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 is the author of classics such as Train to Pakistan , I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale (retitled as The Lost Victory ) and Delhi . His latest novel, The Sunset Club , written when he was ninety-five, 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 Ratan, the Sulabh International award for the most honest Indian of the year, and honorary doctorates from several universities. He passed away in 2014 at the age of ninety-nine.