Rustam Singh (born 16 May 1955) is an Indian poet, philosopher, translator and editor. He writes poetry in Hindi (under the name Rustam) and theoretical and philosophical papers and essays in English. He is regarded as an important Hindi poet of this period. His poems have been translated into many Indian and foreign languages including English, Telugu, Marathi, Malayalam, Panjabi, Swedish, Norwegian and Estonian. Doris Kareva, well known Estonian and European poet, has written about his poetry: "Rustam is a poet with a rare wavelength. His calm, clear and concise sentences create an atmosphere of slightly eerie intensity. His visions tempt one to look over the edge, into the depth of nothingness, sensing distant echoes of Beckett or Chirico."See, The Rock Was Turning into Fire, Red River, New Delhi, 2026 () Apart from his books, his poems have appeared in many important literary journals, magazines and blogs, such as Sakshatkaar, Poorvagrah, Bahuvachan, Jansatta, Pratilipi, Indian Literature, International Quarterly, Aufgabe, LyrikVannen, etc. Some of the recent publication of his poems in Hindi was in the online literary magazines Samalochan,See, https://samalochan.blogspot.in/2017/09/blog-post_16.html, https://samalochan.blogspot.in/2018/03/blog-post_29.html, https://samalochan.blogspot.com/2018/10/blog-post_30.html, and https://samalochan.blogspot.com/2019/02/blog-post_6.html. Accessed on 15 November 2017, 24 May 2018 and 17 March 2019, respectively JanakipulSee, https://www.jankipul.com/2018/06/twelve-poems-of-rustam.html. Accessed on 14 June 2018 and Sadaneera.See, http://www.sadaneera.com/hindi-poems-and-art-work-by-rustam Accessed on 04 May 2019
In his philosophical essays, Rustam Singh dwells on subjects such as love, loss, separation, death, time, being, existence, violence, the self and the other, and on the controversial relation between humans and nonhuman animals and other entities in nature. In the process he throws up a number of new concepts such as dialogicality (which he has redefined), non-dialogicality, the dialogical self, the non-dialogical self, the weight of the self, the selfless-one, the other-than-self, humans-as-monsters and so on. While doing this he displays a variety of writing styles, rare in modern Indian philosophical writing.
Life and career Rustam Singh was born in Jadla, a village in Nawanshehr district in the state of Punjab, India, where his father had been allotted land after he migrated from Gobindpura in district Gujrat of present-day Pakistan during partition of India in 1947. Later, the family settled in Tohana town in Haryana, where he got his early school and college education. In his teens, he was a mechanic, a lathe operator and a welder for a short period. Later, in his twenties, he was an army officer for five years. He was a Captain when he resigned from the army and got back to the academics.
He holds an M.Phil. (Gold Medal) and a Ph.D. degree in political science and political philosophy, respectively, from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He was awarded the University Grants Commission (UGC) Junior Research Fellowship (October 1986 – September 1988) and then a Senior Research Fellowship (October 1988 – September 1991) to carry out work for his M.Phil. and Ph.D. degrees. The title of his Ph.D. thesis was "Status of Violence in the Marxist Theory of Revolution: From Marx to Mao".Rustam Singh, "Status of Violence in the Marxist Theory of Revolution: From Marx to Mao", unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Department of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1991.
Over the years, Rustam Singh has held the following research and editorial positions, among others: Assistant editor of Economic and Political Weekly, Bombay (1993–94); Research associate at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi (1995–96); Fellow at Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (1996-1999); Editor of Summerhill IIAS Review, a journal of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (1998-1999);Summerhill IIAS Review, Vol. IV, No. 2 (December 1998) and Vol. V, No. 1 (June 1999). Member of the editorial board of Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, a journal of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (1998–1999) Founder editor of Hindi: Language, Discourse, Writing (along with Ashok Vajpeyi who was its general editor), a journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya (Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University), then located partly at New Delhi and partly at Wardha (1999-2003);Hindi: Language, Discourse, Writing, Vol. 1, No. 1 (April–June 2000) to Vol. 3, No. 1 (April–June 2002), New Delhi. Visiting scholar at Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (2007). Fellow and senior editor at Eklavya Foundation, an NGO working in the field of school education in Madhya Pradesh, India (2005-2007); and Senior fellow and senior editor at Eklavya Foundation, Madhya Pradesh, India (2007-2015).
