Page 125 - DENG103_English - I

English–I Sanjay Prasad Pandey, Lovely Professional University

Notes
Unit 9: Khushwant Singh’s The Portrait of a Lady

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction

9.1 Publications
9.2 The Portrait of a Lady
9.3 Summary
9.4 Keywords

9.5 Review Questions
9.6 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• Know how did Khushwant Singh establish his reputation as a writer

• Explain the story ‘The Portrait of a Lady’
• Explain the role of Khushwant Singh’s grandmother in the story.

Introduction

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 Ministry of External Affairs in
1947. He began a distinguished career as a journalist with the All India Radio in 1951. Since
then he has been founder-editor of Yojana (1951-1953), editor of the Illustrated weekly of India
(1979-1980), chief editor of New Delhi (1979-1980), and editor of the Hindustan times (1980-
1983). His Saturday column “With Malice Towards One and All” in the Hindustan Times is
by far one of the most popular columns of the day.
Khushwant Singh’s name is bound to go down in Indian literary history as one of the finest
historians and novelists, a forthright political commentator, and an outstanding observer and
social critic. In July 2000, he was conferred the “Honest Man of the Year Award” by the Sulabh
International Social Service Organization for his courage and honesty in his “brilliant incisive
writing.” At the award ceremony, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh described him as a
“humourous writer and incorrigible believer in human goodness with a devil-may-care attitude
and a courageous mind.” The Indian external affairs minister said that the secret of Khushwant
Singh’s success lay in his learning and discipline behind the “veneer of superficiality.”

9.1 Publications

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),

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