On Dr Karan Singh
- Roopinder Singh
- Apr 26
- 5 min read
When Dr Karan Singh speaks, you listen and learn. The last fortnight was interesting. First came the book, I read Harbans Singh’s authorised biography of Dr Karan Singh. I then wrote the review.
On 18 April 2026, we attended the book discussion for A Statesman and a Seeker: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Dr Karan Singh at the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, organised by the Chandigarh Literary Society, headed by Dr Sumita Misra, IAS, who delivered the inaugural address.
Harbans Singh is well known to the readers of The Tribune as a long-time contributor. He is also the author of many books on Jammu and Kashmir, including an authoritative three-volume history.
The former Sadar-i-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir is no stranger to the city; two of his three children studied in The Lawrence School, Sanawar, and he has visited the city quite often.
In conversation with Dr Karan Singh was the Chandigarh-based author Aradhika Sharma, who is also well known to readers of The Tribune for her contributions over many decades. On the literary stage, she has a track record of bringing out the best from the authors she interacts with.
The chemistry between the two was evident from the beginning. Right at the beginning, Dr Karan Singh quizzed Aradhika Sharma about whether she had read the book. She proved she had by asking detailed, probing questions. This led to an engaging and revealing conversation. Dr Karan Singh was forthcoming in his answers and alert to the nuances of the queries, his age notwithstanding. You saw flashes of the Sadr-i-Riyasat, the scholar, the diplomat and the concerned citizen who, “without getting into politics”, expressed his disappointment that the long-promised Women’s Reservation Bill has not passed. At the end, on public request, recited Faiz. That was all last week.
Today, my review of A Statesman and a Seeker: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Dr Karan Singh has been published in The Tribune.
A rare, candid engagement with the multi-faceted Karan Singh in Harbans Singh’s biography
A Statesman and a Seeker: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Dr Karan Singh
by Harbans Singh
Speaking Tiger. Pages 512. Rs 999.
Roopinder Singh
In the mid-1970s, Dr Karan Singh came to St Stephen’s College to deliver a lecture. My fellow students were not known for patience and were often a difficult audience. The lecture started with a recitation of shaloas in shudh Sanskrit, followed by an explanation in fluent, polished English. Ah! The delivery! He had us in the palm of his hand; we listened with rapt attention.
I had heard him earlier, and many times later, but that event is vivid in my mind because it demonstrated the effortless ease with which he could transcend languages and deliver the essence of his thought.
Through public and personal interactions, one had built up a collage of the person who has been brought to life in ‘A Statesman and a Seeker’.
The subject of the book has been remarkably candid with the author, whose family background would make him a subject of the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. Yet the freedom Harbans Singh was given while writing the book is reflected in the text.
From the birth at Cannes, to a strict princely parenting style (seems an oxymoron, but you have to read the book to understand it), Doon School schooling, sadly interrupted—many facets fill in the colours in the life of a person who is well known, but one we don’t know well enough.
A painful hip injury took him to New York, where he would spend 11 months in Hospital for Special Surgery and convalesce in the Barcklay Hotel thereafter. The surgery had been difficult, and his physiotherapy was long—he had been in a plaster cast for a year. Yet now he could explore the city, see the beautiful billboards, plays and other cultural offerings of Broadway, even as he keenly followed the 1948 Presidential election. He would return as India’s Ambassador in 1989 and, in the short time he was there, have a significant impact.
When Karan Singh landed in Bombay, the reality of changed circumstances was immediate. Maharaja Hari Singh had signed the Instrument of Accession, and his power was considerably diminished. In 1949, Sardar Patel forced him to step down. Thus, Yuvraj Sri Karan Singhji Bahadur became Regent of the State at age 18, a position he held until 1952.
His wedding to Yasho Rajya Lakshmi, daughter of Rana Sarada Sumsheer of Nepal, was a grand affair held in Bombay. Circumstances had made him a loner, but his wife changed him, even as she, over time, repaired his relationship with his father and proved herself indispensable in his personal, political, and family life. She was his “anchor and harbour”.
The state’s political life and its relations with the Centre were challenging. He was the first and only person to serve as the Sadr-i-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir (1952–1965). Maharaja Hari Singh passed away in 1961. Leaders like Sheikh Abdullah and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, as well as the missing relics, made this period challenging.
Jawaharlal Nehru’s death prompted a move to Delhi and into Indira Gandhi’s Cabinet. In 1967, at 36, he was the youngest member of the Union Cabinet, serving as Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation from 1967 to 1973. He helped to modernise tourism infrastructure and Air India. As Minister for Health and Family Planning from 1973 to 1977, he drafted India’s first population policy. In post-Emergency elections, he was one of the two Congress winners in North India.
Harbans Singh describes Karan Singh as an ‘ever-learner’. His intellectual and spiritual progress form an interesting strand in his life. At Doon School, his refuge was the library, where he read voraciously. As Regent, he met Pandit Parmanand, who introduced him to Sanskrit. He also took steps to finish his interrupted formal education and received his degree from his mother, who was the Chancellor.
A PhD on the political thought of Sri Aurobindo followed. He has written several books and is known for both his company among intellectuals, his erudite lectures, and his support for cultural and interfaith activities.
The details in the book, direct quotations from the subject, his letters and other information make it a rich treasure trove for people who want to know more about Jammu and Kashmir and the man who was its Sadar-e Riasat. Harbans Singh has given us a compelling story with rich detail. He has avoided the temptation to succumb to obfuscation or sensationalism, even as he has explored multifaceted Dr Karan Singh’s life and times. Five decades after I first heard him, I saw his recent interaction about the book at Chandigarh. Yes, at 95, he can still hold the audience in his hand, as can his biography.
A shorter version of this review was printed in The Tribune on April 26, 2026, and can be accessed at: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/book-reviews/a-rare-candid-engagement-with-the-multi-faceted-karan-singh-in-harbans-singhs-biography/
Excellent review! Very nicely done, Roopinder!