Page 37 - Gujar Mal Modi

gaya’, (kille d, killed) at the shot of a fire gun. Mr. Modi himself alongwith the con-

struction engineer went to the bund on a stormy midnight. Mr. Modi fired a few
rounds. The scheme had the desired effect, for the village watchman ran away to

safety. This facilitated the work of cutting breaches into the bund and the elilu-
ent was drained out.

But the problem, though solved for the time being, continued to stare Mr. Modi

in the face, for the villagers who were outwitted and beaten still nursed ill will
against him. Then, Mr. Modi adopted the wiser policy of wooing the angry vil-

lagers till some alternative for draining out the effluent was devised. He offered
them assistance in cash and kind to reconstruct their houses, to reclaim their

land and to make up for the loss suffered by them. Thus, he was successful in
getting over the antagonism of the villagers.

The setting up of the sugar factory at Begumabad was just one step towards the
realisation of the dream of a new industrial empire cherished by Mr. Gujarmal

Modi. The sugar factory was ready for operation by the middle of September
1933 and there were full two months to go before the new sugarcane crop was

expected for crushing. But Mr. Modi would not wait. He was anxious that the
factory should start functioning as early as possible. Therefore, one fine morning

he summoned all the engineers employed in the factory for consultation. He
explained his anxiety and wanted a solution. After discussions it was agreed that

the intervening period of two months should be utilised to convert raw sugar
and gur into refined sugar with the help of the sugar refining unit of the factory.

Thus, by the end of October that year 35,000 maunds (about 2,880,000 lbs) of

raw sugar was converted into refined sugar. This operation resulted in a loss to
Mr. Modi, but his enthusiasm was unabated. He set his eyes on the new sugar-

cane crop which was expected shortly.

There was, however, a new development. By this time, about 30 more sugar mills

had been established in the country and they had mopped up almost all the
best talents in the field. There was, therefore. a shortage of able chemists and

other tech nical personnel to man the sugar factory. Mr. Modi wisely decided not
to confine his search for capable technicians inside the country alone, but to ex-

tend it outside as well. Within a reasonable time he was able to secure the service

30