"This above all; to thine own self be true", the first thing that the dirty old man said to me. This dirty old man lived an unbelievable 99 years before he took away with him his candour which was so often misunderstood as sheer notoriety. We're so caught up in the new that we tend to ignore the old and the wise. The wisdom found its way to me through 'Khushwantnama' - The lessons of my life by Khushwant Singh. Being someone who read him for the first time, I was taken aback by the initial pages where he proclaimed himself, unbashedly, a lecher.
This here was a man who couldn't keep still who wrote and pondered and read even at the ripe old age of 98! Reading Khushwantnama was like revisiting the afternoons I spent with my Grandfather where he told me stories which taught him lessons and the lessons in turn which taught him how to live. Except the 'Grandfather' here was a wrinkled man now retired to his armchair with some fight still aflame in his eyes and a glass of single malt whiskey in hi hands. I can't help but think whether he'd make a pass at me while sitting and talking to him(hypothetical in all senses, of course)
The book is an easy flowing 2 hour read, throughout the book Khushwant Singh talks about how it was his time to reflect and he does so with unwavering honesty to himself and to the reader. He opens up about matters taboo to most of his contemporaries. He writes of his affairs, his weakness for beautiful women, sex, religion, journalism then and now, Gandhi, Delhi and even the state of the country. However, what struck me most oddly and stuck with me was his fearlessness. He was a
fearless writer, editor and a stirrer of controversies. He was not only a man of his words he was also a man of passions; Urdu poetry, good food, literature, an avid admirer of nature and all things art.
He admits to the world and to himself his regret of studying and practising law when he could rather begin writing which he so fervently did after realising where his heart and his pen really lay.
My favourite parts of the book though have to be the little tid-bits of advise in a section called 'Twelve tips to live long and be happy' that not many would actually pay attention to. Exhibit A - "Don't eat much."; exhibit B - "A single peg of malt whiskey is good for your appetite."; Exhibit C - "Do laugh often." The sections on the art and the business of being a writer is a must-read for anyone with the slightest inclination to write or even to create. Surprisingly, none of his advice seemed preachy or had the know-it-all air about them, when things got too heavy to handle he lightened the moment with one of his trademark humourous quips.
Towards the end are mentioned excerpts from his favourite Urdu and English poetry complemented by excerpts from the Guru Granth Sahib and the Holy Bible. Honesty becomes him when he talks without frills of the matter of his imminent death. If there's two words that could sum
Khushwantnama for me, they would be 'Chardi Kala' - Ever be bouyant in spirits, never say die.' As I put down the book I smile knowing that the charm of the dirty old man worked on me, I'm going to pick up another one of his books sooner than I thought I would.
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