The Witness to an Era – An Autobiography published in 2013 covered my life’s experiences till 2012. The last five years which have passed since then has largely been the period for consolidation of the work which had been in progress. Certain recognitions have been bestowed upon me. All this called for revision of the autobiography.

   I had a humble beginning. I spent my younger days in villages and small towns of the pre-Partition Punjab. The life at Lahore for a couple of years widened my mental horizon and aroused in me a patriotic fervour. There came Partition of the country and millions of people were unsettled and lakhs of them lost their lives. There was unprecedented migration of sections of population from east to west and from west to east of the province.

   The disturbed conditions lasted for quite some time. The situation led me to go for graduation in pharmacy. Once I was in the pharmacy profession, I owned it fully and all through worked for its uplift. Having obtained master and doctoral degrees I chose to be an academic. I got the experience of working at three premier universities in India and an equal number abroad. As a scientist I could achieve some success.

   After superannuation I opted to be a science historian. I engaged in exploring history of pharmaceutical developments in India of the last some centuries. For more than two decades I am continuing in the history research.

   It is said, be a scientist and see the world. This happened in my case. There were visits to several countries. I gained much from sojourns abroad.

   As I look back, it appears that the events of my life just occurred; the circumstances were appropriate. I may say that at the back of my success in life have been my parents who motivated and supported me, my wife Gian and our children Tript and Manjeet who tolerated my spending the time in academic pursuits which to good extent belonged to them, many enlightened souls who inspired me from my school days onwards, and many of my students who collaborated with me in the creation of new knowledge.

   My Lahore days college teacher Professor Pritam Singh prompted me to give expression to my varied experiences, otherwise I may not have ventured into writing the memoirs. He himself had distinguished as an educationist and came to occupy prominent position in the Punjabi literature.

—Harkishan Singh