Sardar: The game-changer

‘You have a right to perform your duties, but you are not entitled to the outcomes of your actions.’―Sardar, the creator of undivided India, had substantiated this ethical principle of Bhagavad Gita. Relentlessly active, an exceptional diplomat, an accomplished leader, soft-spoken but a straightforward orator―all these adjectives aren’t enough to describe the personality of Sardar. Our country would have disintegrated into several pieces if it were not for the efforts of this visionary. It was a difficult time when our country attained independence. Many gigantic questions reared their heads like a dragon. The flames of communal riots were rising as well. Sardar grasped this truth quite early that partition was the only option. The country was reeling with anarchy and the British were leaving us in the lurch. Every problem was serious in its own way but the integration of princely states into the Republic of India was the most challenging task. The emperors of certain princely states were considerate and loved the country, however many of them were bigots, capricious and devious. Some of them wanted to stay independent, and the fire of their ambition was fueled by Britishers as well as Mohammad Ali Jinnah. There were many veteran leaders at that time, but Sardar was the only one whose main cynosure was the welfare of the country and the countrymen. He didn't aim for his own immortality in the records of History; his prime purpose was the unity and integrity of India. Geeta Manek has beautifully strung these facts together in this docu-novel. This book is not Sardar Patel’s biography; it's the significant pages of history and his life that we have ignored for seven decades. Post independence, the new generation has been kept unaware of these facts. We all know that Sardar had integrated more than five hundred princely states to form an undivided nation.