Writing of his own life, too, Khushwant Singh remains unflinchingly forthright. He records his professional triumphs and failures as a lawyer, journalist, writer and member of Parliament; the comforts and disappointments in his marriage of over sixty years; his first, awkward sexual encounter; his phobia of ghosts and his fascination with death; the friends who betrayed him, and also those whom he failed (less)

Tracing the history of this race from the inception of its religion by Guru Nanak, this book explains the turbulent history of the Sikhs, their faith in one God, their ten Gurus and the casteless fraternity of the Khalsa Panth. It chronicles their customs, beliefs, rituals, modes of worship, weddings baptisms, dances and martial traditions - the factors that make them an assertive and extrovert people with a zest for living.

The Sikhs are now prominent in all spheres of modern life. It is said that every Sikh looks upon himself as sava lakh (equal to 125,000 people).

The succinct, yet comprehensive and objective, text by one of India's most celebrated authors is enhanced by rare, brilliant and varied photographs taken by one of the country's best photographers who has explored (less)

In My Personalized Religion, There Is No God! Khushwant Singh, Over The Decades, Has Built Up A Reputation For Coming Up With Something New And Controversial In Each Book, And He Does Not Disappoint His Readers This Time Too. He Begins With A Chapter On The 'Need For A New Religion - Without God', In Which He Questions The Relevance Of God.

He Then Moves On To Describe How Religion Has Proved To Be More Harmful Than Beneficial And, In The Process, Debunks Astrologers And The Breed Of So-Called 'Godmen'. However, He Is Not Dismissive Of Religion.

Through His Lucid Writing, He Brings Out The Beauty And Significance Of Holy Books Such As The Bhagvad Gita, The Quran And The Granth Sahib (less)

Madan Mohan Pandey, amateur astrologer and scholar of ancient Hindu texts, finds to his horror that his doe-like bride is not quite what he had expected. Pious Zora Singh, Pride of the Nation, rumoured to be a chaar sau bees and a womanizer, silences his detractors by earning the Bharat Ratna.

Devi Lal makes his peace with a fickle God when his daughter-in-law delivers a son, following secret visits to the Peer Sahib's tomb. And Vijay Lall, emboldened by his miraculous escape from death, decides to act upon his silent obsession with Karuna Chaudhury, which takes him to a shifty soothsayer behind the Khan Market loo (less)

.as the last Viceroy and indeed when I stayed on as the first Governor-General of the independent country of India.

Lord Mountbatten A rare collection of essays that invites the reader to revisit a vanished era of sahibs and memsahibs. From Lord Mountbatten to Peggy Holroyde to Maurice and Taya Zinkin, Britishers who lived and worked in India reminisce about topics and points of interest as varied as the Indian Civil Service and the Roshanara Club, shikar and hazri, the Amateur Cine Society of India and the Doon School, Rudyard Kipling and Mahatma Gandhi.

Selected from a series of articles commissioned by Khushwant Singh when he was the editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India these delightfully individualistic and refreshingly candid writings reveal a fascinating array of British attitudes, experiences, observations, fond memories, the occasional short-lived..

. Read more » (less)

C.) or his ideas of a composite Indian woman, Khushwant holds the reader's attention effortlessly.

But that isn't all - years before terms such as 'gender divide' became popular, he was writing, thinking and sharing his views on them. His deliberations reveal an unexpected side to Khushwant .

. .

in these pages you'll also find a rare glimpse of Khushwant the feminist.Women, Sex, Love and Lust abounds with Indian as well as foreign myths, legends, proverbs, and poems ranging from Chaucer, Shakespeare, Whitman to Kalidas, Iqbal and Faiz.

Almost each page offers you delectable quotes from (less)

An important Indo-Anglian novelist, 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.

He served as editor of several well-known literary and news magazines, as well as two major broadsheet newspapers, through the 1970s and 1980s. He is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan the second highest civilian award in India (less)

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 (less)

Adidas s poster boy once, Fauja Singh became the world s oldest half marathon runner when he completed the 2010 Luxembourg InterFaith Marathon at the age of 99. Turbaned Tornado captures Fauja Singh s zest for life and his invincible spirit.

