Khushwant Slngh (1915-2014) authored over fifty books, including A Train to Pakistan, two volumes of the History and Religion of the Sikhs, which is still considered the most authoritative writing on the subject, innumerable collections of short stories and articles as well as translations of Urdu and Punjabi works. He was also the editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India. His acerbic pen, his wit and humour, and, most of all, his ability to laugh at himself made him immensely popular. Roshni Singh, who has edited other selections of Khushwant Singh's writings, is also the author of seven books on cookery published in the US, the UK and India.
This selection of Khushwant Singh's prose is like the man himself: blunt, perceptive, incorrigibly provocative, often amusing but always bubbling with life. The book includes candid portrayals of public personalities such as Zail Singh, Rajiv Gandhi, Nani Palkhivala, Rajni Patel and Nargis Dutt. There are also vivid portrayals of public personalities such as Zail Singh, Rajiv Gandhi, Nani Palkhivala, Rajni Patel and Nargis Dutt. There are also vivid portraits of places such as Delhi, Amritsar, Goa, Lucknow, Bhopal and Hyderabad. Then there are his musings on such issues as communalism, terrorism and bride burning, still as vivid today as when the pieces were first written.
