Ludhiana

Village boy from Ludhiana district who became one of Bombay's biggest stars, Veeru of Sholay.

Fighter pilot from near Ludhiana, the only member of the Indian Air Force to win the Param Vir Chakra.

Urdu poet from Ludhiana whose sharp, socialist lyrics changed the Hindi film song.

Short-story writer born near Ludhiana whose stories of Partition, such as Toba Tek Singh, are the sharpest record of its madness.

Physicist from Moga, called the father of fibre optics, whose work on sending light through glass fibres underlies the internet.

Administrator and scientist who resettled Partition refugees, drove the Green Revolution from Punjab Agricultural University, and wrote the classic studies of Kangra painting.

Sikh Regiment soldier from Moga killed holding a ridge against the Chinese army in 1962, awarded the Param Vir Chakra.

Among the most loved Punjabi poets of recent decades, known for ghazals that mix classical form with everyday speech.

Physicist born in Ludhiana, a student and colleague of Abdus Salam and one of the founders of theoretical physics in Pakistan.

Wheat breeder at Ludhiana whose new varieties, bred with Norman Borlaug's dwarf wheats, began the Green Revolution in the Punjab.