Sobha Singh (builder)

Honorary Magistrate, Sardar Bahadur, Sir Sobha Singh (1888 – 18 April 1978) was an Indian civil contractor, prominent builder and real estate developer of the modern day Delhi.

Not only a builder, but he was also a subordinate architect and part of the Council of States laying the foundation of development schemes across cities and running various businesses. He came to be described as "Adhi Dilli ka Malik" (the owner of half of Delhi) as he virtually owned half of Lutyens' Delhi. He played the largest part in early industrial construction in Delhi in the 1920s and 1930s along with being a main participant in the Westernization and modernist collective Indian identity. He was a proficient developer and a Sikh business icon.

He also became the first Indian president of the New Delhi Municipal Council and held the post four times, in 1938, 1942, and 1945-46. Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1938 Birthday Honours, he was subsequently appointed a member of the Council of State He was knighted in the 1944 Birthday Honours. He also built Sujan Singh Park, named after his father, New Delhi's first apartment complex, which only had bungalows till then, in 1945, designed by Walter Sykes George. He became a member of the Central Legislative Assembly, but opposed and desisted from any sort of politics.

Early life and family
Sir Sobha Singh was born in 1888, in the village of Hadali in Khushab, Shahpur District – then part of British India (now Pakistan). He was the elder of the two sons of Sardar Bahadur Sujan Singh and Lakshmi Devi, the younger one being Sardar Bahadur Ujjal Singh, who was a member of Parliament in India along with the governor of Punjab and Tamil Nadu.

He was pulled out of school before giving his final exams, as his father believed that to make money one only needed was addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and how to calculate simple and compound interest, although he wanted to learn English, he could not till much later. He was married at the age of 17 to a 13-year-old girl from a village named Mitha Tiwana neighboring Hadali, her name was Viran Bai, although her name was changed to Varyam Kaur- to others she was known as Lady Sobha Singh. His father, Sardar Sujan Singh, constructed many buildings in Sargodha and Multan. He was of a landowning family in the Shahpur District of Punjab.

Early career
Sujan Singh and Sobha Singh were called to the Central Public Works Department and had been asked them to arrive and start plans for the construction of the New Delhi. He had started with developing the roads of Delhi, including Alipur Road. Sobha Singh and his father were present for the Coronation of the King and Queen near Delhi in 1911 as guests due to their work in the field of canal irrigation, development and construction of roads and rail tracks, invited by Malcom Hailey, Baron of Shahpur. Malcom Hailey knew Sujan Singh since a long time, in 1905 they first came in contact in Shahpur while constructing sites in the area.

When coming to Delhi Sujan Singh had given Sobha Singh a dark green Raleigh cycle made in England which he used for the next fifteen years.

Delhi Conspiracy Case
On 23 December 1912, he was an eyewitness to the Delhi Conspiracy Case, when the Viceroy's elephant was bombed, although no one except the umbrella-bearer was killed. Although, when everyone dispersed after seeing the bombing, all the witnesses believed that the English would massacre the local Indians, hence Sujan Singh and Sobha Singh went to Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib and shut the gates of the Gurudwara to make sure the Guru Granth Sahib was safe. Once night fell, they both walked back to their residence in the dark, while Sujan Singh muttered, 'Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru'.

Foundation Stone of Delhi
Sobha Singh's first job was to relocate the foundation stones from where the King and Queen had laid them, in Kingsway. Under cover of darkness (so it would not be taken as a bad omen), he moved them to the new site 11 km away on Raisina Hill. Sobha Singh was accepted as a senior-grade contractor in the Construction of New Delhi. He lived in his fathers house on the Old Mill Road now known as Rafi Marg.

World War I
While Sujan Singh toured Shahpur, Hadali and Mian Channu to recruit soldiers for World War I, Sobha Singh stayed in Delhi and tried his prospects in the textile industry. Due to World War I Sir Sobha Singh, Sardar Sujan Singh and his family shifted near Sabzi Mandi in Delhi and worked in the textile industry, in a cotton mill. It was originally called Jumna Mill but then he changed the name to Khalsa Cotton Spinning and Weaving Mills. The mill was not successful and often had to shut down due to lack of money and they were on the verge of bankruptcy. In 1919 a fire swallowed the mill and turned it to ashes. They were very concerned that the English may lose the war and New Delhi would have never been built, but that did not happen. He then learned English to communicate with the Englishmen during this time.

