THE SAGA OF PERPETUAL STRUGGLE

THE STORY OF THE SIMPLE YEARNING, SELFLESS CHURNING AND SUBLIME LEARNING OF DR. JIVRAJ MEHTA

First Chief Minister of Gujarat, pioneer of Medical Education in India, pioneer of Hospital Organization in India, personal doctor to Gandhiji – Dr. Jivraj Mehta. He was the architect of not only his own life, but he lent a new direction to the medical science of India.

EARLY LIFE, ACADEMICS

Jivraj Narayan Mehta was born on 29th August 1887 in Amreli, a small town in Saurashtra in Gujarat. His family struggled to make two ends meet. But this could not obstruct the goals and the spirit of Dr. Mehta. This spirit was further shored up, thanks to the strong influence of his grandmother, a woman of drive and determination, and to the encouragement of his schoolteacher Apte Sahib. He often studies under the streetlights. He also gave tuitions to supplement the family income.
Dr. Mehta took up medicine with the inspiration from Dr. Eduljee Rustomji Dadachandjee, a civil surgeon in Amreli. He secured admission into the Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Hospital, Bombay. His medical education was sponsored by the Seth VM Kapol Boarding Trust. He was also endowed with the Jamkhande scholarship -a scholarship that was reserved for the poorest of the freshly admitted students.
Dr. Mehta topped his class in medicine. In his final year, he won seven of the eight prizes open to his batch and shared the eighth prize with his hostel roommate Kashinath Dikshit. He further, acquired a prestigious fellowship from the Tata Education Foundation and pursued masters from London Hospital Medical College. Mehta lived from 1909 to 1915 in London. He was the president of the Indian Students Association in London where he studied medicine and did his FRCS there. He was a junior doctor in the Out-Patients Department of The London Hospital before working in The London Hospital Pathological Institute as Pathological Assistant. He won University gold medal in his MD examinations in 1914. Later, in 1915 he had been made a member of the prestigious Royal College of Physicians of London.

FROM A DOCTOR TO A NATIONALIST

Following his British education, he returned to India and entered into private practice that was quite rewarding. After leaving London, Dr Mehta returned to India, where he married Hansa, kin to the Diwan of Baroda. Meanwhile, he came in touch with Gandhiji and served as his personal doctor. He served many positions like:

• The first ‘Dewan’ (Prime Minister) of the erstwhile Baroda state in free India, sworn-in on September 4, 1948
• Director General of health services
• Secretary to the Ministry of health
• Minister of public works, finance, industry and prohibition for the then province of Bombay
• First Chief Minister of the newly formed Gujarat state from April 1960 to September 1963
• Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom (1963–66)

MEDICAL SERVICES

Dr. Jivraj Mehta was the founder-architect of Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College and King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Mumbai. He devotedly served the cause of these institutions in the unenviable post of their first Dean over an eventful period of 18 years (1925-42). He was thrice elected president of the All India Medical Congress and president of the Indian Medical Association.
Dr Mehta’s suggestions, based on his London Hospital experiences, for the organization of the new hospital were radically different from the traditional design of teaching hospitals in India, where each department tended to be located in isolated blocks. He suggested that the whole medical college be housed in one building, encouraging co-operation between different departments. Also at Dr Mehta’s suggestion, the KEM Hospital was the first in India to have the Out-patients Department housed within the main hospital building. Here the first heart transplant and the birth of the first test-tube baby in India were to take place and the medical school became one of the most successful in India.

When Dr. Jivraj Mehta died in 1977, aged 91, a hospital in Ahmedabad was named after him.

Read original article at: http://epaper.namoleague.com/EpaperArticle.aspx?title=The%20Saga%20Of%20Perputal%20Struggle_620

HE LEFT BEHIND A UNIFIED INDIA

SARDAR VALLABHBHAI PATEL

SARDAR – The leader, who united India at its most trying times after Independence, amalgamated nearly 550 princely states within the Union of India. He played a major role in the freedom struggle of India and in its integration as a cohesive and independent nation. He was first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was renowned as the ‘Iron Man of India’ in the country and across the world.

BORN IN A FAMILY OF HEROES

Sardar Patel was born on October 31, 1875 in Nadiad, a small village in Gujarat. His father Jhaverbhai was a farmer and had served in the army of Rani Laxmibai. His mother Laad Bai was a simple, deeply religious person. Sardar Patel’s early education took place in Karamsad. Thereafter he joined a school in Petlad. After two years, he joined a high school in Nadiad. He passed his high school examination in 1897, at the age of 22.

Vithalbhai, Sardar’s elder brother, was also a well-known patriot and the Chairman of the Indian Legislative Council.

When he was 18 years old, Sardar’s marriage was arranged with Jhaverba, a young girl of 12 or 13 years from a nearby village. The couple had 2 children – a daughter Maniben, born in April 1904, and a son Dayabhai, born in November 1905. Jhaverba died in January 1909.

