Sayeed Ishtiaq Ahmed Jaffrey, later known as Jagdeep, was born into a relatively affluent family, as his father served as a lawyer for the local maharaja of
Datia. He was the youngest among ten siblings, with the eldest brother being decades older. Around the age of seven or eight, Jagdeep's father died. His mother moved with him to
Karachi to stay with her elder sons before the
Partition, but they returned to India amid the communal violence and upheaval. Upon returning to Bombay (now
Mumbai), Jagdeep and his mother experienced severe hardship. They were unable to reconnect with his elder brothers and ended up living on the streets, even under a bridge in Byculla. To survive, young Jagdeep sold clothes, toys, kites, soap, and combs. When money ran out, they subsisted on bread crumbs discarded by a bakery, scavenging for crumbs off the floor and cleaning them before eating—even removing rat and cockroach droppings. == Career ==