“Khush Raho, Khushwantji” : Khushwant Singh, RIP

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Khushwant Singh, Operation Blue Star, The Emergency in India, The Illustrated Weekly of India

Last week, I was saddened to hear about the demise of one of India’s most prolific writers and editors, Mr Khushwant Singh. For many like me who grew up in India, he remained a larger than life figure who was known to be outspoken, firm on what he stood for (though not everyone may subscribe to his views) and often controversial. These perhaps hid another part of his life which was that he was a prolific writer who covered a variety of subjects over the decades by way of his published work. Some knew of him as a historian, with his History of the Sikhs being a top-notch contribution to the story of that illustrious race to which he himself belonged to. Others remember him for his novels, including that moving story, “The Last Train To Pakistan.” I read this decades ago but I still remember the story quite vividly. Yet others may remember him for his fund of jokes bordering on the risqué which he published in book form.

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India’s General Elections 1977-2009

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A B Vajpayee, India's General Elections, Indira Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

Last week, I posted “My View of India’s General Elections” and covered the period 1951 to 1977. The objective was to share thoughts of major events that took place at the time of the General Elections. 1951 was a natural year to start since I happened to be born in this year and the First General Elections took place then.

My View of India’s General Elections (1951-1977)

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General Elections in India, India, Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, The Emergency in India

I know at least two people who were born in India, not just on August 15 but on August 15 of 1947. You can quite easily guess what they were named. “Swatantra” means “freedom” so these boys were named Swatantran and Swatantra Kumar reflecting how this sentiment held sway both in the South and the North of India. They entered a world when India became independent after decades under the British Raj. We then became a democratic Republic in 1950 and started having General Elections, usually once in 5 years.

The Rule of Law Prevails. Even for Sahara Shri.

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Sahara Case in Supreme Court, Subrata Roy, Supreme Court of India

Yesterday we derived confidence that the rule of law which we often skeptically say is plummeting in India and is often considered to be more absent than present finally made itself felt. The Supreme Court packed off “Sahara Shri” Subrata Roy to Tihar Jail as a common prisoner for his inability to come out with a concrete action plan to pay back Rs. 19,000 crores due to his investors.