A DREAM WELL PURSUED

Sardar Patel had a cherished ambition of becoming a barrister. He could not let the family’s poverty be a hindrance. So he himself designed a plan – he would study to become a lawyer, work and save funds, travel to England and study to become a barrister. In those days, a candidate could study in private and sit for an examination in Law. Sardar borrowed books from a lawyer of his acquaintance and studied at home. Occasionally he attended courts of law and listened attentively to the arguments of the lawyers.

He passed the Law examination with excellence within 2 years.

Sardar Patel then set up his household at Godhra and began his practice of law with absolutely no facilities. He hired a room, borrowed money from friends and furnished the room with some chairs and mats. The young, confident and honest Sardar made name as an eminent lawyer within a short span of time.

As per the plan, Sardar started saving a plenty of money to fulfill his dream. When he applied for a pass and a ticket for England, they arrived in the name of “VJ Patel” at Vithalbhai’s home. The elder brother, who bore the same initials, expressed his concern of going to England first and without any hesitation, Sardar Patel allowed and also financed his brother’s stay and began saving again for his own goals.

After his wife’s death in 1909, he journeyed to England and enrolled at the Middle Temple Inn in London. Finishing a 36-month course in 30 months, Sardar Patel topped his class despite having no previous college background. Returning to India, he settled in Ahmedabad and became one of the city’s most successful barristers.

THE SHIFT OF CHOICE

Sardar earned as much as 8000-10000 rupees a month and planned to expand his practice and accumulate great wealth to provide his children with modern education. He dressed like the English and sometimes even ridiculed politics, non-cooperation movements and sacrifices for the country.

So was the nature of Sardar Patel until he met Mahatma Gandhi at a political conference in Godhra. Being impressed by Gandhiji’s victory over the British in Champaran, he started adopting his views. The relationship between Gandhiji and Sardar Patel was concretely defined when Gandhiji was elected the President of the Gujarat Sabha and Sardar the Secretary, in 1917. Sardar undertook the leadership of the Satyagraha of 1918 when rains destroyed the crops in Gujarat. The farmers in Kaira District were particularly in distress. The Government demanded the payment of the revenue taxes to the last pie. The farmers turned to Gandhiji as their refuge and Sardar assumed the responsibility of the entire struggle. He gave up his western clothes, and began to dress like the poor and humble peasants.

The farmers revered and admired the barrister so much that one word from the Sardar and they were ready to lay down their lives. The Government had to give up.

FOR THE PEOPLE, OF THE PEOPLE, BY SARDAR

1920 – Sardar Patel gave up his practice as a barrister and joined the non-cooperation movement of the Government. He founded the Gujarat Vidyapeeth to educate the children to grow up to be patriots.

Sardar Patel was elected Ahmedabad’s municipal president in 1922, 1924 and 1927. During his terms, Ahmedabad was extended a major supply of electricity and it underwent major education reforms. Drainage and sanitation systems were extended all over the city. He participated in the Nagpur flag Satyagraha from May to August in 1923 to protest against the stopping of a procession, which carried the national flag.

In 1928, Sardar Patel once again came to the rescue of the farmers, this time it was in Bardoli, in Surat. The Government increased the tax on the land. He urged the farmers not to pay, declaring the hike unjust. He prepared the farmers for Satyagraha. In retaliation, the Government confiscated their land, cattle and crops and arrested hundreds of farmers. The non-violent war lasted for about 6 months. Sardar was an active part of the Dandi March and the Quit-India Movement.

HE UNITED INDIA

Sardar Patel handled the integration of all the princely states into the Indian Union with great expertise. Under the Cabinet Mission, all the princely states had the right to join Pakistan, India or remain independent. The Sardar declared, “We are all knit together by bonds of blood and feelings. Therefore, it is better for us to make laws sitting together as friends.” Sardar Patel dealt with Hyderabad and Junagadh firmly when these states tried to join Pakistan or remain independent.

Sardar Patel formed the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and other Central Services to assist the process of nation building. The ‘Iron Man of India’ died in Bombay in December 1950. He left behind a unified India.

Sardar Patel reminds of India’s and Indians’ potential. Knowing him is not enough; we need to follow him!

Read original article at: http://epaper.namoleague.com/EpaperArticle.aspx?title=HE%20LEFT%20BEHIND%20A%20UNIFIED%20INDIA_449

Sardar & India’s Unity

Sardar Patel, the ‘Iron man of India’ played a major role in country’s struggle for independence. He followed the Gandhian principles and joined him in the struggle for independence. He is remembered for uniting India post independence, where he successfully convinced 565 princely states to give up their ruler ship and join India. The problem arose when the Nizams of Junagadh, Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir wanted to join Pakistan. This was the problem that needed to be solved. The leaders and the British officials could seek no one more appropriate but Sardar to achieve it. It was with his sincere and dedicated efforts and strategy that these states remained the legacy of India. He carried out Bardoli and Kheda Satyagrah and worked on various other issues pertaining to non-violence, peace, abolition of taxation movement, establishing modern-all India services in the state and many more.

Read original article at: http://epaper.namoleague.com/EpaperArticle.aspx?title=Sardar%20and%20India%20s%20Unity_16