Income Tax Enquiry Commission
Liaquat Ali Khan (then finance minister of British India) started an income tax enquiry commission against people who supposedly made money during World War I and hadn't paid taxes, he had to spend three years answering to that commission, and was proven innocent in court.

Construction of Delhi
Sir Malcom Hailey allowed Sobha Singh to buy several extensive sites like the Rashtrapati Bhavan, India Gate, Vijay Chowk and other sites at as little as Rs 2 per square yard, freehold as a reward for their service in the First World War. He hired around 6,000 Bagadi laborers and dozens of supervisors, clerks and accountants with stone imported from Dholpur. The Bagadis were famous for building Mughal monuments like the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb and others. The laborers had very low wages- 80 paisa for men and 60 paisa for women per day. During this time Sujan Singh left for Punjab to help his younger son, Ujjal Singh. He had gone back to Mian Channu when his father fell ill. Sujan Singh had died at 65 of illness in their Haveli at Mian Channu.

He originally lived in Old Mill Road, then shifted to Ajmeri Gate and then shifted to a double-storied house in Jantar Mantar Road, which became a road for wealthy Sikh contractors, currently Kerala House, and bought an Oldsmobile from an English engineer. He bought the land of Connaught Place in 1921 and was given the title of 'Sardar Sahib' in the 1922 birthday celebrations. The official horticulturist imported some exotic trees like the Sausage tree and the African Tulip tree from East Africa to line the streets of Delhi, to make sure that the city remained cool in summer.

Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia gave him a plot of land in Delhi to build a royal house as an embassy in the capital, but it became too costly for him after it was completed so it was not bought back. Sir Sobha Singh was only able to complete the Janpath side, as the British chief engineer refused to release payments claiming he had to complete the building before. Sobha Singh was forced to take a loan of around 20 lakhs. He was a member of the Delhi Municipal Committee, the Improvement Trust which was planning New Delhi and the New Delhi Municipal Committee. For the South Block and War Memorial Arch (now India Gate), Sir Sobha was the sole builder. He also worked on some parts of the Viceregal House (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) and Vijay Chowk. He constructed many residential and commercial buildings, including the Connaught Place market complex, as well as the Chelmsford Club, A.I.F.A.C.'s Hall, Broadcasting House (All India Radio), the National Museum, Dyal Singh College, T.B. Hospital, Modern School, Deaf and Dumb School, St. Columba's School, Red Cross Buildings and Baroda House. He also owned the first few cinemas (Regal Building and Rivoli) and restaurants in Delhi. Outside Delhi, he built the High Court and Government Medical College at Nagpur and the Pasteur Institute at Kasauli.

He was given many titles, such as Sardar Bahadur, then O.B.E, knighthood and nomination to the Council of States.

"'Sobha Singh didn’t have time to worry about politics. He just kept constructing and building and making money.”"

Gurdwara Reform Movement
Sir Sobha Singh's activities were questioned by the British after 1921, after he started helping Sir Sundar Singh Majithia in his extremist demands against the British Raj. William Birdwood had clearly stated that the Sikh prisoners kept in Rasina Hill after the Jaito Morcha and Akali Movement should have been kept in custody. On 16 September 1921, Sir Sobha Singh defied the orders of the British, stating that they were innocent and non-violent, and the Sikhs who were charged with more severe terms (manslaughter, looting, theft) were still kept in Rasina Hill despite the Akali protest. Sir John Maynard agreed with Sir Sobha Singh and the Akalis, and allowed the prisoners to be free. Sir Sobha Singh was also made the honorary secretary of the Chief Khalsa Diwan like his father was.

He wrote a letter congratulating Sir Sunder Singh Majithia and wished his success in the Akali Movement, though Sir Sobha Singh was against Sikhs (or Indians) demanding independence from the British Raj.

Bhagat Singh Issue
According to the official version, in 1929 Sobha Singh came late and just as the session had started in the Parliament and it was a lively discussion about the Indian National Congress' role in British India. He was seated near Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt, and while he was scanning the headlines on a newspaper, they had started firing. So that they would not see him as a threat, Sobha Singh sat down on his chair till the second bomb was thrown. Only after the second bomb did Sir Sobha Singh get up, and when he heard shots he went back and saw Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt being escorted by the policemen. Once they finished, an Anglo-Indian officer surrounded all of them, and recognizing Sobha Singh, an honorary magistrate, they let him leave.

