Of a multi-dimensional man
Pallab Bhattacharya learns a few lessons
Every time Khushwant Singh writes a newspaper column or a book, his admirers fall over each other to lap it up. The nonagenarian journalist-author has ensured that they do the same with his latest book Khushwantnama: The Lessons of My Life (published by Penguin/Viking).
The book carries all the hallmarks of a Khushwant Singh bookhis candid views on a range of issues from women, sex, liquor, politics, Partition, writing, journalism and food, racy and lucid language and neatly-arranged thoughts.
Not a single of the 18 chapters in the book under different headings puts you off and there is something for everyonewhether the reader is a food lover, enjoys his or her drinks, loves to read about sex, politics in the Indian subcontinent and more. He also airs his views on politics, politicians and the future of India; on what it takes to be a writer, contemporary print media and the challenges it faces from the onslaught of television news channels and on what religion means to him.
Reading Khushwantnama is like attending what Bengalis like to do so much'adda'.
In Khushwantnama, Khushwant Singh has given us some of his trademark views. For instance, in the introduction to the book, he says that even at the age of 98, he considers himself lucky that he still enjoys his evening of single malt whisky, relishes tasty food and looks forward to the latest gossip and scandal. "I enjoy the company of beautiful women; I take joy in poetry and literature and in watching nature".
The writer feels sad he has always been a bit of a lecher and looked at women as objects of lust.
"In my 98th year, I have little left to look forward to, but lots to reminisce about. I draw a balance sheet of my achievements and failures. On the credit side, I have over 80 books: novels, collections of short stories, biographies, histories, translations from Punjabi and Urdu, and many essays . On the debit side is my character...," Singh writes in the book.
One of the most interesting comments Khushwant Singh makes in the book is in the chapter "The State of the Nation" where he writes, "If India is to survive as a nation and march forward, it must remain unified, reassert its secular credentials and throw out communally-based parties from the political arena. Though the liberal class is shrinking, I sincerely hope that the present and future generations totally reject communal and fascist politics".
Turning to politics in the Indian subcontinent, Khushwant Singh says, "Pakistan seems to be crumbling faster than we feared….. and Bangladesh seems to be sitting on a time bomb which may explode anytime. We have to be prepared for the eventuality and the influx of more unwelcome refugees. We should keep things in mind when we vote for a governmentit should be one that is able to cope with these impending calamities".
Journalists and students of journalism would love to read the chapter "Journalism Then and Now", in which Khushwant Singh emphasises the value of not carrying any ideological baggage. He attributes his success as the editor of the now-defunct magazine "Illustrated Weekly" to his not carrying any baggage and "I came to it with a clean slate…. I never made any distinction between journalism and literature. They're both about communication…"
Khushwant Singh recalls that in his time as a journalist, "the editor was really the boss of his newspaper or magazine. Now there are national newspapers …but I do not even know the name of the editor because he no longer runs the paperit is either the proprietor or the proprietor's children."
He also gives a tip or two about a good magazine or newspaper. "A good magazine or newspaper should be a cocktail of different things. It is a competitive market so you have to constantly think of your audience, your readers and their interests".
In the chapter "Thinking Aloud", Khushwant Singh talks about disparate thingspartition, liquor, sex, language, greed, qualities of a good president of a country. We find the writer saying, "I have always believed that sex is more important than romance" at one place; and then at another under the sub-heading, "The Qualities of a President", that A P J Abdul Kalam was "the best President we have ever had".
Khushwant Singh says he has slowed down considerably in the past year or so. "I tire more easily, and have grown quite deaf", said the founder-editor of "Yojana", a government of India magazine, and former editor of the National Herald and the Hindustan Times dailies besides being the author of books like "Train to Pakistan" (made into a feature film), "I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale" and "Delhi".
Khushwant Singh says he his life has had its ups and downs but he has lived it fully. He feels he has wasted precious time in "pointless rituals" and "socialising" and spending years of his working life as a lawyer and then a diplomat, until he took to writing.
"I wasted many years studying and practising law which I hated. I also regret the years spent serving the government abroad and at home, and the years with UNESCO in Paris. Although I saw places and enjoyed life, and, having little to do, started writing. I could have done a lot more of what I was best at. I could have started my writing career much sooner."
Khushwant Singh's "biggest worry today is the intolerance he sees in the country. We are a cowardly lot that burns books we don't like, exiles artists and vandalises their paintings. We take liberties and distort history textbooks to conform to our ideas and ideals; we ban films and beat up journalists who write against us. We are responsible for this growing intolerance and we are party to it if we don't do anything to prevent or stop it."
All in all, "Khushwantnama" is an unputdownable book. Even if you don't agree with all the views of the author, he makes it a compelling case to take note of them. And that is where Khushwant Singh is a great communicator.
Pallab Bhattacharya, a senior Indian journalist based in Delhi, contributes to The Daily Star.
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