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and I have seen this being implemented by him with my own
eyes.
He lived a life of a destitute, yet his humour kept the
surrounding atmosphere lively. There is an anecdote. He had
some trouble in his eyes. Somebody said, “Dada, you have red
eyes. Have you shown it to some doctor?” Shastriji said, “A
young man always has fiery eyes.”
He considered himself a youth even at the age of one
hundred years. Shastriji observed punctuality quite strictly.
Scholar on Water
Water was his favourite topic. He knew well about the
discovery of water, traditional methods of water, water cycle,
and other related topics. Therefore, the state government got a
major project accomplished by him. This work of his is an
invaluable treasure for Gujarat. It is very useful for the
hydrologists. Through his research, he placed before the people
of Gujarat the information about the traditional sources of water,
effective methods of water conservation and other related
matters. It has helped Gujarat to possess a wonderful book.
Due to his interest in water, a movement was launched to
discover the Saraswati, which has now been lost underground.
I got an opportunity to be with him in our journey from the
Rajasthan border to Nal Sarovar.
This team comprised historians, archaeologists, intellectuals
of India and the like, but the oldest in the team was Shastriji.
During the entire course of tour, he would see something from
far, and he would say loudly, “Brother, look there is an egg. Go
and bring it.” And then he would speak as if the stone was
introducing itself, he would say: “Look, this stone belongs to
this particular era, and this egg appears to be its leftover. Life
must have existed here once, and it must have been due to the
flow of the river.” And doing this, he led the team right until
Nal Sarovar.
The working committee, working in the field of historical
research, is still busy with this project, in which Shastriji has
contributed significantly. Maybe, if a tubewell is sourced into