Darpan comes alive
“Darpan,” an autobiography of the late Risaldar Sunder Singh, which portrayed both the society and history of his times (1895-1990), came alive as my mother spoke at the release of the book in Chandigarh. It is, indeed, an honest account of a person who lived his life by values that were far higher than those we see in our times. He risked a lot for the freedom of the country from the British Raj, lost a lot, and never asked for anything, much like his illustrious uncle, Baba Kharak Singh.
Historian who won the Infosys prize
The Infosys Science Foundation is a not-for-profit trust set up by Infosys Technologies in February 2009 to promote research in sciences in India. Under the aegis of the foundation, Infosys will honour outstanding contributions and achievements by Indians across various sciences. The annual award for each category is Rs. 50 lakh.
A co-winner of the Infosys Prize in Social Sciences: History, this year is the Amritsar-born Upinder Singh, an outstanding historian of ancient and early medieval India. She was selected by a jury headed by the Nobel Laureate Prof. Amartya Sen. Her scholarship and dedication to her students is well know, even then, I was surprised at the work that she has accomplished and the academic recognition that she has got.
