You now want to know how we started the college? Okay, I will tell you about that too. Click here to read the first part of the story.
As I mentioned before, Babulal Mehta, a good friend of our family, was running from pillar to post to ensure that his son gets admission into a college. That is when he shared his thoughts and ideas with my father. He said it was time for all of us to start a college for the children of our community. All of us felt it was a good suggestion. So we continued to discuss it seriously. By the grace of Natvarlalji and all our ancestors, things slowly started taking shape. It was not easy but the efforts were worth our while. And it is my firm belief that things fall in place at the right time if our intentions are noble, our deeds honest and the cause for which we are working is good.
It was at this time that our family property was divided between our stepbrothers and me and my brothers. All our stepbrothers were childless. So when we approached our stepbrothers with this idea and vision of starting a college for the students of our community, it appealed a lot to all of them. They agreed to donate a huge chunk of their property for a noble cause. My father, brothers and I too donated some property. We were keen on building a big college with several faculties. But this was the only property that we could get so we decided to go ahead with what we had in hand.
The work began in right earnest once the paperwork was done. Right from day one, Babulal Mehta, all my brothers and I started looking for people who would donate funds for a noble cause. We would approach reputed businessmen, community members who were well off, Marwari businessmen and everyone else we knew.
Building a college of this stature was not easy. But we all worked willingly round the clock. All of us would have frequent long discussions with my father and stepbrothers. We would come up with suggestions about which carpenter to hire for the furniture, from where to source the cement and the lab equipment, which architect to approach for a project of this size etc. We had to give our requirements to the architect, place orders for the cement, interview the carpenters and finalize one person, supervise the trucks when the construction material came to the college premises etc. There was a lot of work to be done. But we all worked well together as a team. Everyone took up some responsibility or the other and we all co-ordinated with each other frequently.
We had several rounds of meetings with the people who funded us too. We were constantly looking for people who would donate funds because we ran out of money very often. And the workers on the construction site would stop working the minute we stopped paying them. Yes, we had to apply for a bank loan. It was a huge amount too and it took us several years to repay the loan too. Really, all of us worked tirelessly to ensure the work progressed without stopping.
The best part of it all? We had healthy discussions, were open-minded – so good suggestions always came up. After one such discussion, we decided to approach the Tamil Nadu Government with our plans. We showed them the progress we were making and discussed our plan and vision with them. And we were very happy when the Government decided to give us a grant.
At that time cement was constantly in short supply. Yes, you are right. We were either running out of money or out of cement. One day, I came to know that a minister related to industries was in Chennai. So I went to meet him. And I told him what we were doing and requested him to sanction a truckload of cement for our college. I wondered if he would do anything about it. I was very young and he was a senior official. But I was in for a pleasant surprise when we received a telegram a few days later stating that he had sanctioned a huge consignment of cement for our project. We were so elated that day.
Really, it is not easy to explain the details involved in such a big project now – after such a long time. And we all had our own businesses to run too. All of us learned quite a lot from this project. We have seen this college being created in front of our eyes, slowly, over time. And we had, still have the blessings of all our ancestors. We did face several challenges, did have quite a few differences of opinion too. But overall, I can say this for sure. We had a shared vision and we all did the things that were in the best interests of the college. Yes, the college was in “work in progress” mode for several years after that. We continued to develop it as and when we got the funds and repaid our loans.
We hosted a grand opening function. And we had invited several ministers for this celebration. And I clearly remember one thing about that. Our senior-most stepbrother rarely stepped out of the house. But he wore a coat for this occasion and came for the opening. Such momentous occasions remain etched in our memories forever, No?
The college started functioning. It was now time to appoint the Principal. We always consulted our seniors. They asked us not to select a candidate from amongst those who had applied for the post. They asked us to discuss the matter with our college lecturers. We followed their advice and realized the wisdom of their experience. The entire board decided to request a dedicated Math lecturer to become the Principal of the college instead of selecting one from the candidates that we had shortlisted. Finally, the college started functioning and we started the admission process.
One thing remains etched in my memory even today. Babulal Mehta and I had gone to raise funds from a reputed business family in Coimbatore. My father was sick at that time. My mother asked me to postpone the visit by a few days. But we needed the funds urgently and had already arranged for a meeting with this businessman. So I went. My mother could not stop me either. She knew what we were working on.
Yes, we did get the funds. But before I could return home I got the news that my father was no more. Babulal Mehta and I rushed back by taxi. We could not get train tickets at such short notice. By the time I reached home, my father had been cremated. I went to Allahabad to perform the last rites for my father but feel sad that I was not by his side when he passed away.
Ah, yes, for several years after that we did take admission fee from the students to pay for all the expenditure that we were incurring. None of us, not one member of our family touched those funds. They were all invested in college expenses. Babulal Mehta? He passed away several years back.
Of course, we all learnt a lot from this project. We also met several magnanimous businessmen who belonged to different communities. Yes, it did take years of effort and work to bring it to this stature. But none of us thought of it like that. We worked with passion and dedication and loved everything that we did. Today, we all are satisfied to see students of various communities studying in our college and doing so well in life later on. What more can we ask for. We have the blessings of our ancestors. And really, I think none of us wants or asks for anything more than that.