Khushwant Singh was India's best-known writer and columnist. He was founder-editor of Yojana and editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India, The National Herald and Hindustan Times. He authored classics such as Train to Pakistan, I shall Not Hear the Nightingale and Delhi. His latest novel, The Sunset Club, written when he was 95, was published by Penguin Books in 2010. His non-fiction includes the classic two-volume A History of the Sikhs, a number of translations and works on Sikh religion and culture, Delhi, nature, current affairs and Urdu poetry. His autobiography, Truth, Love and a Little Malice, was published by Penguin Books in 2002. Khushwant Singh was a member of Parliament from 1980 to 1986. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 but returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the storming of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the Indian Army. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan. Among the other awards he has received are the Punjab Ratna, the Sulabh International award for the most honest Indian of the year, and honorary doctorates from several universities.
Rana P. Behal taught history at Deshbandhu College, University of Delhi. He has also held teaching assignments at Cornell University, Syracuse University and Oberlin College. He was a fellow at Neh
Angana P. Chatterji is a feminist anthropologist and historian of the present. Her recent writings include the co-edited volume, Contesting Nation: Gendered Violence in South Asia (Zubaan, 2012), L
Maitreyee Chaudhuri is retired professor, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She has written extensively on different aspects of gender studies and on the cultural
Ismat Chughtai is one of Urdu’s most important writers. Feminist by instinct, long before it was fashionable to be one, she was a progressive who knew that literature changes more lives than politic
