Page 22 - Gujar Mal Modi

For he knew that hearts could be won over by sympathy and also that renounc-

ing anger was not only good but also necessary.

This incident helped to soften the young man’s heart. Now he started showing
a better understanding of his workers’ problems. Fury and anger quickly gave

way to amiability. For giving and forgetting now became the rule. This welcome
change naturally pleased the father. Whenever he was out of town, he would

issue orders that all the appeals made to him against the decisions of the son
would be heard by the son himself in his absence. Hearing appeals against his

own decisions led to a complex psychological process. It was difficult to accept,
at first, and more difficult to implement. But the son agreed to undergo the ex-

perience and once the new process was underway, it had a wonderful soften-
ing effect on him. These appeal sessions had a real, solid effect in shaping and

moulding the thought processes.; of the man who was destined to hold an em-
inent place among the top men of the industrial world. This went a long way to-

wards raising the stature of the man as a popular, justice-loving industrial leader
and manager.

Very early in his life, Mr. Modi had realised the inherent defects in the indigenous
trading practices one of which was to quote different sets of rates to different

parties. The prevailing system, to an extent, meant concealing the truth. He pre-
ferred the modern system of fixing a specific price for a particular day and then

sticking to it for all the deals made during that particular day. For the young
Modi, this meant breaking the vicious circle of quoting different price levels to

different parties. However, any change to the new system was not liked by his
munims who saw more advantages and more profits in the old system. But Mr.

Modi was firm and he was able to have his way. Success in later years proved his
point, for there came a time when 90% of the indenting parties started placing

their orders with the Modis without asking for quotations. Other businessmen of
the Modi’s stature continued to practise the old system of quoting different pric-

es. They would fix the price of a certain commodity, but when the prices soared,
they would change the terms and charge higher rates.

Gujarmal continued to develop and expand his business activities. In 1928, he

purchased an old cotton mill, added to it a new oil expelling unit and started the

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