Sardar Vs Netaji

Raj Mohan Gandhi’s biography of Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel titled “Sardar” is a rare gem which should be on everyone’s mandatory reading list. The author’s remarkable erudition and obvious love for his subject shine brightly throughout the work. Out of the numerous interesting threads present in the narrative, one is the contrast that the author has painted while portraying Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel’s magnanimous selflessness against his elder brother Vitthal bhai’s rather pedestrian selfishness. Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel had this dream of becoming a barrister from London. For this purpose he painstakingly pinched pennies to save enough. However he sacrificed his hard won admission in favour of his elder brother who happened to possess identical initials. Vitthal bhai went on to become a barrister whereas Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel reverted back to his tenacious penny pinching and once again saved enough to go to London and study law and finally return as a barrister about a decade later!

Further, the author has described how Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had nursed his roommate Vitthal bhai during the last days before his death in Europe. Later Netaji presented Vitthal bhai’s “Will” where in he had bequeathed his entire ancestral property and belongings to the cause of INA (Indian National Army). Sardar Vallabh bhai Patel, writes Raj Mohan Gandhi, had fought tooth and nail against the validity of this “Will” in the Indian courts and had ultimately prevailed over Netaji. This case is well documented in the annals of Indian judicial history.

Recently while I was in Cuttack, I got the opportunity of visiting Netaji’s birth place and ancestral home which has now been converted into a museum. I soaked in the serene ambience and got acquainted with many not commonly known aspects about Netaji’s life and accomplishments. The culmination of his efforts would definitely be the establishment of Independent Government of India with its capital in the islands of Andaman and Nicobar. The state machinery was replete with all the accompanying paraphernalia such as a flag, national anthem, Radio broadcasting station, Reserve Bank and also newly minted coins and paper currency!

The sheer magnitude of Netaji’s vision becomes apparent to the visitors browsing through all the memorabilia that has been collected and curated within the four walls of this museum. I suddenly realized how Netaji, a person possessing such a broad vision encompassing the creation of a Reserve Bank and its own currency must have easily convinced Vitthal bhai to bequeath away all his wealth for this grand cause! I can also now appreciate the contradictions present in Raj Mohan Gandhi’s portrayal of the doyens of Indian freedom struggle such as the ones mentioned here in. After all history is nothing but the record of the encounter between a character and a circumstance!