Work
Original work
Books Rustam Singh has published the following collections of poetry:
Agyanata Se Agyanata Tak (self-published), 1981. Rustam Ki Kavitaen, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi, 2003 (). Meri Atma Kanpti Hai, Surya Prakashan Mandir, Bikaner, 2015 (). Ped Neela Tha aur Anya Kavitayen, Eklavya, Bhopal, 2016 (). This collection has poems for teenagers. Na To Main Kuchh Keh Raha Tha, Surya Prakashan Mandir, Bikaner, 2020 (). Jo Hai Aur Jaisa Hai, Surya Prakashan Mandir, Bikaner, 2021 (). Sooni Sadkon Par Jab Main Vahan Ghoom Raha Tha, Surya Prakashan Mandir, Bikaner, 2021 (). Main Prithvi Se Bichhud Gaya Tha, Sambhavna Prakashan, Hapur, 2024 (). Ek Khushboo Vahan Phaili Thee, Surya Prakashan Mandir, Bikaner, 2026 ().
His selected poems were published in 2021. This volume is titled Aur Kash Ki Main Aik Neeli Shila Hota: Chuni Hui Kavitaen, Surya Prakashan Mandir, Bikaner, 2021 ().
His poems also figure in Teji Aur Rustam Ki Kavitaen, HarperCollins India, Noida, 2009 (). This is a two-sided, two-in-one book with independent collections of selected poems by two poets. The other poet in this book is Teji Grover. Some of his poems figure in a collection of poems of fourteen Hindi poets, Bahar Sab Shaant Hai (Aadhar Prakashan, Panchkula, 1991), edited by Desh Nirmohi.
Singh is the author of the following books in English: 'Weeping' and Other Essays on Being and Writing, Pratilipi Books, Jaipur, 2011 (); A Story of Political Ideas for Young Readers, Volume 1: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Eklavya, Bhopal, 2010 (); and Violence and Marxism: Marx to Mao, Aakar Books, New Delhi, 2015 ( (pb) and (hb)); Literature, Philosophy, Political Theory: Selected Essays, Aakar Books, New Delhi, 2022 (). This book is for sale and distribution in South Asia only. There is also a Routledge edition of this book for sale in the rest of the world, that is, outside South Asia. Literature, Philosophy, Political Theory: Selected Essays, Routledge, London and New York, 2026 ().
Papers and essays Rustam Singh's theoretical and philosophical papers and essays include the following: "Status of Violence in Marx’s Theory of Revolution", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXIV, No. 4 (January 28, 1989); "Restoring Revolutionary Theory: Towards an Understanding of Lenin’s The State and Revolution", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXIV, No. 43 (October 28, 1989); "Violence in the Leninist Revolution", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXV, No. 52 (December 29, 1990); "Cohen’s Second Coming: Pitfalls of Analytical Interpretation of Marx", Punjab Journal of Politics, Vol. XVII, No. 1 (June 1993); "Man, Political Man, Political Theory", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXIX, No. 31 (July 30, 1994); "Reflections on a form", Seminar, 440 (April 1996); "Ontology of wage labour", Seminar, 452 (April 1997); "Feeling Politics: Reinstating the Subjective Self", Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. XXXII, No. 33-34 (August 16–23, 1997); "Dialogicality and Being: A Fragment", Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Vol. V, No. 1 (Summer 1998), IIAS, Shimla; " 'Weeping': For Udayan Vajpeyi", Indian Literature, No. 186 (July–August 1998); "Gift, Passivity, Neuter", in Franson Manjali (ed.), Poststructuralism and Cultural Theory: The Linguistic Turn and Beyond, Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 2006 (); "Useless Thought: Notes on Friedrich Nietzsche", in Franson Manjali (ed.), Nietzsche: Philologist, Philosopher and Cultural