One of only five female journalists in Delhi at the time, Tavleen Singh is an award-winning veteran Indian journalist and one of the first female political journalists in India, having worked in both print and electronic media Worked in media. The political journalist was also one of the few to cover major events in South Asia, including the general elections in Pakistan and India, the ethnic conflicts in Kashmir and Punjab (including Operation Blue Star and Operation Black Thunder), and the ethnic conflicts in Pakistan and India. Sri Lanka, Maldives coup. When asked about Tavreen’s views on political news in India, she said in an interview,
All political journalists around the world face the danger of being seduced by the system. It’s easy. I feel very strongly about this. I truly believe that journalists should never occupy seats in the House of Commons. I really don’t think journalists should get the Padma Award. Once you do that, you should quit journalism and go into politics. It doesn’t hurt. “
Tavlin is also an author with six books to her name. She often courted controversy for her 1980 romance with Pakistani businessman and politician Salman Taseer.
Wiki/Biography
Tavleen Singh was born on Saturday, July 22, 1950, in Mussoorie, Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand) (age 71; as of 2021). Tavlin was born under the sign of Cancer and grew up in Delhi. She attended Wareham School for Girls in Dehradun, Uttarakhand and went on to St. Bede’s College, Shimla for her bachelor’s degree. While continuing his studies, Tavlin also completed a short journalism course at the New Delhi Institute of Technology in 1969. The journalist is a freelance writer for India Today and Hitavada. She also writes weekly political columns for The Indian Express, Jansatta (Sunday) and Amar Ujala (Monday).
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′3″
Hair color: Dark brown (she often dyes her hair in different shades of brown)
Eye color: black
family
Tavlin was born into a noble Sikh family.
Parents and siblings
The columnist’s father was a soldier and her maternal grandfather was one of five Sikh contractors given responsibility for building New Delhi alongside Edwin Lutyens. Her father passed away in 2016 and her mother is in her 90s. Tavlin is one of four siblings. She has a brother, Vijay Singh, and two sisters – Udaya Kaur Akoi and Kitten Musker.
husband and children
Tavleen Singh is unmarried but has a son, Aatish Taseer, with Salman Taseer. Salman Taseer in 1980. Aatish is an Indian-American writer and journalist.
Relationships/Affairs
- In March 1980, Tafrin had a disgraceful relationship with Salman Taseer, the governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, who was assassinated in 2011. The two met in Delhi when the Pakistani politician visited India to promote his book and had a brief romance. At the time, Salman was married with three children in his home country and returned nearly a week later. A month later, the couple discovered Tavlin with the child and decided to pretend to be married. Taflin and Taseer then moved to Dubai, hiding the news from both families, and traveled to London over the summer, where Taflin gave birth to their son Atish. The two remained unmarried and separated when Atish was two years old, after which his Indian mother brought Atish back to Delhi and raised him in her ancestral home. Salman Taseer never visited India again after 1980 and did not meet his son until Aatish was 21 years old. Taflin said of her relationship in an interview,
I’m proud of my relationship with him. My relationship with him was doomed because he wanted to be a politician and in Pakistan you can’t be a politician with an Indian wife and kids. This is absolutely not possible! “
- Tavleen Singh has been in a relationship with Ajit Gulabchand since the late 1980s. Ajit Gulabchand is the CEO of Hindustan Construction Company and belongs to the Walchand Hirachand family, one of India’s oldest business families. In 1994, Tavlin moved to Mumbai and rented an apartment in the same building as Ajit, but she never married him.
religion
Tavlin follows the Sikh religion.
Profession
print news
Tavlin covered many political events in the Indian subcontinent during a journalism career that spanned more than four decades. The veteran journalist entered the industry in 1974 as a junior reporter at New Delhi’s The Statesman and worked there for nearly eight years before joining The Telegraph in 1982 as a special correspondent. Tavlin later became the South Asia correspondent for The Sunday Times, visiting London twice in 1985 and 1987. She has also worked as a reporter for several publications including The Indian Express, India Today, The Sunday Times and The Sunday Times (London).
