NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, AUG 1
Taking inspiration from the words of the Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, FICCI FLO Ahmedabad Chapter kickstarted the celebration of 75 years of India’s Independence Day on July 26.
A session on ‘Reminiscing Sardar Vallabhai Patel’ revolving around five themes – Freedom struggle, ideas, achievements, actions, and resort — was held with Dr. Hindol Sengupta as guest of honour.
This session was the apt start of the FICCI Flo Ahmedabad chapter’s 75th Independence Day celebration. It was well attended by 18 FLO chapter members nationally with National President Ujjwala Singhani and Chairperson FICCI FLO Ahmedabad Chapter Nandita Munshaw. The webinar was very well moderated by FLO committee member Parav Shah Ahmedabad chapter.
Ujjwala Singhania said, “As we have approached 75 years of Independence, this is the time for us to reflect on our spiritual legacy and rich heritage that has scaled boundaries of thoughts and vision as we discuss the magnitude of the Iron Man Sardar Patel who gave us physical boundaries and a vision to live compatibility in a boundary-less world.”
In her welcome address, Nandita Munshaw said, “As the daughter of Gujarat, I take pride in welcoming FLO National President, the GP members, and FLO family at a session of knowing and understanding the Iron Man of India.”
Dr. Hindol Sengupta is a prolific and award-winning writer, journalist, and historian. He is a world economic forum young global leader and has authored over nine books on history, culture, and religion. His book ‘The man who saved India’ was awarded the Best Non-Fiction Book of the Year Prize for 2019 at the Valley of Words Awards.
In the session, Dr. Hindol Sengupta talked about his book ‘THE MAN WHO SAVED INDIA, the Patelian idea of India, the importance of Sardar Patel in Indian history, and why many of the critical elements that he represented in India’s Freedom movement have not been adequately studied. From Kheda satyagarh to Champaran to Bardoli Sardar had proved his mettle. Sardar was a loyal lieutenant to Gandhi, a tall leader, then also Gandhi never choose him as the president of Congress even once. Even at the end, Gandhi declared his heir apparent as Nehru, and as rightly portrayed in Dr. Hindol’s book “This decision of Gandhi would have seared Patel’s soul, but yet his love and respect for Gandhi never died. The fact that we have Kashmir and Hyderabad today in our jurisdiction is all due to the pragmatism of Sardar, as bringing together more than 500 princely states was an impossible task”.
“Nehru had to discover India, hence his book was titled as ‘Discovery of India’. Sardar Patel was the son of the soil, he never needed to discover it,” he added.
