Khushwant Singh, Upinder Singh and the History of Delhi
The Attic Delhi is organizing 12 talks at IIC on the history of Delhi. The first talk was very well received with a sold out crowd at IIC, overflowing into the gardens outside. Khushwant was articulate, funny and filled his talk with a lot of anecdotes. I do not have a transcript of the talk, but I do know it has been videotapped and look forward to hearing it.
Amardeep has written about Khushwant and his writings here
The Attic is proud to announce the first talk in a series of 12 talks at the IIC. Details of the others will be sent soon. The first is by Khushwant Singh who talks about his father Sir Sobha Singh
Sobha Singh was a 22 year old contractor working on the Kalka-Simla railroad when he visited Delhi in 1911. He was present at the Delhi Darbar at which King George V declared that the capital of British India would be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. He saw his opportunity and took it.
“Rarely was a man so identified with the birth of a city as Sir Sobha Singh was with New Delhi, translating into sand stone and marble most of the imperial blueprints of Lutyens and Baker. Few builders in the world have left behind as tributes to their genius such an imposing list of edifices encompassing most of the colonial face of Delhi as he has done.” This series of lectures and events encompasses many facets of the life of Delhi- its history, architecture, cuisine, music, environment, and the arts. We welcome you to these events co-sponsored by The Attic, India International Center and The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
tuesday 1st august
6.30 pm ‘IIC Main Auditorium’
“My Father, the Builder” By Khushwant Singh
The first in this series of lectures is by Sobha Singh’s most famous son. Khushwant Singh has written about every topic under the sun – the sex life of Delhi, his favourite women, Sikh history, Indian politics, humour including the best Sikh jokes in seven volumes and some forgettable comments on Rabindranath Tagore and Sanjay Gandhi.
He talks for the first time today about his father whose life was so linked with the building of Imperial Delhi. How a boy educated up to class five, feeling the lack of his education, studied English and many other subjects with a Maharashtrian tutor for two hours every evening after dinner for 15 years. How titles and honors were bestowed on him due to his enterprise skill, ability and integrity and how the best in the land, Viceroys, Generals, architects, bureaucrats, nationalists and politicians dined at his table. Khushwant Singh delves into family archives and talks not only about his father but about a fascinating slice of early 20th century British history peopled by a host of colourful characters, Lutyens, Baker, Walter George and Lady Willingdon. The enterprising Sindhi and Sikh contractors Lachman Das (who built Parliament House), Narain Singh (ancestor of the Imperial Hotel), Dharam Singh (stone & marble), Basakha Singh (North Block), and the skilled and unskilled craftspeople from Punjab & Rajasthan.
The next lecture is by Professor Upinder Singh.
tuesday 22nd august
6.30 pm IIC Annex Lecture Room
“Discovering the Ancient in Modern Delhi” by Upinder Singh
Most Dilli-wallahs visualize their city extending from somewhere near the Qutb Minar to somewhere beyond the Red Fort and recollect a vague connection between ancient Indraprastha and the Purana Qila. The more discerning might recall the famous iron pillar in Mehrauli or remember reading about the legendary seven cities of Delhi.
But Delhi from the stone age to the times of the Rajputs stretches much further than one can imagine. From an-open air shrine in the village of Tilpat to an inconspicuous mound in the village of Sihi and from stone implements in the area of Delhi University to the layers of civilizations revealed in archaeological digs at the Purana Qila in search of the ancient city of the Pandavas.
In the second of the Sir Sobha Singh Memorial Lectures on Delhi, Upinder Singh will take you on an illustrated, whirlwind tour of Delhi and will show you how ancient remains have a habit of turning up at the oddest places – at popular picnic spots, in farmer’s fields, in people’s courtyards and in small remote village shrines. She will tell you one of the many stories of how ‘Dilli’ got its name and how the ancient, medieval and modern rub shoulders in Delhi’s landscape. How broken sculptures of Ganesha and Vishnu are worshipped in goddess shrines in villages in and around Delhi. How an ancient iron pillar came to stand in the courtyard of a medieval mosque, why a medieval Sultan invested so much time and money in hauling two Ashokan pillars from Haryana to adorn his palace and hunting lodge and how these pillars got involved in a still continuing worship of jinns and pirs.
Upinder Singh taught Ancient Indian History for many years in St. Stephens College and now teaches in the History Department of Delhi University. She travels to remote sites and has an eclectic interest in many subjects ranging from the ancient history of Orissa to the evolution of Buddhist sites, from ways of understanding the inscriptions of Ashoka to explaining the early cults and shrines of Mathura. She is the author of Kings, Brahmanas & Temples in Orissa (1994), Ancient Delhi (1999), a children’s book, Mysteries of the Past: Archaeological Sites in India (2002), and The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology (2004).
