Khushwant Singh

Khushwant Singh was born on 2 February 1915 in Hadali, Khushab District, Punjab (which now lies in Pakistan), in a Sikh family. He was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist, and politician.

His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him to write Train to Pakistan in 1956 (made into a film in 1998), which became his most well-known novel. As a writer, he was best known for his trenchant secularism, humor, sarcasm, and abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit.

Khushwant Singh was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974; however, he returned the award in 1984 in protest against Operation Blue Star in which the Indian Army raided Amritsar. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award in India.