He along with Mahatma Gandhi, Ajaib Singh Kokri, Jawaharlal Nehru and 6 members of the HSRC (Bhagat Singh's party) had all testified, inside or outside the court. Bhagat Singh himself admitted to his actions during their special tribunal, in fact he requested the tribunal to be shot in the manner of a prisoner-of-war which was denied.

Quit India Movement
During his time as an honorary magistrate Mahatma Gandhi had started his protests and Satyagrahas, which Sobha Singh had to quell. For three weeks during the Quit India Movement, he helped cool the heated situation in different areas of Delhi and did not arrest nor baton charge any of the protestors.

Sujan Singh Park
Built in 1945 by Anglo- Indian British architect Walter Skyes George and Sir Sobha Singh as the city's first apartment complex and was part of the Lutyen's plan. The entire complex was raised to house British and American military and civilian officers during World War II to help in the war effort. In the early 1940s, Sobha Singh got the contract from the chief engineer of Delhi, Bahadur Suleman Khan, who himself migrated to Karachi after the Partition of India. It was known as Delhi's "drawing room". For officers that had families larger flats were given and ones without families went to what is now known as the Ambassador Hotel.

Interim Government of India
Govind Ballabh Pant had created a team of people for Evacuee Property transactions after the Partition of India, Dr. Zakir Husain, Sir Sobha Singh and Raghunandan Saran were all in the team to restore Muslim properties in Delhi and give them to the migrant populations, mainly from Sindh and from West Punjab. They were able to restore most of the properties but the population influx had changed the overall demographics, to such an extent that there were not enough houses for the Sikhs and Hindus who arrived. This led to new colonies springing in Delhi, which Sir Sobha Singh objected to, as they were badly planned, cramped, one-laned and many were lying on flood plains.

Bhakra-Nangal Dam Project
Bhakra Nangal Dam was designed by an American, Harvey Slocum and was executed by Sir Sobha Singh. When lack of funding from investors and the government had forced Harvey Slocum to almost abandon the project, Sir Sobha Singh arrived and funded it with his own money, he also helped in engineering parts of the project where it was unfeasible, along with many other engineers. The Bhakra Nangal Dam was built over thirteen years (1949-1963) and Sir Sobha Singh steered the project through rough storms. The tiles that he had bought, if landed in a straight line, would be seven times the length of the Equator, it is the largest multipurpose river valley project in India and was the only dam in Asia which could produce 1500 MW of power- a beacon to India's new economic progress despite the setbacks and newly achieved freedom.

Business in Bhopal
Sir Sobha Singh was heavily invested in Bhopal owning many properties. He worked from a bungalow called Kashiyana Alvi near the Upper Lake and was a close friend of last ruler of Bhopal, Nawab Hamiduallah Khan. Nawab invited him to set up industries in Bhopal State, for which he was given a 36-acre at a lease for 99 years, at Rs 1 near the old railway station. In the property was the Nerbudda Ice Factory and an orchard which he received in the late 1940s, which provided ice to most of India. It was here where his son Khushwant Singh wrote the famous story, Train to Pakistan.

Asian Games
He was a part of the organizing committee for the Asian Games in New Delhi, 1951. The committee was headed by Maharaja Sir Yadavindra Singh.

Air India (Tata Group)
From 1951-1953, his main investments were directed at Air India (Tata Group) in Bombay, he quickly became the main investor at first, then the special director, then vice chairman and finally the chairman by 1952 within a span of two years. He had provided the airline business with the funding that it needed during the time. His business and administrative acumen had allowed for Air India to break through into their 'Golden Age' of service in the late 1950s through the 1970s.

Swatantra Party
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari noted that Sir Sobha Singh was an enthusiast of the Swatantra Party in his letters to Mahatma Gandhi. He was given the position of chairman of the Delhi unit of the Swatantra Party in 1960, taking over from Sardar Bahadur Lal Singh in 1960. The manager (Hans Raj Pasricha) and Sir Sobha Singh did not get along well with each other, as the manager's ideology leaned to leftism, whereas Sir Sobha Singh's to the right. The Pasricha refused to comply with some orders, when the Delhi Swatantra Party Committee had decided that Manmohini Zutshi Sahgal should contest the New Delhi By-Election in 1961 as a Swatantra-supported independent candidate, it had gained major support till the manager and his aides did not comply with any orders and disrupted party meetings and rallies. Manmohini came fourth and the manager was blamed for the loss by Minoo Masani, though the manager could not officially receive the blame, Sir Sobha Singh resigned and the manager became the chairman.

