Shooting for cover of Khushwant’s book in a tearing hurry and meeting the ‘women in his life’

Ace journalist vividly recalls the photo shoot at Khushwant Singh’s residence at Sujan Singh Park near Khan Market in Delhi

PICTURE TALK/By NK Sareen

One morning, Khushwant ji [Singh] called me up and asked how soon I could reach his residence, as he needed me to shoot a cover for his forthcoming book titled ‘Women and Men in My Life’. He also made clear it had to be done in a great hurry. He had already called two young women for the same, the book was completely ready, and the cover picture had to be shot that day and handed to the publishers by the evening for printing. The legendary journalist had always reposed so much trust in me and knew I would never refuse him, come any circumstance, and, most importantly, I was capable of doing the job entrusted to me, that I had never made an excuse or failed him once.

On reaching his residence in Sujan Singh Park, near Khan Market, Khushwant ji introduced me to the two women who were going to be part of the cover and who were already waiting for me for the shoot. One of them was Kamna Prasad, the granddaughter of the first President of India, Dr Rajendra Prasad, if I remember correctly, and the second was Sadia Dehalvi, whom I had never met but her name rang familiar to me. Both the young ladies were going to be a part of the book. A third, a young girl, was soon called to be part of the cover picture of the book, and that young lass was none other than Khushwant Singh’s granddaughter, who lived next door. She is currently a professor at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

It was a big challenge for me. I had no time to think or plan anything for something as important as a book cover of one of the most celebrated writers, always shot with available light, and, on top of it all, there was not much time.

I had to finish shooting quickly and get the film processed the same day and hand it over to the publisher. So, I decided to put all the three together and take candid shots starting from inside Khushwant’s large drawing room with the walls full of books stacked in the background. There wasn’t much space to move around or create a little more depth to put the wall of books slightly out of focus to give more prominence to and keep the four people in focus, but I managed somehow. 

Not finding much scope for variations in the pictures inside the drawing room, and intent on finishing my film roll instead of wasting it, I took all of them outside to the garden. After finishing the shoot quickly, I rushed through the processing of the film so that the pictures could be handed over to the publisher for his selection.

The publisher took his pick, and on my return, I found there were better pictures in the rest of the lot than the one picked by them. The book carried both the front and back covers by me. I didn’t like the front cover much, but I liked the back cover, which was selected by me.

During the shooting, especially outside in the garden, I noticed that both the young women were trying their best to be cosy to and attract Khushwant’s attention. Sadia was getting cosier than the other, while the young girl seemed to have little interest in featuring on the cover of her grandfather’s book.

Sadia Dehalvi’s grandfather had started Shama Publications, which, in due course, went on to add more magazines to its stable. After Yusuf, his son Yunis became the editor, and then Sadia too edited a group publication as an editor and also contributed to a couple of newspapers. The family owned and lived in a big house on Sardar Patel Road, a posh locality close to the diplomatic enclave in Delhi.

Sadia was a good cook, running an eatery from her residence which was quite popular with film folks visiting Delhi. In Khushwant’s autographed book with me, ‘Women and Men in my Life,’ Sadia Dehalvi features at number two while Kamna Prasad at number eight; that clearly shows that Khushwant gave more importance to Sadia, or she was more important in whatever way to him than the other lady. Sadia was the fairer of the two. On Sadia’s chapter, Khushwant began:

“The 45-year gap in our ages did not make the slightest difference…Although often seen with me, I meant to keep our friendship to ourselves. Not Sadia. She proclaimed from the house-tops and through the interviews given to Bombay’s (now Mumbai) gossip magazines that “the only man in my life is Khushwant Singh.”

In between, Khushwant described Sadia coming from a very conservative Muslim family but “emotionally very promiscuous. And utterly outspoken. She talked to me by the hour, telling me of the many men in her life”. The three-and-a-half-page chapter on Sadia Dehalvi ends with:

‘To Sadia Dehlavi

Who gave me more affection and notoriety than I deserved.’

While searching for Sadia for my story I found that she came from a broken family, was very money-minded, kept on changing jobs, starting new ventures, got married twice but nothing worked for her. Her mother and father were at loggerheads about the property on Sardar Patel Road, both making opposing claims in the Delhi High Court, each trying to get the property transferred in his/her name, which was ultimately bought by Miss Mayawati for her party office. Sadia had to shift to Nizamuddin, while her surviving mother, Zeenat Kausar Dehlavi, lives in Gurugram with her son and grandchildren.

Khushwant died of natural causes at the age of 99 on March 20, 2014. Sadia Sayyed Karamat Ali succumbed to cancer six years later on May 8, 2020.

The pictures here were taken during the shoot for the cover of Women and Men in my Life. I need not add anything about these two lovebirds, their eyes in the frame speak volumes.

I was witness to their chemistry, their physics none of my business.

Also read by the same author: Yaaahoooo! An ode to the most flamboyant of the Kapoor trio – THE NEWS PORTER

In this column, ‘Picture Talk’, veteran photo journalist NK Sareen, a former Photo Editor at Expanse International and a writer, shines light on some of the pictures of personalities he has clicked over the years, with a touch of nostalgia. The views expressed here are the author’s own and The News Porter bears no responsibility for the same.