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expand and develop the Sangh work in Gujarat. His proximity,
his affection inspired everybody to work. His way of working
had a unique characteristic. He thought more about the progress
of a volunteer rather than the progress of work. He was of the
firm view that if you cared for the volunteer, you would not
need to care for the work.
For the development and expansion of the basic Sangh
work, Pappaji had linked himself with the daily Shakha –
inseparably. Even in the ripe age of ninety years, his behaviour
displayed his unflinching faith in the daily Shakha. His urge
towards the Shakha had its influence over the whole of Gujarat.
He was greatly committed to his work. Moreover, he had
profound and wonderful attachment for the tribals, their
progress and welfare. In Gujarat, about 15 per cent of people
live in the forests. Even after forty-fifty years of independence,
the tribals are deprived of the developmental process, he felt
this agony in his heart. He resolved to do something in the
direction of all-round development of the tribals.
When he was seventy-five years of age, he travelled all night
by bus to go to a place called Dharampur in Valsad. He went to
the forests there every month, lived among the tribals to
understand their problems, to infuse vigour in them, to make
arrangements for resolving their problems, to settle a system –
and thus he absorbed in all these tasks. He paid attention to
even trivial matters. He accepted several tribal families as his
own. When the dental surgeon in Rajkot was giving up his
mortal body, at that time, the tribals right from Umargram to
Ambaji, were streaming down tears – what could be better than
this zenith of life?
We can notice in the life of Pappaji a continuous current of
a particular feature, that is the feature of continuous pity
blending with duty. If we glance through the life of Pappaji, we
find it essential to know about the deaf and the dumb. And
when we think of a school for them, we remember of an
institution that was in the form of Pappaji, manifest in his
continuous stream of pity and duty. Pappaji’s daughter suffered
from physical handicap. He linked this personal or family