Summary of The Book 'The Good, The Bad And The Ridiculous' By Khushwant Singh 

'Peop le can be divided into givers and takers, suckers and spongers - he was the biggest taker and sponger I have met in my life.'

'She was the stuff dreams are made of--hair knotted in a bun, ivory complexion, high cheekbones, full bosom.'

'He was a short, stocky man with a dour expression-he looked more like a bank clerk than a soldier.'

'She missed her step and, once again, collapsed on the ground, this time with a loud fart.'

'He was like a cactus-he hurt anyone he touched.'

In the course of almost a century of living, Khushwant Singh has been witness to the making of more public and private histories than most of us have read about. He has encountered, and frequently crossed swords with, many of the men and women who have been central to these histories and he has written about them with glorious candour. This collection brings together the very best of these pen portraits, some of which have never before appeared in a book. Among those profiled are Jawaharlal Nehru, Krishna Menon, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Amrita Sher-Gil, Begum Para, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, M.S. Golwalkar, Mother Teresa, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Dhirendra Brahmachari, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, General Tikka Khan, Phoolan Devi, Giani Zail Singh and Bhagat Puran Singh.

Insightful, provocative and unabashedly entertaining, The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous is, in many ways, an intimate, irreverent modern history of the subcontinent by one of India's most celebrated literary and cultural icons. 

About The Author of 'The Good, The Bad And The Ridiculous' 

Born in Punjab's Hadali village (now in Pakistan) in 1915, KHUSHWANT SINGH is one of India's best known and most widely read authors and columnists. He was founder-editor of Yojana, and editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India, National Herald and the Hindustan Times. His first book, The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories, was published in 1950, and he has published several acclaimed and best-selling books of fiction and non-fiction in the six decades since. Among these are the novels Train to Pakistan, I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale, Delhi and The Company of Women; his autobiography, Truth, Love and a Little Malice; the two-volume A History of the Sikhs; a collection of prayers and precepts, The Freethinker's Prayer Book; and the forthcoming Consolations and Lamentations. He has also translated the work of major Punjabi and Urdu poets and writers, as well as The ]apji and the Rehras: The Morning and Evening Prayers of the Sikhs.

Khushwant Singh was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1980 to 1986. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974; he returned the award in 1984 to protest the siege of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army. In 2007, he was awarded India's second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan. He was also honoured by the Government of Punjab with the Punjab Rattan Award in 2006.