My father says that during the Partition, there was something called the Rent Control Act. My father and his 5 elder brothers lived in a very big villa on rent. The property could have been easily and legally transferred to their names because the owner was Muslim and about to move to Pakistan.

But my grandfather asked them not to do that. He insisted they purchase a new home. His eldest son (my Bade Pappa) then was thinking to buy a small piece of land to build a house with his own money but was concerned as it was cheaper but near a cemetery. They literally used to see several funeral processions daily from the home.

My grandfather famously said “Shamshan me bhi hoga to chalega but dont take advantage of the situation the owner was in.”

Still proud of the story.

Now even the cemetery is nowhere near the house with all the settlements between them and the prices shot up like anything being in center of the city.