Jokes and truths with lots of malice

There was never enough bad press for a man like Khushwant Singh. Was he portraying a more colourful life than he actually had?

After years of speaking the truth and the dirtiest of all the truths, in the best-selling books he wrote, Khushwant Singh hangs his boots. All the truths had to set him free one day, after all.  

It was his jokes however were what many of us would remember him for! Especially, since many of his originals are still being passed on, as 'new' jokes. In spite of his Santa-Banta and Sardar jokes, my favourite remains his 'Note from the Editor' joke. “We have something for everyone and some people are always looking for mistakes,” writes a harassed editor, probably tired of letters written to him.

His exasperation could also have stemmed from the amount of criticism he received for his unconventional choices. He was a Sikh who supported Indira Gandhi, more so an editor who backed her up during the much-deplored Emergency. Lack of sensitivity towards religious beliefs is also one of the many things that set him apart from editors who would watch their P's and Q's with balanced versions. Be it the famous, “God did not create us, we created Him” or “If God created us, who created Him?” After such statements, few would mistake Khushwant for God's creation.   

All these quirks made him interesting enough. There is never enough bad publicity for a man like Khushwant. I believe he tried to make himself look like he lived a more colourful life than he actually had. One of them was illustrated in his title of his book of essays—Sex, scotch and scholarship. Unlike many Patiala peg gulping sardars, Khushwant was not known to either an alcoholic nor extremely flamboyant. Surprisingly, his lewd comment increased as he advanced in age, making him the 'old man who would crack dirty jokes'.

At the same time he did write extensively about Maneka Gandhi's sex life. Controversy surrounding this book, however, produced an extremely interesting judgement from the Supreme Court, “Public figures have no private life.” Khushwant left nothing of his private life to imagination either in the same book which he tried to take Gandhi down, in his autobiography—Truth, love and a little malice.

The title of his book was derived from his famous column—With malice towards one and all. Whether it was a ploy to speak the truth with a disclaimer, or whether it was an excuse to say all he wants, and call them the truth, will remain a mystery. Now, forever.