My birthplace, Renala Khurd, is famous for Mitchell’s fruit farms. The farms add beauty to the serene town situated at a distance of 102 kilometres from Lahore on the Lahore-Multan highway. The fruit company has a big range, from fruit orchards to long boulevard plantings with many types of shrubs, fruit trees and herbaceous plants. It also has a residential area for employees, with lawns and foundation planting with a large number of different fruit varieties. This is a vast garden-based food production system. The journey of Francis J Mitchell is twisted with the loss of his lifetime property. After that, he pursued his livelihood with three children in the colonial India in 1933. He leased 720 acres of land in Renala Khurd, a small town near Okara, from the then Punjab governor. He achieved success there, growing citrus fruits, and producing squashes, lime juices and lime marmalades. The company upgraded its production through varieties in candies and chocolates of different flavours. I always feel a sense of attachment to this company as we both belong to the same area. It’s an unexplained thing that I never forget to buy some item connected to my birthplace whenever I visit a grocery store. My maternal grandparents’ grand home was situated across the famous G T Road in Renala Khurd. The road connects different cities and towns. Sher Shah Suri built the G T Road in the 16th century to improve transit in the areas between Delhi and Multan. It was one of the major trade routes leading to Kabul and then to central Asia. It was a lifeline of human activities, containing vehicles, shops, hawkers, horses and donkey-carts, beggars, street dogs, and passers-by; all were the cause of loud sounds all day long, until late at night. People had simple domestic and professional lives, with very little complaints of disorder or infirmity. My maternal grandparents’ home was quite big enough to race with friends from one corner to a distant corner; we were also blessed with a large, shady tree to climb up and down and to play underneath during hot summer days. I still remember that children were mostly unaware of their poverty or lack of any other facility in their lives. They had a cheerful childhood, unlike many children of today. I enjoyed the best of Eid days with those children. My distant cousins used to come to our home on Eid days in glittery dresses, high heels, nice jewellery, bright makeup and fancy hairstyles. They used to gather at our home to take my sister and me outside. We followed them like keen learners. Galloping and giggling, they used to stop at almost every stall to buy eatables of our choice. They were heartily amused at people’s clothes, and always commented. By the end of shopping, we usually had a number of bags in our hands. We were then led to a nearby garden where all shopping bags were placed in the middle. We laughed hilariously over different jokes of cousins who had a number of funny stories and did pranks. Bags were opened, and I eagerly awaited their next step, but without looking at me, food items were eaten without spoons, and we had to follow the visiting cousins. Some of us stood up to wash our hands with drinkable water; others got up for playing hide-and-seek. The Eid party ended as they dropped us at our home, and left for theirs. I had a lively time with them, which I always cherish in my memories. The rest of the Eid days were spent at our paternal grandparents’ home where I didn’t have any outside friend. My paternal uncles and aunts were almost of my age, and we thoroughly enjoyed gossiping, watching movies and visiting relatives. Renala Khurd was a rapidly developing town with its peculiar environment and societal customs. Most of our relatives were of the religious mindset, very tolerant, and tilted towards education. One of my aunts used to borrow books from my mother, as she was very eager to learn much more than the children of her age and capacity. She raised her own library afterwards. My maternal grandfather, Rao Sahkawat Ali Khan, was a known figure in Kalanaur, district Rohtak, and was given commission in the British army before the partition. He had to leave the army early as his father met an unexpected death, leaving behind five sons, three daughters and a widow. Kalanaur was the centre of Muslim Rajputs, having another distinction in the form of the Muslim Rajput High School. Rao Sakhawat Ali was the first Muslim student who matriculated from that school in first division. After matriculation, he was chosen for the British army, and was nominated for the coveted commissioned service; but he had to leave early, and started teaching due to family constraints. Sher Shah Suri built the G T Road in the 16th century to improve transit in the areas between Delhi and Multan He made a vast library consisting of a variety of English and Urdu books. He pursued diverse knowledge and took a keen interest in poetry and politics. He was also the president of the All India Muslim League in the district Rohtak. Professor Manzoor-ul-Haq wrote about him: “Chaudhary Khan Muhammad was the president of the Muslim League in 1945. Rao Sakhawat Ali Khan in Kalanaur, who was bestowed with high qualities, replaced him. He was a great orator and continued to work for the AIML till 1947.” After migration to Pakistan in 1947, Rao Sakhawat Ali keenly managed the issues of settlement of immigrants in Renala Khurd, and the vast land was named after him-Rao Sahib’s Basti-wherehe looked after a number of families. A famous bureaucrat and a PPP leader, Rao Abdul Rashid Khan, was his youngest brother; he worked as IG Punjab, director of the Intelligence Bureau and special advisor to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. He had written in his memoirs that Rao Sakhawat Khan ardently contributed to resolving the local issues while taking a keen interest in movements and politics. His mission was to wage war against ignorance and cruelty and tried his level best to change the old trends. He opened a girl’s school while facing extreme opposition. He also opened a library and a sports club. He criticised the norms of ignorance through his poetry. KhutbaIblis is one of his best literary creations. He was a fearless and bold person who never compromised on principles and always had everybody’s attention at every stage. He launched a consistent campaign against the showing of dowry articles. Once I visited a family along with my cousins in Renala Khurd. I was a stranger to them. We sat in a little room, and began talking. An elderly woman who entered the room to serve us with cold drinks glared at me and asked about my identity curiously. My cousin told her about me with reference to my grandfather. As she heard the name of Rao Sakhawat, tears fell from her eyes. Wiping her tears, she said, “You know, he was a great benefactor who bestowed upon us this shelter where I am standing now, when I, barefooted, stood before him with my children. We were all alone and helpless without a single penny. He not only allotted this land to us but also helped us raise the structure and helped me to get a job to support the family. He supported us unconditionally as he did to many others like us.” I thanked God for the blessing that I had in the shape of my grandfather. He was a great personality who played a heroic role throughout his life. During my childhood, I heard people saying that Rao Sakhawat had stopped marriage celebrations where dowry articles were shown off, as it was his mission to stop people from exhibiting items of dowry. He intended to protect the poor who could not give dowry to their daughters. Today, he is no more but the good deeds are alive in the work he did for girls’ education and for creating public awareness about not accepting dowry. The writer is a lawyer in the Islamabad High Court and a freelance contributor