It traces the runner s roots and tries to capture his life s journey, understanding the impact of Fauja on the world around him. For Fauja Impossible is Nothing as he wishes to run a marathon at 100 (less)

.Perhaps his greatest gift as a writer is a wonderful particularity of description'--London Magazine Khushwant Singh first established his reputation as a writer through the short story.

His stories--wry, poignant, erotic and, above all, human--bear testimony to Khushwant Singh's remarkable range and his ability to create an unforgettable world. Spanning over half a century, this volume contains all the short stories Khushwant Singh has ever written, including the delightfully tongue-in-cheek 'The Maharani of Chootiapuram', written in 2008.

'Khushwant's stories enthrall..

.[He has]an ability akin to that of Somerset Maugham.

..

the ability to entertain intelligently'--India Today 'His stories are better than [those of] any Indian writing in English--Times of India 'The Collected Short Stories leaves the reader in a delightful, inebriated trance'--Sunday Chronicle 'He is not an ordinary short story writer..

.[Collected (less)

The significance of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, and its centrality to the religion are emphasized. The author discusses epoch making developments such as the setting up of Singh Sabha and the accompanying social reform, the decisive Akali agitation for control of various Sikh shrines and the impact of the Ghadr rebellion (less)

In the summer of 1947, the frontier between India and its newly-created neighbour, Pakistan, has become a river of blood, as the post-Partition exodus across the border erupts into violent rioting. But in the tiny village of Mano Majra, Sikhs and Muslims continue to live peacefully, their lives regulated by the trains that rattle across the river bridge.

Until a train comes to an unscheduled stop, and the villagers discover it is full of dead Sikhs. Mano Majra turns into a battlefield of conflicting loyalties that none can control.

In the stirring climax, it is left to Jugga, the village gangster, (less)

Variously lyric, satiric, tragic and fantastic, they are unified in their vigour and humanity. TThe anthology features a rich assortment of voices from both new authors and established names including Abraham Verghese, Manju Kapur, Githa Hariharan and Amitava Kumar.

With an insightful introduction by Khushwant Singh, one of India's foremost literary personalities, this is the definitive survey of a lively modern scene (less)

And every evening, at the sunset hour, they sit together on a bench in Lodhi Gardens to exchange news and views on the events of the day, talking about everything from love, lust, sex and scandal to religion and politics. As he follows a year in the lives of the three men--from January 26 2009 to January 26 2010--Khushwant Singh brings his characters vibrantly to life, with his piquant portrayals of their fantasies and foibles, his unerring ear for dialogue and his genius for capturing the flavour and texture of everyday life in their households (less)

And every evening, at the sunset hour, they sit together on a bench in Lodhi Gardens to exchange news and views on the events of the day, talking about everything from love, lust, sex and scandal to religion and politics. As he follows a year in the lives of the three men--from January 26 2009 to January 26 2010--Khushwant Singh brings his characters vibrantly to life, with his piquant portrayals of their fantasies and foibles, his unerring ear for dialogue and his genius for capturing the flavour and texture of everyday life in their households (less)

.Perhaps his greatest gift as a writer is a wonderful particularity of description'--London Magazine Khushwant Singh first established his reputation as a writer through the short story.

His stories--wry, poignant, erotic and, above all, human--bear testimony to Khushwant Singh's remarkable range and his ability to create an unforgettable world. Spanning over half a century, this volume contains all the short stories Khushwant Singh has ever written, including the delightfully tongue-in-cheek 'The Maharani of Chootiapuram', written in 2008.

'Khushwant's stories enthrall..

.[He has]an ability akin to that of Somerset Maugham.

..

the ability to entertain intelligently'--India Today 'His stories are better than [those of] any Indian writing in English--Times of India 'The Collected Short Stories leaves the reader in a delightful, inebriated trance'--Sunday Chronicle 'He is not an ordinary short story writer..

.[Collected (less)