Dr. CL Patel

of his early years, a 75 year old Dr. C L Patel goes down the
memory lane : “On the day of Rentiabaras, we used to light up
the lamps exactly in the number of the years of Gandhiji's age.
We used to make a map of India extending to Brahmadesh
and Singapore and border the map with the lamps. We used to
perform good plays. We used to plant trees. We used to keep
a bucket and everyone had to water 5 trees. This is how we
planted trees around the village pond.”
As time passed, the seeds of leadership sprouted in
Dr. C L Patel. When he entered the matriculation, he initiated
literacy movement. He says, “At that time, the local inn had no
doors. It only had one board. We used to go there with two
lanterns. One was hanged there and the other was placed on
the floor. We used to teach the elderly, the shepherds and
other nomadic groups. Thus, we were probably ahead of time
Lallubhai Patel
14
in the movement of literacy
awareness.”
During this period, the
NSS activities were also at its
peak. Chhotubhai used to
invite the volunteers of NSS.
With their support, he used to
construct the roads of the
village. He used to save
money from this activity. He
says, “We developed a library