Khushwant Singh speaking at a function while the author's grandfather sits behind

Save the Date: THE KHUSHWANT SINGH LITERARY FESTIVAL

When you do something that you love, not only do you enjoy the process, but you get goosebumps every time the universe throws a frisbee your way. I had a blast contributing to the anthology titled Home#ItsComplicated. And I thought that would be that, but then the universe was like, “Yeah, naah, we’re not done here.” Out of the blue, on a typical grey London afternoon, I get this call inviting me to speak about what home means — can anyone ever succinctly elaborate on that? I know I can’t — and not just any venue, but a platform named after a person whom I hold in the deepest regard. Someone related to me in a very roundabout way that encapsulates all of life’s idiosyncracies […]

When the Baby of the Family Got Married

“You just watch when Monty gets married,” he’d said as he brushed away his tears, “Then I’ll really cry.” This was vintage Sher Alam. Over the years, in multiple retellings of this incident, which happened when the eldest of our four siblings got married, the love and genuineness that Sher Alam, self-titled as Baati, the baby of our group, wanted to convey has never been lost amidst the laughter and mirth. As sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews came, they all developed their special equations with ‘Baati Dada’. I won’t lie; when the announcement of Sher Alam’s wedding finally came, there were definitely mixed emotions.  On the one hand, there was elation, excitement and curiosity even as to how the erstwhile kid, who, until recently, […]

BOOK LAUNCH: HOME #ItsComplicated

Each time I come home, it’s with a foreboding sense that this time I won’t experience the same ecstasy and bliss of returning to an innocent and purer cocoon that still binds and bonds me to my childhood. Each time, I’m happily mistaken. The airports and points of departure continue to keep pace with my journey of self-discovery, but my mooring, my anchor, remains steady as ever. Despite the changes to the scenery and the people, there’s a part of Pakistan that all of us carry within us. It’s that part that calls us when we’ve been away for too long. And it’s that part that always makes me feel like I’m walking back in time to an era where everything seems to stand still. […]