17/10/2024
As the Khushwant Singh Literary Festival is about to begin in Kasauli, recalling this line from a book written by the master-writer, that left a mark on my approach to writing history.
A common feedback I get for my book, 565 : The Dramatic Story of Unifying India, published by Hachette, is about its writing style...readers tell me they find it immersive, as if they were right there sitting before Patel and Nehru, experiencing the events occur before their eyes. I am elated to hear this, because that is precisely the effect I desired to create through this work of narrative non-fiction.
And if indeed I have succeeded in any measure, it is because of what I have learnt from the work of my favourite writers - writers who bring history alive, who turn dull records into gripping narratives. Ken Follet is my absolute favourite (I could do a series on all that I have learnt from Follet's books!), William Dalrymple and Khushwant Singh.
This line in the biography of Ranjit Singh written by Khushwant Singh captures the essence of his approach. And also, in his typical tongue-in-cheek style, chastises the work of many a historian who bury the narrative in an avalanche of dates and footnotes.
#565
