India, Nov. 24 -- As news of Bollywood legend Dharmendra's passing away at 89 at his residence in Mumbai was received on Monday afternoon, residents of his native village of Dangon and nearby Sahnewal town where he grew up in Ludhiana district of Punjab recounted memories of the son of the soil who stays rooted in their hearts.

Dharmendra shared an emotional bond with Punjab and its people that is so strong that generations from all walks of life consider him family not a larger-than-life film star. Even today, everyone in Sahnewal town knows the rented house where Dharmendra, the son of school teacher Kewal Krishan Deol, spent his childhood decades ago. Though the house has since been sold and renovated, it is still called Dharmendra's ...