The winding unkempt narrow bylanes of Daryaganj leading to the ancestral home of Pervez Musharraf might just replicate the treacherous journey the former military man has gone through.
Current occupants ready to welcome former Pak president and his family in his childhood home
NEW DELHI: The winding unkempt narrow bylanes of Daryaganj leading to the ancestral home of Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf might just replicate the treacherous journey the former military man has gone through in the past nine years.
As Musharraf struggles to find a home in Pakistan or any of his friendly countries, a small family in Daryaganj waits for him to return home after 60 years. The controversial president had visited his ancestral home during his India trip when he wanted to improve ties between the two states after the bitter war of Kargil.
“My grandfather had bought this property from Musharraf's family members for Rs62,000 but he is still welcome in our home and he can stay here as long as he wants to. After all it is his ancestral home,” said Rajiv Jain, who now owns the ancestral home of Musharraf, the yellow-coloured Neharwali Haveli on Pratap Street in Daryaganj.
Though it is difficult to find the ageing house amid the new and illegal constructions in the area, the building can still tell tales from the past.
“It was named Neharwali Haveli because a stream of the Yamuna used to pass near the house and this was the most prominent construction around the stream,” said Rajiv, adding that a long time ago,the councountless streams branching out from the river gave the area its name, ‘Daryaganj’.
“It’s a home away from home for president Musharraf and if he decides to come and stay here, he would be our guest and we would take care of him and his family members,” he added.
The double-storey house has 14 rooms that are occupied by the 30-member family of the Jains who have been living there after Partition.
“I am 32 years old and I was born in this house. We have very fond memories from the house, so I can understand the attachment, which Musharraf would have to this house. I believe he has spent some years of his childhood in this house just as I have grown up in this very place,” added Rajiv, who works as a property consultant.
v_gyan@dnaindia.net
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