Manohar Singh Gill: An Officer of the People
Diaries from Home and the World
-
Commemorating Our War Dead
Read more here →: Commemorating Our War DeadThe Illustrated Weekly of India | June 18, 1978 The author recalls his correspondence with the Army authorities in which he had made a plea for a suitable memorial for the unknown Indian soldier. I come from a family of soldiers. An ancestor served in the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and possibly fought at…
-
Chandigarh: road sense and nonsense
Read more here →: Chandigarh: road sense and nonsenseThe Sunday Tribune, Chandigarh | June 11, 1978 Such is the chaos that one notices on the Chandigarh Roads Many years ago the road going past Safdarjung airport in New Delhi towards the Kutb Minar was christened “the murder mile” by an enterprising journalist: The reason was simple enough. The road was narrow, the traffic…
-
He Risked His Life For A Muslim Friend
Read more here →: He Risked His Life For A Muslim FriendThe Sunday Tribune | March 12, 1978 He sits opposite me with the inherent dignity of those born to the soil. A tall grey-bearded man with piercing brown eyes, Ajaib Singh looks one in the eye with the bold candour of a man who earns his bread with the sweat of his brow, a man…
-
Udham Singh: The Patriot Who Avenged The Jallianwalla Bagh Massacre
Read more here →: Udham Singh: The Patriot Who Avenged The Jallianwalla Bagh MassacreFor The Illustrated Weekly of India | January 30, 1972 The day of reckoning came after 21 years. Sir Michael O’Dwyer left the Punjab as Governor in 1921, censured for having condoned the killing of over 375 innocent men and women by General Dyer. Sir Michael was shot by Udham Singh on March 13, 1940.…
-
Movies – Chandigarh Style
Read more here →: Movies – Chandigarh StylePublished around March 30, 1969 These days everyone wants to have a good time. They all “want to enjoy”. How does one do that in an overgrown village like Chandigarh? There is the club of course. You can sit out on the lawn surrounded by lush green foliage, and drink barley water! Or you can…
-
A Punjabi in Cambridge
Read more here →: A Punjabi in CambridgeThe Sunday Tribune | February 23, 1969 l heard of him as soon as I arrived in Cambridge. The one and only Mr. Singh. We met a few days later. It was not difficult. He stands out even when surrounded by mini skirts and long-haired intellectuals. Introduction was no problem. I just went up to…
-
Part of Punjab in a Strange Land
Read more here →: Part of Punjab in a Strange LandThe Tribune | August 18, 1968 Thirty-five miles north of Cambridge lies Elveden Hall Estate, 20 thousand acres of rich Suffolk country land, around a stately country house. It is the seat of the owners of the Guinness Breweries. Elveden is also a model farm. And that is how I happened to see it. By…
-
Study of Law at Cambridge
Read more here →: Study of Law at CambridgeThe Tribune | March 31, 1968 ”Politics”, said Dr. Johnson, “is the last refuge of a scoundrel”. In Punjab the study of law is often, the temporary refuge of students, who have been wash-outs in their academic careers. Men who have struggled through to a third and don’t know what to do next, join law.…
-
The Curry at Cambridge
Read more here →: The Curry at CambridgeThe Sunday Tribune | November 12, 1967 In Cambridge one does not feel too homesick. There are a host of Indian students and some dons who can be easily picked out in a crowd by their familiar hues and precocious looks. There is the occasional sari or the kurta-churidar which brings elegance to the streets…
-
Khajuraho Temples
Read more here →: Khajuraho TemplesThe Sunday Tribune | August 26, 1962 Khajuraho, once the flourish ing capital of the Chandellas, is today a little village in the Chattarpur district of Madhya Pradesh. Except for its 20 odd, a thousand-year old temples, it is wholly insignificant – almost unknown. It has no official latitude, no longitude, no height above sea…