Page 189 - SocialHarmony

The Foundation of Social Progress 193

The shepherd community is a very hard working one. They
fight against all sorts of natural calamities. They are truly blessed
by Lord Krishna, and we all know how capable He was! The
people of this community have inherited His strength as they
were his companions when He lifted the Govardhan Mountain
on his little finger. This community possesses marvellous skills
and abilities. They live alone in the forest, but never complain
that they have to take their cattle for grazing all alone. This
loneliness perhaps makes them communicate even better with
their animals. These people are very sensitive and one can find
a strong bonding of relationships among them. We need to
understand and utilize the strengths of this community for the
progress of our society.

The elderly people sitting here must remember the ancient
history. Remember how people mocked the Patel community
around 20-25 years ago! They called them names and made fun
of them. Gradually, the society became aware of their
importance. The Patel community is a perfect example to study
the development of any society. They started educating their
children; they discovered their own weaknesses and worked
on them, and consequently they made rapid progress in a very
short period of time. Today, it is quite evident that they are
leading in almost every field – be it education, business or
modernization of agriculture. The leaders of this community
made a conscious decision to come out of their weak situation.
They took the help of education and within a short time they
achieved an enviable progress. It is the best example of
determination and fast progress of any community in society.

By the grace of God, you have been bestowed with good
culture and beautiful land. You also have enough compassion
to understand the animals and the land that we live on. You
have an ability to work in group, and possess the traits service
and hospitality. It is important for any community to get
education if they want to progress. The government wants to
make sure that everyone is educated. The State Government
has also taken some creative steps to encourage group weddings.
We have decided to give ` 1000 per couple to the organizers of