, canny person who bridges a communication gap
that spans elegant Delhi drawing rooms to the common man. Singh's new book, In the Company of Women, is his first novel in a decade
and, as he hints, possibly his last major work. "He's always playing the jolly
sardar, the debauch, but in the autumn of his life, he just yearns to be recognised and
remembered as a scholar," says Senior Editor Madhu Jain, a long-time
Khushwant-watcher who got under his skin in an interview that
accompanies an exclusive extract from the book. The interview is vintage Singh:
introspective, scandalous and brutally frank in turn. He takes digs at himself as readily
as he offers blunt comment on politics and politicians.
You will find this as engaging as our other major feature
this week: the legacy of the heroes of Kargil. When Assistant Editor Samar Halarnkar, who
put the story together, travelled to the Uttar Pradesh village of Yogendra Yadav, the
19-year-old Param Vir Chakra awardee who was inadvertently listed as dead by the army in a
horrendous mix-up, the entire village turned out. In gratitude for having brought news
about his son who is recuperating in a Delhi hospital, Yadav senior, a poor, simple farmer
like most in this tiny village, insisted that Halarnkar take back a sackful of corn. This
simple gesture echoes the selflessness with which soldiers risked their lives to win back
Kargil. These emotions will linger for a long time. And it should serve as a bitter-sweet
lesson from a war that should never have happened.
(Aroon Purie) |
