From Barren Land to Bounty

My youthful Dad Sardar Vasdev Singh

I only know this history because it was much before I was old enough to understand such things. Our family was uprooted by Partition, and like countless others, we had to start over from nothing. My father worked with the courts, eventually retiring as a Superintendent in the District and Sessions Courts of Karnal. We children were raised in Panipat, far from our ancestral land re-allotted in Sangrur. 

My beautiful Mom 28 with third sister Bobi in her lap, Second sister Ambu with Dad, I and my first sister Bhagwant squatting on floor in Shimla picture 1954. My youngest sister Tipi was not born yet.

Traveling all the way to Sangrur was a long journey and tough ordeal in earlier days. It took two to three days, with stops on the way to stay with relatives. Only my father could handle three jobs at a time i.e.  his regular court job, doing grocery and help my overburdened Mom with cooking and above all attending farm management. Mom will do hair for five school going kids who will walk to their respective schools on their own. It was also Mom’s duty to preschool teaching for all of us. She made me work so hard that I was admitted to second grade at the outset and thus cleared my 10th Board at age 14.  Both worked selflessly without rewards.

District & Session Courts Karnal

We were allotted, besides a small house, a larger lot matching our land size for the upkeep of animals. However, it was situated far away near the periphery on the other side of the village. Managing it from such a distance proved difficult, so my father eventually sold it for a paltry sum.

My Dad at the time farewell party of transferring of  a Judge in Panipat

Life was incredibly hard for refugees. My father and uncle jointly owned 100 acres of land, but for the first 20 years, there was no income from it. I still remember the first time money came in just Rs 800. Dad’s cousin, who had been managing the land, jokingly remarked, Bhagat ji, its like you are getting an additional pension now.

Kids and Shilpy enjoying the tractor ride on their periodic visit to farms.

Years later, I took over the responsibility of the land from my father. On one of my initial visits, I was fortunate to meet a person interested in buying a piece of our land nine acres. After consulting with my father who gladly approved to the sale since the price offered was double than what my uncle had sold his part of adjascent Maru land just a few years back.

Two Bed Room at 2nd floor Sidharth Enclave New Delhi was my first indulgence in Real Estate.

The money from that sale was immediately reinvested to improve the rest of the land and a two Bed Room flat in Sidharth Enclave, New Delhi near Sri Bala Sahib Gurdwara.

Multi brigade of tractors were used to finish the job quickly.



The view of temporary bridge for access to the top of hill.



We had to dig that deep, make a temporary bridge and remove the whole mountain earth and drag to the lower levels.

To accelerate the development, I purchased a brand-new Swaraj tractor for Rs 4.5 lakhs in partnership with Charanjit Singh, an honest and hardworking retired Army man. We used multiple tractors to level and grade the land efficiently. At one point, we had to dig deep, build a temporary bridge, and shift an entire mound of earth to the lower levels. After three years, in 1990, the land was fully fertile and yielding two crops a year. a miracle!

It goes without saying that we also invested in two deep boring wells and added abundance of gypsum salt to kill alkaline soil.

One Acre of land stood untouched, towering 30 feet above the rest. I humorously nicknamed it as Mount Averest. Though it remained obstacle for times unknown, I was determined to reclaim it later.

In the final stages of leveling and grading

Encouraged by my success, I initiated the second phase of land development in 2014. This time, I purchased a Swaraj 55FE tractor on my own for Rs 7 lakhs. The entire hill was bulldozed, and the soil was dragged to the lower end of the land. We also invested in two deep bore wells and added large amounts of gypsum salt to neutralize shora (alkaline soil) while incorporating green fertilizers to improve land quality.

Now, the once-barren Maru land had been completely transformed. In fact, it now yielded even better crops than the Nehri (irrigated) land. After five years of use in both parcels, I sold the tractor for Rs 4.5 lakhs, having maximized its utility.

A miracle had happened!

Green lush paddy fields with Guava plants standing guard 

Now the whole lot of Maru land had been improved and is presently fetching even better yield than the Nehri land. The tractor was similarly disposed off for Rs 4.5 lakhs after 5 years of use in both Nehri and Maru 

Sardarni Harvinder Kaur is always thrilled to visit the farms, its greenery and fresh air.



Here is the turn of Sardar Shivpreet Singh to inspect and enjoy his farmland. Everytime, he is on a trip to India, he and Shilpy always visit Badbar even if it is for a short time but do enjoy lunch at nearby Deepak Dhaba.

My father, despite owning this Maru land for decades, never earned a penny from it. But with Waheguru’s blessing, I was fortunate to see it flourish into productive farmland. It stands as a testament to the relentless hard work of my parents, my mother’s selfless devotion and my father’s unwavering perseverance.