I know this is my shortcoming, but I have rarely read two or more books of
the same authors. I read two of Khushwant Singh’s writings. On 19th
March 2014, just before the day he passed away, I was reading his latest and
last The Good, The Bad and the Ridiculous
(2013) which is jointly written with Humra Quraishi. The other one I read
is the well-known Train to Pakistan
(1956) which can be termed as masterpiece on Indian partition literature and here
I am not going to talk on that.
The Good, The Bad and the
Ridiculous (2013)
can’t be categorised as a serious writing but it has importance as it brings
parallel and alternative version of what is known. Due to a long life span,
family background, studies and professions Khushwant has encountered and
interacted with various (in)famous personalities. Recollections of those
encounters have made this book unique and special one. It’s a personal
narrative and consists some 35 profiles. It talks of various personalities
ranging politics, art, literature, film and many other fields. His take on
Krishna Menon and Jawaharlal Nehru is remarkable. The portions on Indira and
Sanjay Gandhi are not so critical. Further, it continues sketching other
fascinating figures like Muhammad Ali Jinnah, General Tikka Khan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, George Fernandes, L K Advani, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, V S Naipal, Mulk Raj, Dom Maoraes, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Amrita Sher-Gil, Chetan Anand, Begam Para, Phoolan Devi and so on.
These are not complete profiles
and range from 3 to 10 pages each. These are very personal thus subjected to
many other factors. Like Khushwant has been alleged of supporting the Gandhi family or their deeds over time
including the Emergency and he has explained rationale too. The book also shows
Khushwant as a negotiator as he did after the 1971 war of Bangladesh’s Freedom
and many other occasions using his connections.
As usual Khushwant is at his best in wit and humour. It shows his passion for
literature and language. It has various Urdu, Hindi couplets. The balanced
GOOD/BAD, SCOTCH/SEX/SCANDALS/SATIRE and many other aspects have made this book
engaging. It’s simple, readable, entertains readers and holds their amusements.
It also creates desire to know more about those personalities.
RIP Khushwant Singh, people will miss you.
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