My Grandfather's House

Outside my Grandfather's old house.
The story behind my grandfather’s house is that, according to family tradition, the Cooner’s have lived in the village Virk for some seven generations. The first Cooner moved here to protect his in-laws from threats they had from other villagers (the Punjab was a pretty lawless place at the time). Being a big bloke he scared them off and decided to remain here and raise his family.

The family were landowners who saw their holdings reduce through successive generations. In the 1950’s my father and his older brother set off for England to earn some money for the family who by now were facing difficult times. My grandfather had five sons and one daughter so the land we had remaining was not going to support the next generation.

From England my father and his elder brother worked as labourers and sent back money to buy land. Their original plan was to accumulate enough farm land to ensure that the family could survive and the money could be used to educate some of their younger siblings. With the income they sent back, my grandfather bought additional land and built the house you see in the picture above. This humble home is now some 50 years old and was our main residence in the village until recently.

From across the street Sarbjit, Pavan and me

About three years ago my father and his brothers and nephews decided it was time to build a new house. Being Sikhs we collectively put in the finances to erect a new home as a common family project. The house is in my Grandfather’s name and is a common family residence. Being Punjabi’s, when the house met the original plans, they threw all caution to the wind and continued building! The Cooner Seat now consists of three floors, nine bedrooms, nine en-suites and a double garage!

Dala, Pavan and me

What is fantastic about it is not the size or indeed the physical appearance, the amazing thing is that as a family some three decades after my grandparents passed away, their family through good times and bad has managed to come together and build a common home for all of us to share.

The motives behind this home were to ensure that we recognised the power of family, and continue to have a link to our historical past. Being here has made me realise as a family how lucky we are.