No. of Pages - 213
People can be divided into givers and takers, suckers and spongers-he was the biggest taker and sponger Thave met in my life.'
She was the stuff dreams are made of hair knotted
in a bun, ivory complexion, high cheekbones,
full bosom."
"He was a short, stocky man with a dour expression-he looked more like a bank clerk than a soldier.
"She missed her step and, once again, collapsed
on the ground, this time with a loud fart."
'He was like a cactus-he hurt anyone he touched."
In the course of almost a century of living, Khushwant Singh has been witness to the making of more public and private histories than most of us have read about. He has encountered, and frequently crossed swords with, many of the men and women who have been central to these histories-and he has written about them with glorious candour. This collection brings together the very best of these pen portraits, some of which have never before appeared in a book. Among those profiled are Jawaharlal Nehru, Krishna Menon, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Amrita Sher-Gil, Begum Para, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, M.S Golwalkar, Mother Teresa, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dhirendra Brahmachari, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, General Tikka Khan, Phoolan Devi, Giani Zail Singh and Bhagat Puran Singh.
Insightful, provocative and unabashedly entertaining. The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous is, in many ways, an intimate, irreverent modern history of the subcontinent by one of India's most celebrated literary and cultural icons.
