I feel doubly honoured to have been invited by All India Radio to speak in the series of Sardar Patel Memorial Lectures. First, very eminent people have participated in the series before me and, second, it is a great honour to give a lecture in the memory of one of the greatest sons of India.
As each year passes by, Sardar Patel is emerging a much taller figure and a man of consensus whereas many other leaders have become controversial and somewhat diminished in the light of what is happening in India and in countries around us. Sardar Patel’s message on India’s unity and the method of achieving it need to be reiterated. The very choice of the subject of these lectures gives me an opportunity to pay tribute to the great Sardar who was moulded by Gandhi into a great national leader.
I am grateful to Meera Sinha, N.S. Jaganathan and K.S. for going through the manuscript.