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| July 31, 2000 | ||
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Worship Friends say nice things about the Sardar who is all things to all men-and women By Dilip Bobb KHUSHWANT SINGH: AN
ICON OF OUR AGE
Characteristically, Khushwant was amused by the honour. When BBC called him for his reaction, he quoted a popular proverb: "In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." Almost certainly, he will be equally amused by the contents of this book, a collection of impressions and articles by people who know him and, surprisingly, by people who don't. Whether the latter have been chosen for their literary credentials or their social status is a mystery. But it does take away from what is really an attempt to overstate the obvious. No other living author in India attracts the kind of familiarity and larger-than-life image that Khushwant has acquired. Whether by design or default, is just another of those irrelevant questions that swirl around the Sardar like the attractive young women he likes to surround himself with. The editor of this book, Kaamna Prasad, is an unabashed admirer and close friend, as are most of the individuals who have contributed to this collection. Consequently, the book offers very few fresh insights into his personality or personal life. Khushwant has revealed so much about himself, and with such honesty, through his prolific writings, that reading this volume is a little like seeing a favourite movie for the umpteenth time; you know the dialogue by heart but it is still worth the watch. Much of the attraction in this case is vicarious. Khushwant is such a colourful character, has led such a varied and fascinating life and has known celebrities and VIPs alike, that the literary deja vu is not unpleasant. Predictably, with the title it carries, this is one long and familiar paean of praise. His well-documented personal life -- scotch and sex-on-the-mind -- his career as a diplomat, his support for Sanjay Gandhi and the Emergency, his stint as editor of The Illustrated Weekly are all restated ad nauseam by most contributors. Some pieces are banal, others are oft-repeated personal vignettes. Which is why the most interesting parts of the book are where there is criticism, well meaning, as would be expected of anyone who knows Khushwant. Author Qurratulain Hyder, who worked under him in The Illustrated Weekly, writes about his gullibility and penchant for favouritism in the office, leading to mass resignations, including her own. However, the most insightful criticism comes from his son Rahul Singh, who quotes Shobha De as having said, "He does not take himself too seriously. The downside of which is that others tend not to take him too seriously." That is the crux of the Khushwant Paradox. The two sides to his persona. One, the popular, if erroneous, public image: the raconteur of lewd jokes, the dirty old Sardarji basking in the company of adoring young women. The other, the serious scholar and literary figure, the Khushwant who wrote Train to Pakistan and the definitive History of the Sikhs. It is this that inspires a trenchant observation from K.P.S. Gill, who writes, "It is the product of his serious scholarship and true literary talent that somehow got lost along the way, perhaps because he was seduced by his own public (and entirely inaccurate) portrayal, becoming, eventually, its prisoner." Apart from Gill, Rahul Singh and one or two other contributors, the literary content leaves much to be desired. Typos abound and the book gives the impression of having been put together in a hurry. Yet, as a tribute to a remarkable individual, "the quintessential liberal", one of the few writers in India shorn of hypocrisy, arrogance and humbug, this collection, and the award, are richly deserved.
Big Book of Malice Mahabharata
Drawings India-Pakistan
Ashes Of Fangs and
Feathers Looking Across Asian Giants in
Indian Works Indian Spice Economic Reforms
for the Poor |
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Any book that starts its shelf
life with the title An Icon of Our Age has to be viewed
with considerable suspicion. More so when the individual
concerned is Khushwant Singh, the quintessential,
self-proclaimed iconoclast. The hagiography masquerading
as biography is a registered Indian patent. This,
however, is not a book or a biography, but a festschrift,
a publication commemorating an honour bestowed on
someone. In this case, the Sulabh "Honest Man of the
Year" awarded to the irrepressible Sardar.