Broadcast Journalism
In 1990, Taflin started working in television and headed the Delhi bureau of Star Plus channel. Seven years later, Tavlin served as the host of “Ek Din, Ek Jeevan”, a weekly Hindi show on the same channel. The political journalist has also appeared in several current affairs programs on television – both in Hindi and English. Tavlin also hosted a show on NDTV Profit (now NDTV Prime) and interviewed Indian politicians such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Bollywood stars such as Amitabh Bachchan.
dispute
- Tavlin caused much controversy in the 1980s due to her “scandal” with Pakistani politician and businessman Salman Taseer, and also because she had a child out of wedlock. Their relationship made headlines in nearly every major publication until the couple ended in painful fashion. Even nearly four decades after the relationship, the journalist and her biracial son are still regularly criticized and attacked on social media.
- In October 2018, Tavlin was criticized by Indian Twitter users, including celebrities, for her comments against the #MeToo movement in India and her public admission that she did not support the movement. Apparently, controversy erupted when Tavlin jumped to the defense of journalist MJ Akbar against #MeToo accusations. Days after the Twitter spat, Singh wrote about his views in an article and attempted to explain his views in an open letter to journalist Barkha Dutt. Days later, many pro-feminist platforms fired back at Tavlin in open letters.
- Two months after her #MeToo criticism, Singh found herself embroiled in yet another controversy after she “joked” about journalist Faye D’Souza’s attire during a news channel’s #MeToo debate, saying she “dressed Like a man”. Her insensitive comments did not go down well with Dutt and other Twitter users, and Singh once again found himself in a Twitter war.
Senior journalist Tavleen Singh narrates @fayedsouza She “dresses like a man”!
Listen to Faye Dsouza’s reply to her! pic.twitter.com/zdMpkGkYFw
– Mirror Now (@MirrorNow) December 1, 2018
- In 2019, Taflim’s son Aatish Taseer’s Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) status was revoked by the Indian government, saying he had “hidden the secrets” of his late father Salmaan Taseer) is Pakistani. The decision shocked both mother and son, with the protective mother jumping to her son’s defense. Tavreen, who has publicly supported the government in the past, called the Indian government’s decision “evil” on Twitter. In an article she wrote for an English-language publication, Tavlin blamed the Modi-led government and claimed her son’s citizenship was revoked because of what India’s home minister Atish Taseer wrote for Time magazine. The article about Narendra Modi offended him. Singh quickly came under attack from right-wing social media users.
- In 2020, when Aatish Taseer was heavily criticized on Twitter for her derogatory remarks against Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, the journalist once again stood up for her The son defended. When the news broke that Shah had tested positive for COVID-19, Taseer mocked him. Soon Tafrin was slammed for her upbringing, while Atish was criticized for his dual heritage and Pakistani ties.
publication
- 2020: Messiah Modi: A story of high expectations
- 2016: India’s broken tryst
- 2007: Politics and Incorrectness
- 1999: Lollipop Street: Why Indian politicians survive
- 1995: Kashmir: A Tragedy of Mistakes
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- Chameli Devi Jain Outstanding Female Journalist Award 1988
- 1985 Sanskrit Journalism Award
Facts/Trivia
- Tavlin enjoys drinking alcoholic beverages.
- While Taflin was raising her son in Delhi, the single mother received financial support from her sister and friend, politician Vasundhara Raje. Singh also revealed that her then friend Sonia Gandhi would give young Atish “beautiful clothes”.
- The media also claimed that Singh had a crush on politician Sonia Gandhi. In a 2016 interview, Tavlin discussed this obsession and said:
The reason why I am so fascinated by Sonia Gandhi is that I believe I would be failing in my duty as a political journalist if I did not point out that she has served as Prime Minister of India for the past ten years without any accountability. Now, if this is Sonia’s seduction, then I’m going to keep doing it. “
- Tavlin is a pro-government figure and had been an ardent supporter of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) until 2019. Since then, the journalist has taken a tough stance against the Indian government.
- The famous columnist is also a supporter of Indian literature. In order to promote Indian literature in India, Tavlin helps economically poor Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi writer. ‘
- In 2012, Taflin published her book “Durbar,” which she revealed in an interview began as a novel and was eventually rewritten as nonfiction.
- The reporter is a fitness fanatic and has never compromised on her fitness habits even in her 70s. Tavlin admitted in an interview that she works out five days a week, does yoga in the evening and can climb 32 floors in nine minutes. However, in 2017, Singer underwent knee surgery to remove a torn meniscus, and she has refrained from excessive exercise since then.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education