As Ex-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh breathes his last, here's a look at his family

As an UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) employee, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, finance minister, or Prime Minister, a quality that made Manmohan Singh stand apart from his contemporaries was his illustrious educational background.

Let alone for people born in Undivided India, such an educational background can be a matter of envy for people born in the current era.

Born in the Gah village, Punjab (present day Pakistan), Singh went on to pursue education from Punjab University, the University of Cambridge, and Oxford University.

But what often happens for a person of such an educational background and illustrious professional career is that the family takes a back seat, and his family members are hardly talked about.

What do Manmohan Singh's family members do?

This comes as an obvious question, as the ex-PM breathed his last in New Delhi on Thursday (December 26, 2024).

As the famous adage goes, 'Like father, like son'.

In Manmohan's case, it was his 3 daughters who followed in their father's footsteps.

All 3 received education from India's and the world's top institutes and currently hold some important posts in different spheres of life.

But how can a story be completed without the role of unsung heroes?

In Manmohan's case, it was his wife, Gursharan Kaur. So, let's begin our story with her. 

Gursharan Kaur

Often the brilliance of a talented person is less talked about in front of their high-achieving counterpart.

Such was the case with Gursharan.

She was a professor of history and author of many books. Not just in academics, Gursharan is known for her kirtan singing in the Delhi community.

She has also appeared on Jalandhar radio. Gursharan has 3 daughters: Upinder Singh, Amrit Singh, and Daman Singh. 

Upinder Singh 

An alumna of Delhi's St. Stephen's College, Upinder pursued her M.Phil. from the University of Delhi in history before moving to McGill University, Montreal, Canada, to pursue a Ph.D.

The topic of her doctorate was 'Kings, Brahmanas, and Temples in Orissa: an epigraphic study (300-1147 CE).'

She is currently a professor in the Department of History at Ashoka University.

She received the Daniel Ingalls Fellowship at the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard University, in 2005.

She was also a visiting professor at the University of Leuven, Belgium, from May to June 2010. Upinder is married to Vijay Tankha, a professor of philosophy. They have 2 sons.

Daman Singh

Born in 1963, Daman is also an alumna of Delhi's St. Stephen's College.

She has also pursued a course from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, Gujarat.

A renowned writer, Daman has written a memoir, Strictly Personal: Manmohan and Gursharan. It provides an insight into her parents' lives.

She has also written The Sacred Grover and Nine by Nine, which highlights her versatility as a writer. In 1991, Daman married Ashok Patnaik, an IPS officer of the 1983 batch.

They have a son, Rohan.

Amrit Singh

With degrees from Yale Law School, Oxford, and Cambridge University, Amrit is a prominent human rights lawyer.

She is a professor of the practice of law at Stanford Law School.

She is also the founding executive director of Rule of Law Impact Lab.

Her work spans landmark litigations against arbitrary detention practices and litigation against torture.

She has written for leading global publications such as The New York Times and The Guardian about the rule of law and democracy.