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Collected Stories
Khushwant Singh’s informal and casual style and his ability to laugh at himself and others endear him to the reader. Irony is his sine qua non. He makes us smile, chuckle and finally laugh. The collection couldn’t have a better beginning than with the story Posthumous. It depicts his ability to laugh at himself even write his obituary and mourn his death, "with difficulty I check the tears... ." Along with this he tests the sincerity of his friends who either don’t turn up or come half-heartedly to bid him farewell. Enormous is the range of the stories—from tales about social customs and taboos to religious fanaticism and the way the world goes around us. The Mark of Vishnu, based on the hero’s belief in the worship of snakes, highlights the irony hidden therein as it costs him his life. Singh doesn’t believe in religion as such presuming it has done more harm than good to mankind. The Riot is a fine example in this respect. Hindu-Muslim riots have cost hundreds and thousands of lives in India and Pakistan. Ironically, it is the fight among dogs that to leads to tension between the two communities. In Zora Singh, he brings to light the sycophancy of so-called religious people. Zora Singh rises from a simple engineer to an MP. A known devout Sikh, he recites the sacred book religiously. Aptly does the writer remark "he sleeps the sleep of the just" even after having sex with the maid frequently. The last lines "Wah Guru Dhan Wah Guru. `85" explicitly say that corruption and womanising can easily go together with religion, hence the sycophancy comes under scanner. The Great Difference too brings the hollowness of rituals and the manner each religion claims to be better than others, while Paradise highlights dirty image of the Hindu religion. It also exposes how weak the human flesh is. All the way from the US comes Margret to India to get filth off her mind, but can’t resist the pleasures of the body and succumbs to it. The creative genius of the writer converts day-to-day incidents into engaging stories. Sikh Meets Sikh relates humorously how they meet each other abroad sending the reader into giggles. The use of ‘Hinglish’ here and there adds charm to the story. My Own my Native Land focuses on how bribery comes to the rescue of the harassed passengers at sea ports/ airports. The last line "We raised our glasses to a Jai Hind" heightens the beauty of the story. Mr Kanjoos and the Great Miracle sends us into peels of laughter. Typical Indian trait of lazing around and yet complaining about too much work is presented beautifully in Man, How the Government of India Run! One chuckles when the protagonist Sunder Singh, after taking cup after cup of tea and playing match in the working hours, tells his wife: "There is too much to do everyday. Woman, how you think the Government of India run if we did no work?" What a dig at our way of working! Among the stories based on social themes Wanted: A Son stands conspicuous. Our society’s weakness for a son rather than a daughter is the theme of the story. It is this obsession for male child that drives the protagonist Baljit (an IPS officer) down to the level of having sexual relations with the "lecherous" looking keeper of a "dargah" and begets a son! Bride for the Sahib, a poignant and moving story, centres around parents’ keenness to marry their daughters to an ICS (now IAS) officer hardly thinking over the suitability of the match. The loveable story Portrait of a Lady is a class by itself. He builds the image of such a real and warm-hearted granny as the reader feels his own granny is come alive in flesh and blood before him. The character is drawn so superbly that it touches our innermost beings. The writer’s casual and informal style says so much sans forcing a bitter pill down our throats. Towards the end, only a sentence or two give a new twist to the story. For example, The Man with a Clear Conscience begins, "I am a man with a clear conscience because I am a good man." He does save the thief from being killed by the crowd hardly inquiring about the poor man’s compulsions to steal. Still in the end, he proclaims, " My conscience was clear. I was going to sleep the sleep of the just." In the end I would like to quote from a popular news magazine, "Khushwant’s stories enthrall `85 the craft is of the finest `85 drawing the reader in, making him a party in the unravelling of the tale `85 an ability akin to that of Somerset Maugham `85 the ability to entertain intelligently`85." A must read for everyone who is fond of this genre.
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Khushwant
Singh, a stalwart of Indian fiction in English that he is, portrays life
as it is but with a smile on his face as if he enjoy watching people
around him. And the characters don’t land from the stars but seem like
the ones next door. It’s a bouquet of charming and engaging stories
that hold our interest till the end.