Page 7 - Gujar Mal Modi
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PREFACE
We have few biographies of Indian businessmen because their routine lives
have little to attract an author. Yet it is these very men who by slow and
patient efforts first perceive their goal and then by steady and powerful
strides, march forward till it is achieved. It is indeed fascinating to see how many
of them started from humble beginnings and grew into big in dustrial gi-
ants, to watch the step-by-step emergence and growth of their sharp minds and
to see them emerge as distinguished men. Often it is a story not merely of how
an industry is built but of how the profits are spent for constructive and creative
schemes.
Rai Bahadur Gujarmal Modi was a man who knew how to not only make a for-
tune but also how to spend it fruitfully. He had all the qualities which make
a successful man of busi ness and honesty, resoluteness, circumspection and,
what is more important, a powerful imagination and exemplary courage which
made his most ambitious schemes successful. He was an industrialist, a patriot
and a philanthropist whose service to the country was as great as his love for
humanity was profound. This book is more a chronicle of Mr. Modi’s life than a
biography. The author had the good fortune of coming into close personal con-
tact with him and was, therefore, privileged to know him and his family at close
quarters. Mr. Modi often talked to him about his past life in a reminiscent
mood. The author also had the benefit of getting information about Mr. Modi
from the members of his family. It was only after 1972, when Mr. Modi began
to keep indifferent health, that the author could not meet him regularly, and so
the narrative since that date is sketchy, even disjointed. An attempt is however
made to give an adequate account of Mr. Modi’s life and a balanced estimate of
his character and achievements. If a more knowledgeable reader finds any fac-
tual errors or lacunae in this account, the fault lies with the author.
P. P. S. CHAlJHAN
Professer’s Lodge, Modinagar
9.8.1977
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