The original Delhi, which was built brand new during the reign of Moughal Emperor Shahjahan, became Old Delhi in course of time. With the end of Moughal era, the British shifted their capital from Calcutta, now Kolkatta—to Delhi and developed a new city that obviously came to be known as New Delhi. While the Chandni Chowk was designed by Jahanara, Emperor Shahjahan’s daughter in 1650, New Delhi was designed by the British architects Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1911.

Though designed by the British architects, a great part of the city of New Delhi was actually built by a father-son duo, Sujan Singh and Sobha Singh, who were building contractors.

Sardar Bahadur, Sir Sobha Singh was the illustrious father of his equally illustrious son, Khushwant Singh, a nonagenarian-- born 2nd February 1915, 93 years old and still going strong --- novelist, historian and journalist.

Khushwant Singh, an eminent Delhiite, is a burly Sikh who has become a legend and an icon in his life time. He is known for his bawdy jokes with which he spices his weekly column “With Malice towards One and All’ in Hindustan Times. Sujan Singh Park, near Lodhi Garden, where he presently lives, was built by his father to commemorate the name of S. Sujan Singh, Khushwant’s grand father. Khuswant Sigh, himself, is a living human monument of Delhi

Sobha Singh bought as much land as he could in Delhi at as little as Rs 2 per square yard so that he came to be known as ‘aadhi Dilli ka malik’, the owner of half of Delhi. He constructed numerous residential, official and commercial  buildings which include some in Connaught Place, the Chelmsford, 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, Red Cross Buildings and Baroda House. A block in the prestigious Modern School on Barakhamba Road is named after Sir Sobha Singh.
He also built South Block, India’s foreign office building, War Memorial Arch, now India Gate, Vijay Chowk and some parts of the Viceregal House, now Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The British did a monumental job in conceiving, designing the imperial seat of British Empire in India. “The magnificent Rashtrapati Bhawan, Parliament House, India Gate, the North and South Blocks, the quaint white bungalows with lush gardens around and the commercial hub Connaught Place stand testimony to  miniscule planning that went into creating New Delhi.”