Truth, Love & a little malice

Khushwant Singh, (Punjabi: ਖ਼ੁਸ਼ਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ, Hindi: खुशवंत सिंह) born on 2 February 1915 in Hadali, British India, now a part of Punjab, Pakistan, is a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, is among the most widely-read columns in the country.

An important post-colonial novelist writing in English, Singh is best known for his trenchant secularism, his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit.

Khushwant Singh est une figure incontournable du début de roman anglo-indien. Né en 1915, il connut une brillante carrière d’avocat, d’historien et de diplomate mais, en1956 décida de consacrer un livre à la tragédie de la partition qui avait bouleversé toutes ses Valeurs :

« J’avais cru que, nous, les indiens étions des gens pacifiques et non-violents, essentiellement préoccupés par les choses de l’esprit… Mais, après les événements de l’automne 1947, il ne me fut plus possible de continuer à croire cela. Je devins un homme en colère qui voulut crier sa délusions au monde… et je décidai d’essayer d’écrire là-dessus ».

Train to Pakistan (1956) a été (et reste) l’ouvrage de référence sur cette période tragique. L’impacte de ce récit vient peut-être, en premier, de la puissance du réalisme implacable qui a présidé à sa conception.

Honors and awards

* Padma Bhushan, Government of India (1974)

* Honest Man of the Year, Sulabh International (2000)

* Punjab Rattan, Government of Panjab (2006)

* Padma Vibhushan, Government of India (2007)

Bibliography

* The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories, 1950

* The History of Sikhs, 1953

* Train to Pakistan, 1956

* The Voice of God and Other Stories, 1957

* I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale, 1959

* The Sikhs Today, 1959

* The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab, 1962

* A History of the Sikhs, 1963

* Ranjit Singh: The Maharajah of the Punjab, 1963

* Ghadar 1915: India's first armed revolution, 1966

* A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories, 1967

* Black Jasmine, 1971

* Tragedy of Punjab, 1984

* Delhi: A Novel, 1990

* Sex, Scotch and Scholarship: Selected Writings, 1992

* Not a Nice Man to Know: The Best of Khushwant Singh, 1993

* We Indians, 1993

* Women and Men in My Life, 1995

* Uncertain Liaisons; Sex, Strife and Togetherness in Urban India, 1995

* The Company of Women, 1999

* Truth, Love and a Little Malice(an autobiography), 2002

* With Malice towards One and All

* The End of India, 2003

* Burial at the Sea, 2004

* Paradise and Other Stories, 2004

* Death at My Doorstep, 2005

* The Illustrated History of the Sikhs, 2006