C h ap ter Five
FRESH LAURELS AT HOME
M r. M odi w as pleased at the success of the new discovery m ade by him on th e basis o f the revelations m ade to him by an unknow n M ah atm a in a dream . The new discovery had faci litated a better recovery o f sugar from sugarcane juice. In the sum m er o f 1936 h e decided to go on a short holiday to Kashmir. But before u ndertaking the trip, he th o u g h t it better to have an audience with the then M aharaja o f Patiala. T h e M ah araja was already im pressed by the qualities and capabilities o f M r. M odi. He decided to p u t him to a test. M r. H ari K rishna Lai, a well-known industrialist of Bhatinda in P u n jab owed large am ounts o f m oney to the State exchequer. He h ad a wide net-w ork o f industries in different parts o f the state an d had secured loans from the State Bank o f Patiala against the security of these industrial units. The Chief M ini ster o f the State, M r. L iaquat Ali K han, and the Finance M ini ster, S ir G auntlet, h ad failed in their efforts to realise this money from him and the M ah a raja w anted to en tru st this w ork to M r. M odi. The M ah a raja offered the services o f 100 strong band of arm ed guards to help him in this w ork. M r. M odi declined the offer o f security guards but readily accepted the task. He aban d o n ed his holiday plans and decided to proceed to Bha tin d a th e sam e day. T he M anager o f the mill at B hatinda was a British national an d in those days w hen the Political A gent o f the British G ov ern m en t had co n tro l over every field o f activity, this m anager