Aap Beeti, by Mohinder Singh Randhawa

Translated by Tript Kaur
Royal Asiatic Society, 2020

Mohinder Singh Randhawa (1909-1986) was a member of the Indian Civil Service from 1934 until his retirement in 1968. Aap Beeti, M. S. Randhawa’s autobiography, is a sometimes disjointed, contradictory, rambling account of his life, with contributions from his sister Harbans Kaur on their childhood, and spouse Iqbal Kaur on their life as farmers, and on travels (with W. G. and Mildred Archer, and Mulk Raj Anand among others) in search of paintings. He wrote (or compiled and edited) it in two spurts, from 1972-1976, and 1982-1985. The first batch (the childhood years) was serialised for newspaper publication.

Originally published in Punjabi (Gurmukhi) in 1985 by Navyug Publishers, Delhi. This translation is of the 2014 reprint, and was funded by the Oriental Translation Fund of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

The book can be read here.