'DA' of DA-IICT actually has various attributes associated
with it . Wherever you go , you introduce yourself mentioning DA , you are bound to catch eyes , just as what
happened with me today while i was being introduced to the co-operative society
officers . What's it with this DA that makes a student , as me , feel odd one
out or rather a superior one in ? . Superior probably is the wrong word .
Rather , i should represent the people associated with "DA" as high
minds , 'High minds' was an adjective which caught my attention years back
, way back in the ninth grade , when we
studied a chapter entitled "Cutie Pie" .
This day of mine led me into rediscovery or rather a
re-interpretation of who actually a 'Big Person' is . Parents used to say ,
relatives used to say "Beta ek din bada aadmi banega" , what
i was thinking few hours back was that "Ye bada aadmi hota kya hain?"
. Actually , i just chilled out over the
fact that , a regular 18 year old guy sharing his name with "DA" on
an ID card who is travelling in a train using this very ID card as his ID proof
is being greeted by the ticket collector who says " Arrey saab , aap kyaa
ID dikhaaoge , "DA" vaale ho " . That look on his face if by
chance he checks the ID is of a guilty person who thinks he shouldn't have
checked the ID . That's the power of 'DA' . Otherwise , what is DA-IICT without 'DA' ? . These
thoughts were playing catalyst in the chemical reaction which was going on in
my mind , inputs being the co-operative society's ideologies , and the expected
output as i said , was re-interpretation of a "Big Person" .
You see , there's a difference between a visionary and an
entrepreneur. An entrepreneur has a
vision , but he does not know what lies down , down below . He does not know
what a "Ground level reality" is . He does not know what is
"Walking with people hand in hand" . He does not know what is
coupling vision with a mission . He does
not know , how many people rely on him , he does not know how to wipe off teary
eyes , he does not know how to snatch a rope from an about-to-commit-suicide-guy
and hand him a plough instead .
All an entrepreneur knows is to make "Money" . An
entrepreneur is capable of setting up all standards and bars so high that barely
can anyone manage to surpass them . DA
was an entrepreneur , DA stood up against all odds , from working at a petrol
pump to owning thousands of them . DA was too sharp , actually a generation ahead for
people of those times . He was too sharp , to leave behind everything and stand
for just one thing , setting up his own empire . The one which we now feel
obliged to be a part of , the one which gets us eyes wherever we go , even at a
rural internship , the one which makes
us feel the center of talk while sitting with a group of senior officials .
You see , that's what DA was , he made me
, he made me a DA-iictian .
Late mansinh patel was a man with a mission , a mission
collaborated with vision and strategies . He was a man of the ground , for the ground and by
the ground . I don't know him . Being
one of them , he knew and was well acquainted with the plight of farmers back
then in 50s . I don't know him . He knew the military jawans at the border
demanded of milk and powder supplies
during the time they were scarce . I don't know him . He persuaded the
farmers on one hand to enter the cattle farming occupation and on the other
hand set up a milk union . I don't know him . He acted as an intermediate between
the both , trying his best to meet up the demand and supply of both ends . I
don't know him . He knew what it was like , for a farmer to commit suicide ,
what it was for a "Nation of Farmers" to LOSE a farmer , he knew how
ironic it was . Still , i don't know him . Progressing upon his visionary road
, his firm met the requirements of the jawans single-handedly during the
Indo-China war , supplying them milk and milk powder . I don't know him .Today , living in gujarat , i have gained a
100 kilos , owing to some butter and ghee
, still i don't know him . His firm
covers over 90 % of Gujarat operations , still i don't know him . Now , his firm 50 years since then has a turn
over of over 6000 crores , still i don't know him . Wow .
What did this man do ? . He wasn't a self-centered guy for
sure . Had he been , we wouldn't have ended up on crossroads . My
interpretation of the man and the other man "DA" , is that both of
them are necessary for a good societal existence . Both of them , attribute
equally to society . At the end of the
day , both of them are creating jobs and in turn feeding families . But , as
there is always a 'But' , what we saw in
the latter case was just a vision transformed huge . So was the former , but
the ideologies and principles were more self-centered and let me just say it ,
greed-driven . They were for sure selfish motives which were
capable enough of generating millions of jobs today , but in the building up of
this road , those who were crushed , are forever forgotten . The latter case ,
nullifies this effect and provides , as
there always is , an alternative . If a brain in collaboration with heart can
create a vision , a vision can create a feeling of togetherness , a feeling of togetherness can inject peace
into someone's mind , peace can transform the whole human being , definitely , a whole human being , a
"BIG PERSON(Bada Aadmi)" can transform the whole world just with a
vision .
"VISION" might not be a visible entity to everyone
of us , but for whom it is , they are capable of doing wonders .
DA gave me this platform and for that i'll be forever obliged
to him with all due respect , but now I KNOW HIM . He is the "BIG
PERSON" . . . Late mansinh patel
and all others who share imprints deep back then forgotten somewhere in the
past .
Now re-think 'big' in 'big-person' ?
