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Author Mukesh Kashiwala honors Sardar Patel’s legacy at Indian Embassy in DC
The Embassy hosted a special event to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
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Staff Reporter - Fri, 31, Oct 2025
- 22:39 EDT
- 19
A portrait at the exhibition; (right) author Mukesh Kashiwala. / Lalit K Jha
To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and National Unity Day, the Embassy of India in Washington DC hosted a photo exhibition and interactive session with Mukesh Kashiwala, author of ‘Sardar – A Photobiography of Vallabhbhai Patel: The Architect of Modern India’.
Speaking at the event, Kashiwala reflected on Patel’s enduring role in uniting India’s 565 princely states after Independence, calling him “the person who made India one”. He noted that few people today fully grasp Patel’s achievement. “Imagine if Sardar Patel had not united India—our country could have been divided like Russia and Ukraine,” he said.
Kashiwala shared that his motivation to create a “photo-biography” came from observing how younger generations lacked awareness of India’s history. “When I studied fine arts in Bombay and New York, I realized people didn’t know about India’s heroes. So, I thought of combining visuals and storytelling to create something that would make them say ‘wow’,” he explained.
Recalling an early conversation with then–Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2005, Kashiwala said Modi encouraged him to highlight Patel’s forgotten legacy. The project took him across India, from archival repositories to heritage sites, as he compiled rare photographs and restored them for publication.
“My book begins with 26 pages on India’s 5,000-year history to help readers understand the nation Sardar Patel unified,” Kashiwala said, adding that he wanted to make history accessible to new generations through images and design.
The event was part of a larger commemoration that also included a virtual narration by internationally acclaimed speaker Dr. Shobhana Radhakrishna. A public exhibition of Patel’s photographs continues at the Indian Embassy through November 1.
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