Patwant Singh (28 March 1925 – 8 August 2009) was an Indian writer, publisher, and Sikh scholar. He was noted for his contributions to conservation and publishing.

Biography

Patwant Singh was born on 28 March 1925. The son of a builder, Singh spent his early years in the newly developing

Lutyens' Delhi Lutyens' Delhi is an area in New Delhi, India, named after the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), who was responsible for much of the architectural design and building during the period of the British Raj, when India was part o ...

, gaining practical experience in the

construction industry Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and come ...

through his father's firm, which proved more influential to his education than his formal schooling.https://web.archive.org/web/20120326225941/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/19/obituary-patwant-singh In 1952, Singh established a magazine publishing firm in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. His initial venture, ''The Indian Builder'', was a monthly publication focused on India's post-independence building industry, highlighting its challenges and achievements. He then launched ''The Pharmaceutist'', a magazine dedicated to the growing pharmaceutical industry, despite his lack of background in the field. Singh's next major publication was ''Design'', a magazine that critically examined

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

, and

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...

. The magazine, which he edited for 31 years, served as a forum for various professionals in these fields, featuring contributions from architects and artists such as Peter Blake and

Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...

. Relocating to Delhi in 1962, Singh's interests expanded to include political commentary, particularly focusing on the governance of post-colonial India and its reliance on Western economic and technological models. His first book, ''India and the Future of Asia'', published in 1966, reflected these themes. Singh was instrumental in the establishment of a statutory body in 1974 for monitoring new building projects and conserving historic structures in Delhi. During the 1984 Golden Temple crisis, Singh attempted to mediate between the Sikh hard-liners and the Indian army, reflecting his commitment to the Sikh faith. His book 'The Golden Temple', published in 1989, aimed to clarify misconceptions about Sikhism. In his later years, Singh wrote extensively on political and social issues in India. His works, such as ''Of Dreams and Demons'' (1994) and ''The Second Partition: Fault-Lines in India's Democracy'' (2007), critiqued contemporary Indian politics and societal challenges. He also authored ''The Sikhs'' (1999) and co-authored ''Empire of the Sikhs'' (2008) with Jyoti M Rai, providing insights into Sikh history. ''The World According to Washington'' (2004) was his critique of global military policies. Singh also chaired a family trust responsible for establishing the Kabliji Hospital and Rural Health Centre near Delhi, a facility aimed at serving medically underserved villages. His second wife, Meher, managed the administration of the hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Patwant 1925 births 2009 deaths Sikh writers Scholars of Sikhism Writers from Delhi 20th-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian writers