Life Was Like That Only

A child of the 1950s, Prabeen Singh belongs to the earliest generation of newly independent India, led by visionary leaders who dreamt of creating a utopian state for its citizens. Brought up in a Sikh family intricately connected with the politics of the time, for whom tradition and liberalism existed side by side, she learnt self-reliance early from holidays spent at Master Tara Singh’s home, and civility and elegance from her mother and her aunts. This heady account of the trajectory of her growth, records episodes from her life with a tint of wicked humor, interlinked with historic events, where the ups and downs of the Indian state are described from her completely personal encounter with some landmark developments. It is a charming and informative account of a strongly independent person who has lived life at many conflicting levels. The book is a fine example of memoir-informed narrative nonfiction.