Desolate dream homes of Punjab

Jasmine Singh 

a  sprawling bungalow located 30 km ahead of PAP (Punjab Armed Police) headquarters, Jalandhar, in Ramidi village  often becomes a trigger for conversation for passers-by. It boasts of 12 rooms, six bathrooms, a huge front and back lawn and is spread over 20,000 sqft. The palatial residential property belongs to Sukhjeet Singh, who lives in America with his  family.

Half a kilometer ahead is another property — a rambling empty palace — more spacious than the previous one. Harmandeep Singh Bal, the owner, resides in Canada with his wife. The property is being looked after by his mother, who stays all by herself in this mansion. These aren’t the only two spectacular bungalows in the village. At least 50 more walled villas lie vacant or are being looked after by an old grandparent or a distant relative, making for a common scene in the village that fall in the Doaba region of Punjab. The narrative of other villages isn’t any different either.

The bungalows are a result of those men’s income who settled abroad a century ago and kept sending money back home. “In our village alone, you will see  scores of kothis worth crores lying vacant.” And these are not just regular concrete structures. “Equipped with the best state-of-the-art facilities like solar-heating plant, a jacuzzi, sound-proof rooms... the bungalows promise all features of a modern house,” says Baljit Singh, sarpanch, Ramidi. 

At the same time, he expresses helplessness about the fate of spacious houses. “Kai kothiyan tey tan kabootar bolde ne. There isn’t much that we can do. We cannot stop youngsters in the village from migrating to Canada or Australia in search of work,” he adds. 

Thousands of miles away, immigrants from Punjab do all kinds of jobs to save enough to invest in these bungalows. The sprawling farmhouses with manicured lawns become a sign of their prosperity abroad and how they have financially  fared ahead of villagers left behind. “The Doaba region is all about taur (status) and style. The immediate aim of any emigrant from Doaba is to build a kothi in the native village,” says Anmol Singh, a resident of Ramidi. 

As the sun sets, the vast palaces begin to paint a scary picture. “The empty bungalows look like the backdrop of horror films,” laughs Anmol. As per an article published by the Economic and Political Weekly, Doabans can be found settled all over the globe. Recent conservative estimates put the number of Indian Punjabis settled abroad at around two million. Out of these, majority are originally from Doaba. This also means that the migrant group constitutes at least 10 per cent of the global Indian diaspora.

But, what is left behind is the state-of-the art villas. Hambowal, a non-descript village in Kapurthala, looks like any urban city with its expansive mansions-of-the-houses. Youngsters from the village have migrated to North America, Europe and Australia, leaving behind aged parents to look after the immovable assets. The owners return once a couple of years to take stock of these properties. Amanpreet Singh, 27, immigrated to Italy in January this year. His younger brother, Baldev Singh, has already bought a piece of land in their village and the construction of the bungalow will begin soon. They will christen the property Manna Da Shaan. “Once the bungalow is built, my mother and I will also move to Italy. We’ll have to leave the kothi under the care of our neighbours,” Baldev has his plans in place. 

The recent years, however, have witnessed a new trend — the NRIs have started renting out their properties. “This is the only way to maintain such expensive mansions,” says Nirmala, sarpanch, Muddowal. Though there are no reports of thefts or break-ins, villagers still have a reason to worry — illegal possession of a few properties by tenants. Kapurthala ADC Rahul Chaba suggests, “There should be a special court to solve NRI property disputes.”