Why I Supported the Emergency Essays and Profiles

‘The Emergency has become a synonym for obscenity. Even men and women who were pillars of Emergency rule and misused their positions to harass innocent people against whom they had personal grudges try to distance themselves from their past in the hope that it will fade out of public memory forever. We must not allow them to get away with it’ says Khuswant Singh while fearlessly stating his own reasons for championing the Emergency. This bold and thought-provoking collection includes essays on Indira Gandhi’s government the Nanavati Commission’s report on the 1984 riots and the riots themselves as well as captivating pieces on the art of kissing and the importance of bathing. Alongside these are portraits of historical figures such as Bahadur Shah Zafar General Dyer Ghalib and Maharaja Ranjit Singh as well as candid profiles of the famous personalities he has known over the years revealing intimate details about their lives and characters. From his reflections on Amrita Sher-Gil’s alleged promiscuity to the experience of watching a pornographic film with a stoic R.K. Narayan this is Khuswant Singh at his controversial and iconoclastic best. Selected and edited by Sheela Reddy Why I Supported the Emergency Essays and Profiles covers three quarters of a century. Straight from the heart this is unadulterated Khuswant Singh. Review A potpourri of Khushwant s writings ... Brutally frank and honest. --Caravan About the Author Khushwant Singh was India’s best-known writer and columnist. He was founder-editor of Yojana and editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India the National Herald and Hindustan Times. He is the author of classics such as Train to Pakistan I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale and Delhi. His latest novel The Sunset Club written when he was ninety-five was published by Penguin Books in 2010. His non-fiction includes the classic two-volume A History of the Sikhs a number of translations and works on Sikh religion and culture Delhi nature current affairs and Urdu poetry. His autobiography Truth Love and a Little Malice was published by Penguin Books in 2002. Khushwant Singh was a member of Parliament from 1980 to 1986. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 but returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the Indian Army. In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan. Among the other awards he has received are the Punjab Ratan the Sulabh International award for the most honest Indian of the year and honorary doctorates from several universities. He passed away in 2014 at the age of ninety-nine.Sheela Reddy has been a journalist for over thirty years and has known Khuswant Singh for almost as long. For the last eight years she has been the books editor of the leading news magazine Outlook where she has written extensively on books writers and publishing business. Her writing has appeared in literary magazines and in several anthologies including Penguin’s First Proof and Chasing the Good Life.