The negligence of a few could easily send a ship to the bottom,

but if it has the wholehearted co-operation

of all on board, it can be safely brought to the part.

-Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel was born on 31st Oct in the year 1875, Nadiad, Gujarat, India. He was one of the popular leaders of the Indian National Congress during the struggle for Indian independence. Although during the first 3 years of Indian independence after 1947, he had been appointed as the Deputy PM, minister of home affairs, minister of information, and minister of states.

HIS CAREER TOUCHED HEIGHTS

->As a decent lawyer, Patel Ji distinguished himself in presenting an unassailable case in a precise manner and in challenging police witnesses and British judges.

->Strongly determined to grow his career in the legal profession, Patel migrated to London in the month of Aug 1910 to study at the Middle Temple.

->Leading barrister in criminal law, reserved and courteous, he was acknowledged for his superior etiquettes and his championship in bridge at Ahmedabad’s fashionable Gujarat Club.

->From 1917 to 1924 Patel served as the first Indian municipal commissioner of Ahmedabad and was its elected municipal president from 1924 to 1928.

->Vallabhbhai Patel had first made his mark in 1918 when he planned mass campaigns of peasants, farmers, and landowners of Kaira, Gujarat.

->In 1928 Patel Ji successfully led the landowners of Bardoli in their resistance against increased taxes.

Here's a poem on his stature that touches everyone's heart-

Statue of Unity

At 182 meters, the world’s

Full of insects.

I feel too distant from

What was once, my people.

I dressed too simply

For today’s prime ministers.

How can they know me?

I strove to secure borders,

Not hearts, like Gandhiji.

No border is secure

Among insecure hearts.

History is a mad elephant

That tramples over

The madness of men;

We could not secure anything.

There is no unity

If temples fight mosques,

If prayers are divided.

Unity is not a divided tree,

Rose for me,

Thorns for others.

You need to wound your

Fingers

To pluck the flower of love.

The past is a country