Why Delhi’s Punjabi Partition families still seek matches from Lahore and Rawalpindi

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At his son’s recent wedding, businessman Jitender Singh Sahani introduced a friend to his wife with a familiar line: “Aye ve Rawalpindi waal ne” (He’s also from Rawalpindi). Sahani’s elders migrated to Delhi during Partition, and although generations have passed, the sense of belonging to their erstwhile city remains strong. When arranging marriages, Sahani and many like him seek matches from the same caste and, ideally, the same region of West Punjab.

In the bustling lanes of West Delhi’s Punjabi-dominated neighbourhoods—Rajouri Garden, Punjabi Bagh, Ramesh Nagar and Patel Nagar—the same sentiment surfaces every marriage season. One often hears: “Ladka ya ladki Lahore-Rawalpindi side se ho to accha rehga” (It’s better if the boy or girl is from the Lahore–Rawal