Khushwant Singh, one of the best -known Indian writers of all times, was born in 1915 in Hadali (now in Pakistan).He was educated at the Government College, Lahore and at King’s College, Cambridge University, and the Inner Temple in London. He practiced law at the Lahore High Court for several years before joining the Indian Ministryof External Affairs in 1947. Among the several works he published are a classic two-volume history of the Sikhs,several novels (the best known of which are Delhi,Train to Pakistan, and The company of women), and a number of translations and non-fiction books on Delhi, nature and current affairs. The Library of Congress has ninety-nineworks on and by Khushwant Singh.
Setting
Khushwant Singh recreates a tiny village in the Punjabi countryside and its people in that fateful summer.When the flood of refugees and the inter-communal bloodletting from Bengal to the Northwest Frontier at last touches them, many ordinary men and women are bewildered, victimized, and torn apart.
Plot
It is the summer of 1947. But Partition does not mean much to the Sikhs and Muslims of Mano Majra, avillage on the border of India and Pakistan. Then, a local money-lender is murdered, and suspicion fallsupon Juggut Singh, the village gangster who is in love with a Muslim girl. When a train arrives, carryingthe bodies of dead Sikhs, the village is transformed into a battlefield, and neither the magistrate nor thepolice are able to stem the rising tide of violence. Amidst conflicting loyalties, it is left to Juggut Singh toredeem himself and reclaim peace for his village. Is he able to?
The Essay on Toba Tek Singh
Tek Singh is a satire on partition and its repercussions. The narration is reliable but not omniscient as the narrator is unaware of the motives and unspoken thoughts of various characters in the story. The story is set up in a time frame of two or three years after partition. The language is simple and deliberately repetitive. Toba Tek Singh is one of the most famous stories by Manto on partition ...
Recommendation
The story by Khushwant Singh even being a work of fiction is very close to reality in terms of the scenes that are created. The story has a tone that is quite depressing and touches the core of the heart. This book is a must read for all those who want to get a glimpse of what had happened as consequence of one of the most saddened episodes of not just of the history of the subcontinent but also in human history.
