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VIDYABEN SHAH & MANUBHAI SHAH

Life and Times

Public memory is proverbially short. The First President of independent India Dr Rajendra Prasad said in 1960 that in India people even forget facts that concern them, and they have very little memory in their minds for public figures, women and men, who committed their lives for cause and country. He said that this was “true of Indian events and Indian leaders and public workers … and many important figures were cast into oblivion.”

Indians and the world at large have sadly forgotten public figures like Shri Manubhai Shah and his contributions to the betterment of India. In his 100th birth anniversary year 2015, some of us who grew up in India in the post-Independence years are bringing here to the attention of the wider world, the work of Manubhai Shah and Vidyaben Shah, so that the generations to come will learn from their experiences and expertise, will imbibe their values and by that make the world a better place.

Vidyaben Shah at work in 2009

 

Vidyaben Shah at work in 1975

Vidyaben Shah at her desk in 1975

Since 1933, she has dedicated her entire life to the nation. Both Manubhai and Vidyaben have been institution builders and some of the leading institutions in Gujarat and Delhi were jointly built by them. Vidyaben has been in social and public service relentlessly making extensive contributions in Child Welfare, Education, Women and Family Welfare, Civic Administration, Fine Arts and Culture, Welfare of the Disabled, Senior Citizens Welfare, and many other social and relief work activities. While she was already serving as Vice-President, Vidyaben was appointed the first non-officio President of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) in 1975. She was Chairperson of the Central Social Welfare Board (CSWB) between 1995 and 1998. Vidyaben has also received numerous awards for her distinguished work, including the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1992, and Woman of the Century Award (Shatabdi Mahila) "for Social Work spanning the entire lifetime" in 2000. Despite having held leading positions in welfare organisations and civic administration, she has remained humble and full of grace and simplicity.

 
Manubhai working at his desk in 1952
Manubhai Shah at his desk in Rajkot, 1952

Quick witted, having an acutely sharp memory with facts and figures at his finger tips, he was a brilliant orator, planner and executor of outstanding ideas and concepts on economic development of India. Journalists and the public were attentive to his every word, his speeches in the Indian Parliament and other public forums having become legendary. On his demise in December 2000, the then President of India K R Narayanan called Manubhai Shah the architect of Modern India. The very foundation of modern Indian industry was laid by him, the President said, and Manubhai was therefore also called the builder of Indian Industry and the originator of India’s industrial revolution; and as such was the first to liberalise and push the building of Industry in India years before the so-called liberal wave of 1992. [1] [2]

Vidyaben and Manubhai in 1992
Vidyaben and Manubhai in 1992
   

Vidyaben was always dressed in ethnic sarees. Manubhai always wore khadi. At times he wore coloured khadi clothes; most of the time he was in a white khadi attire as seen above.


 
  

References

  1. ^ Ruth Heredia (2001), The Tree Grows: Taking on the Giants, in The Amul India Story – Rural Renaissance Through Milk Coops, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, p 148. Click here to read Excerpts from The Tree Grows  in The Amul India Story  OR   Click here for access to the book The Amul India Story by Ruth Heredia. (Description of Manubhai's crucial role in the expansion of Amul can be found throughout the book, but specifically see Chapters "The Tree Grows: Taking on the Giants", "Gloves Off", "Fruitful Collaboration", and "Anand Pattern", pp 148-190.)

  2. ^ S L Kirloskar (1982), Cactus and Roses – An Autobiography. Published by Macmillan India Limited in 2003. See pages ii, 115, 181-182, 184-185, 194, 202-204. Click here to read Excerpts from the Autobiography of the renowned industrialist Shri S L Kirloskar.   OR   Click here for free download of Cactus & Roses the highly interesting full Autobiography of Shri S L Kirloskar.   OR   Click here for Autobiography of Shri S L Kirloskar.



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