Critic, Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 2006 (); "Self and Time", Pratilipi, April 2008; "Death and the Self", Pratilipi, June 2008; "To be Regardful of the Earth", Pratilipi, August 2008; "To be Fortunate", Pratilipi, June 2010; "Beginning an Essay", Pratilipi, November 2010; "Simulating: The Heart Breaking", Comparative and Continental Philosophy, Vol. 4, No. 2 (2012); "Roots of Violence: Jīva, Life and Other Things", in Saitya Brata Das and Soumyabrata Choudhury (eds.), The Weight of Violence: Religion, Language, Politics, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2015 (). "Not This, Not That: Maurice Blanchot and Poststructuralism", Comparative and Continental Philosophy, Vol. 8, No. 1 (2016); "Not This, Not That: Maurice Blanchot and Poststructuralism", in Franson Manjali and Marc Crepon (eds.), Philosophy, Language and the Political: Poststructuralism in Perspective, Aakar Books, New Delhi, 2018 (); and "Visual Objects: Types, Forms and Status", New Horizons: A Multidisciplinary Research Journal, Vol. XV (August 2018). .
Translations of Singh's work Rustam Singh's selected poems in English translation were published in 2026. This volume is titled The Rock Was Turning into Fire: Selected Poems, Red River, New Delhi, 2026 (). A volume of his selected poems in Estonian translation, translated by the Estonian poet Doris Kareva, was also published in 2026. This volume is titledTuhatvarvi Kivi, Allikaarne Publishers, Lelle, 2026 (ISBN 978-9916-9271-6-8).
The other English translations of his poems have appeared in International Quarterly (USA), Indian Literature, and Aufgabe (USA).International Quarterly, Vol. 3, No. 2 (1998); Indian Literature, No. 158 (November–December 1993) and No. 251 (May–June 2009); and Aufgabe, No. 13 (2014). Apart from English and other Indian languages, Singh's poems have been translated into Swedish, Norwegian and Estonian.The Swedish translations of his poems, by the Swedish poet and novelist Agneta Pleijel, were published in the Swedish poetry magazine LyrikVannen.LyrikVannen, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2006) and No. 5 (2015). The translations of his poems in Estonian, by the Estonian poet Doris Kareva, have appeared in the Estonian magazine Sirp. Ingrid Storholmen, the Norwegian poet and novelist, gave several readings of her translations of Singh's poems during the India Festival at Trondheim, Norway, in 2011.
Further, his book A Story of Political Ideas for Young Readers, Volume 1: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli has been translated into and published in Hindi.Rajneetik Vicharon Ki Kahani: Yuva Pathkon Ke Liye, Bhaag-1: Sukrat, Plato, Arastu, Makyaveli, Eklavya, Bhopal, 2012 (). Translated by: Sandeep Rauji
Some of his philosophical essays, for example "Remembering a Century: Mourning a Lack and a Loss of Power", "Ruptured (in) Writing", and "Roots of Violence: Jīva, Life and Other Things", too, have been translated into and published in Hindi."Ek Sadi Ka Smarn", Poorvagraha, No. 111 (December 1998-February 1999); "Lekhan Mein Dwibhaajan: Dwibhaajit Lekhan", Bahuvachan, Vol. 2, No. 3 (April–June 2000); and "Hinsa Ke Mool: Jeev, Jeevan Aur Anya Cheezen", Bahuvachan, No. 44 (January–March 2015).
Translations by Rustam Singh Rustam Singh has translated the following books into Hindi: (With Teji Grover) Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen, under the title Hedda Gabler, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi, 2006 (); (With Teji Grover) Master Builder by Henrik Ibsen, under the title Master Builder, Vani Prakashan, New Delhi, 2006 ();