Its all about people. They make the world, shape it and run it. I have always found it interesting that we in Punjab in particular, and northern Indian in general, tend to forget people who shape our lives as soon as they are no longer there.

I have always been fascinated by the lives of achievers and those who have given something to society. Because of my family’s association with a large number of such people from various walks of lives, I have also heard so much about Principal Teja Singh, Baba Kharak Singh and others, that they seem to have been a part of my reality.

I was privileged to have known S Hukam Singh and Gian Singh Rarewala who have been profiled as well.

I have been profiling mostly Punjab personalities who dominated educational, religious and political spheres, often balancing two or three balls simultaneously. The paucity of reference material only strengthens the resolve to document these lives and present to the readers a picture of those who continue to shape the reality we live in today.

An interest in IT and science made me meet the father of fibre optics, Dr Narinder Singh Kapani, the publishing software giant Fred Ebrahimi, and management professional, Mohanbir Sawhney.
Academics and authors give so much that it is challenging to sumerise the experience of interacting with them on an article. Check out what I wrote on Prof Brijinder Nath Goswamy, Nigel Collett, Gurinder Singh Mann and Rupa Bajwa. Khushwant Singh’s son Rahul wrote on him and I reviewed his book.