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PRATAP BHOGILAL - JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE
Sheth Bhogilal was a very unassuming man. He would never mind doing what would probably be considered 'menial work' for a man of his position and stature - a highly reputed diamond merchant of Mumbai and the owner of the renowned Shree Ram Mills. Pratapbhai has imbibed his father's qualities - outspokenness, courage and simplicity. After his father's death, he took over the work of the various social and business associations of the Jain community of Patan. He will never back your cause just because you go and supplicate with him. He needs to be convinced about it. If he likes a cause, he will go out of his way to support it.
Pratapbhaiis older to me, but even at 95 he shows the same enthusiasmand drive he showed in his youth. He does whatever he does wholeheartedly. In his career, he never believed in reaching a certain position and resting on his laurels. Instead, he will continue to strive to do better.
I had gone to see him when he was at the Jaslok Hospital for a heart problem and again when he underwent a by-pass surgery at the Asian Hospital. He spoke little, but listened to my detailed reports carefully. He is always very alert and pushes to get things done correctly. '
| remember, Patan had suffered heavy damage during the Kutch earthquake. Pratapbhai was chairman of the committee formed by the Patan Co-Operative Bank to look into the aftermath of the devastation and help the affected. We had decided to rebuild the school at Wadhwa, a village near Patan. I had visited the place when the construction work was on and noticed that the contractor, who had been entrusted with the job, had not built a proper foundation.Trang up Pratapbhai and informed him about it. He said that work should be stopped immediately and the structure dismantled. His brief was, "It is better to face a loss than accept substandard work." Today, the Wadhwa School has one of the finest buildings ever made in the Patan area.
Pratapbhai is a Jewel of Patan.
Think of the poor, uneducated, the downtrodden so much so that your heart begins to stop beating, your brain goes in circles and you think I am going mad. Then you fall at the feet of the Divine Being and there you will get strength, help and immense power.
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