"Then I realised that the world I had lived in and whose continuance I had taken for granted had ceased to exist," writes renowned author and journalist, the late Khushwant Singh in his book Punjabis and Punjabiyat, while chronicling the last few days he spent in undivided India's Lahore. Among those, who along with Singh, left behind their lives and livelihoods in the form of scattered memorabilia that was too heavy, big or unimportant to be carried across the border was Ramesh Chona, who's fate led him straight to Bombay, the city of dreams.

Once from an industrious family, he arrived here in 1947 with few valuables and a vision — to build a life and legacy anew for the family that was to come. And that legacy, better known as Cream Centre, stands even today at Girgaum Chowpatty. The restaurant now appears a tad unrecongnisable due to its recent transformation into a modernesque eatery with chic lighting, sophisticated upholstery, Italian crockery and stylish wooden-finish walls with intermittent mirrors that boast paintings by celebrated artist Thota Vaikuntham.