People
of Faridabad share different ethnicity depending on
when they or their ancestors moved to the area. Old
Faridabad as the northern part of the city is known
is home to people whose families might have been living
in the area for centuries as this is the oldest part
of the city. The ancestry of people is mostly Jat, Gujars
and people from UP and villages in Haryana. Faridabad
NIT built after 1947 which lies west of the Railway
tracks is home to a totally different group of people.
The share their ancestry with the people of western
India(or Modern Day Pakistan). These people could be
called Siraki, Mulati, Pishori etc. depending on where
their parents came from after the division of India
in August, 1947. People here have known to have come
from the Pakistani towns and cities of Dera Ismail Khan,
Dera Ghazi Khan, Bannu, Peshawar and Kohat. People were
allotted houses on the condition that they will hold
these for 99 years and will pay them off each month.
NIT was divided by areas called NH or sectors e.g. Number
1, 2, 3,4 & 5 which in turn had blocks from A to
... depending on how many blocks it had. Gujars are
another group of people who live in and around the Aravalli
hills. They have also lived in he hills for centuries
and some of whom are quite rich today. The rapid growth
of the city also brought immigrants to the city from
other parts of the country. People from UP, villages
in and around Faridabad, Rajasthan, Bihar and some from
Bengal swelled the population size. It is said that
Faridabad was initially planned for 3 lakh people(300,
000) but the total population of the city is well over
20 lakhs today(2 million). People of Faridabad are very
modern owing to an industrialized economy. A reflection
of the lifestyle of Delhiites can be seen in Faridabad.
A Recent India-Today survey showed that people here
are among top ten buyers of healthcare and beauty products
in India. Besides, the city also has a sizeable population
of Bengalis. The city comes alive during the Winter
Navratras, especially during the Vijay Dashami/Dusshera
day when scores of Maa Durga Idols leave for the immersion.
Immersion is done at Okhla Barrage at the border of
Delhi-UP. In all there are about 10-12 Durga Puja's
held every year in the main city, district count easily
surpassing 30. Hence it can safely be assumed that there
must atleast be 70,000 Bengalis in the town. The hard
working community has added to the considerable growth
of the city as many of them own houses and are the permanent
resident of the city. Many of them commute to nearby
Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Noida for their livelihood. |