Page 84 - Gujar Mal Modi

a function owing to certain unavoidable reasons, he would send his wife to at-

tend it. In fact, he trained the simple unsophisticated girl of 17 to take her place
among the leading women of his community. Mother of 11 children, with a large

household to look after, the President of a chain of primary and middle schools
at Modinagar and in the neighbouring villages and of charitable institutions like

Mahila Samaj Kalyan Parishad, she is a woman of remarkable qualities of head
and heart.

Mr. Modi delighted in meeting people and exchanging ideas with them. He

could meet and communicate with people of eminence and the downtrodden
and needy with equal ease. A daily morning walk along the railway track was

part of his routine. While the officials of Modi Enterprises met him at appointed
places, the needy and the miserable would wait at various spots to get an oppor-

tunity to talk to him. Seeing them he always stopped and talked to them. He also
helped them if he found that their need was genuine. One incident will illustrate

this point. One morning while walking towards the railway crossing near Modi-
pon, the railway gateman stood before him with folded hands. He tearfully told

Mr. Modi that his daughter’s leg was fractured and he had no money for medical
treatment. Mr. Modi at once granted him Rs. 200. A villager with his bullock cart

laden with sugarcane who had been watching the scene from a distance, came
upto him and said, “How is it that you are helping this man? He is not your em-

ployee.” Prompt came the answer, “This man is a resident of Modinagar. More-
over, his need is genuine.” He was liberal in making donations towards marriages

and funeral expenses of the poor and the needy.

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