Risht Samucchaya

Author(s): Durgadevacharya, A S Gopani
Publisher: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Page 22

(
7 )
like other innumerable inhabitants of Calcutta, his headquarters to Azimganj (Dist. Murshidabad) when the fear of the Japanese invasion was looming large, and decided to stay there with his whole family during war time. Taking into consideration the present grievous condition of the country as well as the excessive scarcity of the grains in Bengal, he had stocked grains in large quantities with a view to distributing them gratis according to his capacity. Thereafter the problem of food became rather more serious and the prices had risen inconceivably high. Babu Bahadur Singhji Singhi could have earned four to live lacs of rupees if he had, like many other miserly merchants, sold of the hoarded lot of grains, taking undue advantage of the prevailing conditions. But he resisted the temptations, and had been daily distributing freely the grains among thousands of poor people who showered blessings on him; and he enjoyed a deep self-satisfaction. This is the most recent example that puts us in adequate knowledge of his silent munificence.
Really he was a very silent and solid worker and he had no desire to take active part in any controversies, social or political, though he had sufficient fitness and energy to do so. Still however he was skilful enough to do what was proper at the particular time. The following incident will best illustrate this statement. It was in the fitness of things that a wealthy multimillionaire like him should give an appropriate contribution in the war funds. With this view he arranged in the second week of December, 1941, an attractive show, styled Singhi Park Mela in the garden of his residential place at Calcutta in which all the local people and officers of name and fame, including the Governor of Bengal, Sir John Arthur Herbert and lady Herbert as well as the Commanderin-chief (now the Governor-General) Viscount Wavell, had also taken part with enthusiasm. This show fetched thousands of rupees which were considered substantial financial help to the war funds.
As mentioned above, the series was started, in 1931 A. D. when I worked as a Founder-Director of the Singhi Jain Chair in Viśvabhārati at Shantiniketan, at Singhiji's request. It was, then, our aspiration to put the SINGHI JAIN CHAIR and the SINGHI JAIN SERIES on a permanent basis and to create a centre at