The greatest gift this great man gave to all the residents of a free India was its ‘Unification’. Two thousand five hundred years ago Chakravarti Samrat Chandra Gupta Maurya created ‘Bharat Varsh’ under the guidance of the great Chanakya. Sardar Patel went about the same task but in a non violent way. He tirelessly went from one princely state to the other, using his persuasive powers to convince the rulers. All the Rajas, Maharajas and Nawabs (except 3 out of 550) willingly came forward and handed over their powers, wealth and property to Sardar Patel.
Sri Dinkar Joshi, a Mumbai based former banker and renowned writer who has previously written books on Gandhiji and Jinnah, has now written a book on Sardar Patel after three and a half years of intensive research. The well documented and well written book, 'Mahanav Sardar'has been published simultaneously in Gujarati, Hindi and English by Pravin Prakashan of Rajkot. The focus of this book is primarily on the period between 31 October’1945 to 15 December’1950 (ie till his last days).
In this short period of five years and one and a half month Sardar Patel left for us a monumental edifice. He not only brought togetherover 550 states but also made a crucial and important contribution to the formation of the Indian Constitution. Through meticulous planning he transformed the then British India Civil Service into the well organised Indian Civil Service we know today. The preliminary ground work for the Centre-State relationship was also done by Sardar Patel. The description of this is vast and beyond the scope of this short narration.
Sardar Patel carried on the Herculean task of unifying and creating India even in spite of his failing health. Sadly most of this has not been acknowledged or received its due appreciations until now. Thankfully, now the present Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Government are attempting to follow the path of Sardar Patel and move towards the betterment of the Indian Nation.
Sardar Patel did not carry any ill feelings even against his arch enemies or harsh critics. Those who created obstacles in his path soon realised their shortfalls and limitations. They were dealt with not with animosity but with forgiveness and were soon engaged in the most important task nation building.
In 'Mahamanav Sardar' there are many incidents which illustrate the enormous pressure and stress that Sardar had to face due to his colleagues in the Cabinet and the public life. Only a few could understand his great vision, most were busy creating hurdles for him. Ultimately these people were exposed as misguided individuals. Some of them were big enough to admit their faults and expressed their remorse and regret. Amongst them were Maulana Azad, Jai Prakash Narain, Ram Manohar Lohia and Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Those who are in any way engaged or remotely connected to this great legend should learn from the life and work of this Son of the Soil. He focused all his attention on building the nation and had no time for self glorification or propaganda. In his life and work this great humble man humbled one and all, but without gossiping, spitefulness, shallow and hypocratic behaviour and with total selfless devotion and steely determination. He was honest and honourable all the time. Sardar Vallabhai Patel made proper use of time, energy and resources in the service of the country without any wastage in dirty politics.
Can we learn anything from him?
CB
