Bardoli - The Land of Inspiration
A trip with college friends is always fun but when we together visit a place which tells us a story of glorifying history about our country is just a cherry on top. It was fascinating to visit at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Museum, Bardoli situated 34kms from Surat in Gujarat. Its really amazing that most of the museums in India charge very nominal yet their maintenance is appreciable.
As we all know that, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was one of the foremost leaders of freedom fight, and faithful follower of Mahatma Gandhi. But there is a short story behind the relationship of Patel and Gandhiji which is well presented in the museum. There is a diorama of Vallabhbhai Patel in the museum, smoking cigars and playing cards at barrister's club along with his friend. An elaborate description is given beside this diorama that somebody invited the members of that club to meet M.K. Gandhi who had come to explain his ideas about an Ashram and a national school. Initially, Patel was least interested in his talks and considered him as a crank. But slowly he got interested and soon realised that "this man was not a mere windbag - he was out for action." It is also explained that Patel himself had agreed in those early days that he was least bothered about his principles of ahimsa and himsa; all that mattered to him was Gandhiji's sincerity and dedication to the cause he served for freeing our nation from the bondage and he was well aware of his responsibility. That's all Patel wanted to begin a revolutionary relationship with Gandhiji that didn't just change the political struggle of our country but also his own life.
There are a total of 14 dioramas and approximately 561 exhibits about the historical events that occurred during the lifetime of Vallabhbhai Patel. So visiting this museum was an eyeopening experience as Bardoli is a small town which is the core of many major happenings of our freedom struggle especially for the most important pillar of our India, the agriculture sector. Several significant movements took place at Bardoli like the well known, Bardoli Satyagraha which served as a catalyst inspiring Mahatma Gandhi to set the stage for Dandi Salt March in 1930. Also the protest of farmers against the imposition of a steep tax of 30% in 1925 and as described in the museum that Bardoli is the land of inspiration because it served as a laboratory of non-violent fight for freedom. I found this term 'laboratory' very relevant after I thoroughly went through this museum. In fact, it is this place itself where Patel earned a spontaneous and popular title of 'Sardar' so Bardoli stands as a holy place of many inspiring and valuable memories of this great Indian leader.
This museum is a serene place that provides all the information in two languages; Gujarati and English which makes it easier to comprehend and enjoy the glimpse into Sardar's life. I was proud to know that lots of women belonging to Bardoli, played an important role in the fight of freedom as well. The most interesting part for me in the museum was the section of the copies of cartoons and caricatures of Vallabhbhai's activities published in the newspapers which was very comprehensive for me, which also made me interpret the scenario of print media during those days and I found it really impressive. There are many great photographs of Patel and other crucial people who courageously fought for our freedom. Also many rare photographs of Vallabhbhai's from his childhood till his last moments of life are exhibited over there, which helped me to connect with him more and I literally found myself wondering while looking at all those pictures like, "Okay, so how would be he living his life?" By the end I was like, "Alright, yes I can now figure out what he would have been? And how he left so many people inspired by him?"
For more details visit here:
https://www.museumsofindia.org/museum/575/sardar-patel-national-museum
https://www.compasstourism.com/destination/sardar-patel-museum-bardoli/
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