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“Not only this, friends, when the freedom fighter Veer
Savarkar, the excellent litterateur, who gave invaluable literature
to this country, suffered the punishment of two life
imprisonments in the same life, all three brothers of his family
sacrificed themselves for the sake of Mother India, and when
his picture was adorned in the Parliament in Delhi, you said
that you would boycott it. Is it proper to disrespect the great
people? Such deformed mentality! All those who, in public life,
have contributed to the service of the Motherland, are
honourable, are adorable.

“Today, we honour Pandit Nehru. It was due to his thinking
that the country, Mother India, suffered partition, we are feeling
the pinch of which even today, yet the good deeds that he
accomplished for the country, we feel proud of them. In the
same way, the expression and demonstration of such narrow
views in public for a precious gem of Gujarat cannot be
acceptable. Such disrespect cannot be meted out to him in public
life. Great people must be venerated. We must revere their
greatness in order to attain a bit of it. We may have diverse
views, difference of opinion is natural in a democracy, but there
cannot be a place for hatred.”

Had Shastriji lived in some other country, and had his
centenary birth anniversary been celebrated, the television
channels from all over the world, the doctors from all over the
world, the psychologists from all over the world would have
thronged before him in a long queue to know the mystery of
such a life. But why in our country do we lag behind? Why do
we miss such things? I don’t know, but Shastriji’s life can be a
source of curiosity for any one. It is an infinite treasure of
learning. You might have seen a number of scholars, yet you
will find him distinct from them all. We can feel the touch of
insignificant things in him and his joy and vitality for them.

Even when Shastriji suffered a fracture in the hand, he set
out to vote in the Ahmedabad municipal corporation elections
despite his ripe age of one hundred years. It was amazing to
note that he did not have his name in two voting booths, and
then he headed for the Civic Centre in the Law Garden in order