Many national leaders and freedom fighters of India have sacrificed their lives to break the fetters of slavery and bondage and bring freedom for the Indians. After centuries of servitude, the vast edifice of British Empire collapsed like house of cards. India attained her long-cherished freedom on 15th August, 1947. To get freedom was a difficult task. But more difficult was the task of integrating India which was divided into countless petty states and regions. This Herculean task of integration was done wonderfully by a wonderful man. He was none other than Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – The Iron Man of India.

Sardar Patel was born on 30th October 1875 in the Khera district of Gujarat. His father was a poor farmer as well as a great freedom fighter. He had participated in the First War of Indian Independence in 1957. The young Sardar was very promising in nature and he studied diligently. As a young boy, Patel helped his father and bimonthly kept a day-long fast to develop his physical toughness according to Hindu cultural observance. He loved his parents Jhaverbhai and Ladba Patel to the core of his heart. At the blooming young age of 18, he married to Jhaverba and blessed with a daughter and a son. After the completion of his study, he started his career as a pleader and earned the reputation of a fierce and skilled lawyer. But the job of a lawyer did not satisfy his inner urge to serve the suffering and down-trodden Indians. During this time a serious epidemic broke out in Godhra. He worked day and night to mitigate the suffering of the people and was succeeded in his mission.

At that time, Indian Freedom Struggle Movement was in full swing. Sardar Patel was greatly impressed when Mahatma Gandhi defied the British supremacy vehemently in Champran for the sake of oppressed farmers in Bihar. Under the clarion call of Mahatma Gandhi, he joined his hand with the Congress Party whole-heartedly to give a befitting resistance to an immoral British Government. He was a part and parcel of all the important movements initiated by Mahatma Gandhi and worked as a co-worker for the freedom of our country. Owing to his selfless service and super sacrifice, he was jailed several times by the British Government.

Sardar Patel’s entire life was a novel saga of great troubles and struggles. He never felt dismayed or despaired in the hour of crisis. His wife died of Cancer when he was 35 years of old. Till his last breath he remains a celibate. Under the advice of Gandhiji, he led a peasants’ movement at Bardoli defying of paying taxes to the British authorities and came out with flying colours. Out of the love and affection Gandhiji conferred on him the title, ‘Sardar’. Henceforth, he was regarded as the ‘Sardar of Bardoli’.

After independence, he became the deputy Prime Minister of India. Along with it he also held the portfolio of Home Minister. At that time, India was divided into nearly 571 petty princely states. It was done deliberately by the British Government destroy the unity and solidarity of Indians. As a man of courage and fortitude, he handled this tricky problem adroitly. He traveled every nook and corner of India and persuaded the countrymen for the political integration of our motherland. In response to his appeal, almost all the princely states of India voluntarily merged in the Indian Union one after another without any violence or resistance. Keeping the invitation of Dr. Harekrushna Mahatab, Sardar Patel came to Cuttack on 13th December, 1947 for the integration of 26 Gadjat or princely states of Odisha. This political integration in the post independence era gave a new lease of life and new rays of hope and optimism to the teeming millions of Indians. Jawaharlal Nehru and other leading ministers were very much pleased with Sardar Patel finding him as a co-worker in the cabinet.

The sunshine of pleasant weather was suddenly darkened in 1950. This stalwart leader breathed his last at the ripe age of 75. The whole nation plunged into deep sorrow. Any boat can sail smoothly in placid water. But it is a tough ship that can weather a storm. Such a towering personality was Sardar Patel. He is compared with the Bismark of Germany for his strength of mind and firm determination. In the present political scenario, India needs a second Vallabhbhai Patel to curb various revolts and uprisings that our country and countrymen are confronting in the daily life. Fame is a fruit that a dead man eats. As a mark of honour and gratitude to this departed soul for his outstanding achievements, the Government of India conferred on him “Bharat Ratna” in 1991 posthumously. Really speaking, his entire life is a noble saga of

 “Each successful person

                   has a painful story,

   Each painful story

             has a successful ending”.