Amardeep has written about Khushwant and his writings here
The Attic is proud to announce the first talk in a series of 12 talks at the IIC. Details of the others will be sent soon. The first is by Khushwant Singh who talks about his father Sir Sobha Singh
Sobha Singh was a 22 year old contractor working on the Kalka-Simla railroad when he visited Delhi in 1911. He was present at the Delhi Darbar at which King George V declared that the capital of British India would be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi. He saw his opportunity and took it.
“Rarely was a man so identified with the birth of a city as Sir Sobha Singh was with New Delhi, translating into sand stone and marble most of the imperial blueprints of Lutyens and Baker. Few builders in the world have left behind as tributes to their genius such an imposing list of edifices encompassing most of the colonial face of Delhi as he has done.” This series of lectures and events encompasses many facets of the life of Delhi- its history, architecture, cuisine, music, environment, and the arts. We welcome you to these events co-sponsored by The Attic, India International Center and The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).
tuesday 1st august
6.30 pm ‘IIC Main Auditorium’
“My Father, the Builder” By Khushwant Singh
The first in this series of lectures is by Sobha Singh’s most famous son. Khushwant Singh has written about every topic under the sun – the sex life of Delhi, his favourite women, Sikh history, Indian politics, humour including the best Sikh jokes in seven volumes and some forgettable comments on Rabindranath Tagore and Sanjay Gandhi.
He talks for the first time today about his father whose life was so linked with the building of Imperial Delhi. How a boy educated up to class five, feeling the lack of his education, studied English and many other subjects with a Maharashtrian tutor for two hours every evening after dinner for 15 years. How titles and honors were bestowed on him due to his enterprise skill, ability and integrity and how the best in the land, Viceroys, Generals, architects, bureaucrats, nationalists and politicians dined at his table. Khushwant Singh delves into family archives and talks not only about his father but about a fascinating slice of early 20th century British history peopled by a host of colourful characters, Lutyens, Baker, Walter George and Lady Willingdon. The enterprising Sindhi and Sikh contractors Lachman Das (who built Parliament House), Narain Singh (ancestor of the Imperial Hotel), Dharam Singh (stone & marble), Basakha Singh (North Block), and the skilled and unskilled craftspeople from Punjab & Rajasthan.
The next lecture is by Professor Upinder Singh.
tuesday 22nd august
6.30 pm IIC Annex Lecture Room
“Discovering the Ancient in Modern Delhi” by Upinder Singh
Most Dilli-wallahs visualize their city extending from somewhere near the Qutb Minar to somewhere beyond the Red Fort and recollect a vague connection between ancient Indraprastha and the Purana Qila. The more discerning might recall the famous iron pillar in Mehrauli or remember reading about the legendary seven cities of Delhi.
But Delhi from the stone age to the times of the Rajputs stretches much further than one can imagine. From an-open air shrine in the village of Tilpat to an inconspicuous mound in the village of Sihi and from stone implements in the area of Delhi University to the layers of civilizations revealed in archaeological digs at the Purana Qila in search of the ancient city of the Pandavas.
In the second of the Sir Sobha Singh Memorial Lectures on Delhi, Upinder Singh will take you on an illustrated, whirlwind tour of Delhi and will show you how ancient remains have a habit of turning up at the oddest places – at popular picnic spots, in farmer’s fields, in people’s courtyards and in small remote village shrines. She will tell you one of the many stories of how ‘Dilli’ got its name and how the ancient, medieval and modern rub shoulders in Delhi’s landscape. How broken sculptures of Ganesha and Vishnu are worshipped in goddess shrines in villages in and around Delhi. How an ancient iron pillar came to stand in the courtyard of a medieval mosque, why a medieval Sultan invested so much time and money in hauling two Ashokan pillars from Haryana to adorn his palace and hunting lodge and how these pillars got involved in a still continuing worship of jinns and pirs.
Upinder Singh taught Ancient Indian History for many years in St. Stephens College and now teaches in the History Department of Delhi University. She travels to remote sites and has an eclectic interest in many subjects ranging from the ancient history of Orissa to the evolution of Buddhist sites, from ways of understanding the inscriptions of Ashoka to explaining the early cults and shrines of Mathura. She is the author of Kings, Brahmanas & Temples in Orissa (1994), Ancient Delhi (1999), a children’s book, Mysteries of the Past: Archaeological Sites in India (2002), and The Discovery of Ancient India: Early Archaeologists and the Beginnings of Archaeology (2004).
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