Charity Work
Sardar Bahadur Sir Sobha Singh left a large part of his private estate to a charitable trust, the Sobha Singh Charitable Trust, which maintains homes and hospitals for the terminally ill and aged all over the country, most recently it built, a Dharamsala, within the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital complex, in New Delhi in 2005. He also presided over some institutions funded by it like the Deaf and Dumb School. Among his last grants was one for Bhagat Puran Singh's Pingalwara home for the destitute in Amritsar. He also became the head of the Central Public Works Department in Delhi. He also donated heavily to the Tuberculosis Association of India and became a member of the Executive Committee of the Association from 1966 to 1972. He was a believer in the concept of Dasvandh (donating a tenth of ones earnings to charity).

He worked with the Modern School as well, and was the main contractor along with the President of the Board of Trustees from 1930 to 1977. He was also the architect of the building. Since Sir Sobha Singh did not name anything after himself, an award was named after his wife in the school, the Lady Sobha Singh Trust Award.

Death
Sir Sobha Singh died at the age of 90 in Delhi on 18 April 1978. His son Khushwant Singh noted that he had passed minutes after having his last sip of Scotch Whiskey.

Personal life and family
Sir Sobha Singh used to be very Anglicized as mentioned by his son Khushwant Singh- "he never wore Sherwanis or Chooridars, only two-piece suits, excepting the Tehmat he wore before sleeping." He was very hospitable, Sapru, Jayakar, Gandhi, Jinnah and C. Rajagopalachari all became very close to him and stayed at his house 'Vaikunth' in Delhi, he used to talk about politics with Mahatma Gandhi in Birla House. Due to his hospitality, after one of his parties in Shimla, a captain offered a lucrative contract to supply provisions to the British Indian Army.

He had four sons and a daughter:


 * 1) Bhagwant Singh: Was heavilly involved in Modern School and took care of his father's and his ancestral properties.
 * 2) Daljit Singh: Freedom fighter and MLA from Safdar Jung constituency in 1951.
 * 3) Khushwant Singh: Famous journalist, writer and politician in the Rajya Sabha. He received the Padma Bhushan (which he gave back in protest after Operation Blue Star), and later the Padma Vibhushan.
 * 4) Mohinder Kaur: Married to Jaspal Singh Virk of Jandiala Guru.
 * 5) Brigadier Gurbaksh Singh: Soldier who took part in the 1962 Sino-Indian War.

Unlike him, his sons were not supporters of British rule, his two elder sons when going to buy school uniforms came back with khadi (handspun cloth) as Mahatma Gandhi boycotted British fabrics.

He was a gardener, and grew grapefruit, strawberries and roses. He was very humble, and named no buildings after himself or his children, he named many after his father (Sujan Singh Park near Khan Market, Sujan Singh Block now Wengers Block in Connaught Place and more) and one after his nephew, Narinder Singh, who he raised as his own.

He was a proponent of arts and owned the first theatre in the new city- the Regal Theatre which he originally tried managing himself along with a restaurant named Standard, now Gaylord. He even bought another theatre named Rivoli but neither prospered.

Urban Legends and Sayings
He was a part of what was nicknamed the Panj Pyare of Delhi (named after the Panj Pyare, the first 5 Khalsa Sikhs)- Sir Sobha Singh, Basakha Singh, Ram Singh Kabli, Narain Singh and Dharam Singh Sethi.

"The only man expanding while contracting" was a popular joke at the time about his business.

He came to be described as "Adhi Dilli ka Malik" (the owner of half of Delhi) as he virtually owned a half of Lutyens' Delhi, before or during its construction.

Legacy
Sir Sobha Singh did not name any places after himself, although Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had stated that Connaught Place was to be renamed Sobha Singh Place although it did not happen. Instead they named it Indira Chowk and Rajiv Chowk. The Delhi Development Authority also planned to have a park near Sanjay Lake, Delhi named Sir Sobha Singh Park, though that did not happen either.

Post-independence none of the contractors, architects or engineers of New Delhi were honored and no roundabouts, roads or monuments were named after any of them, Khushwant Singh stated, "it appeared like anti-Sikh communal prejudice."

In 2006, India International Centre (IIC) organized the first Sir Sobha Singh Memorial Lectures, in which the inaugural lecture titled, "My father, the builder", was given by his son, writer Khushwant Singh.