Tribhuvan Patel - A Story of a Farmer and the Milkmen
by Falguni Gokhale
“Tribhuvan Patel - A Story of a Farmer and the Milkmen” by Falguni Gokhale. Published by Tota Books. An inspirational story of a man who helped in the betterment of lives of the poor farmers and eventually created the world’s largest milk company.
Tribhuvandas Patel was lovingly known as Kaka. He was born into a farmer’s family in the town of Anand in Gujarat which was blessed with fertile land. The cows there gave lots of milk. As Tribhuvan kaka grew up, he studied about the wonderful things of India along with qualities of kindness, honesty and teamwork. He started working on his family’s farm and got involved in the fight for India’s independence.
Inspired by freedom fighters such as Gandhiji and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, he participated in the Quit India movement and got jailed by the British several times. But he remained undeterred. Tribhuvan Kaka wanted to help India become a better nation. When an opportunity presented itself in the form of Sardar Patel’s request to him to do something to help improve the lives of farmers, there was no way he would let go of it.
Though the farmers had abundant supply of milk, they were not able to fare well. The British owned dairies were exploiting them and not paying fair prices. They did not have proper ways of storing or transporting milk outside their villages. They remained poor and unhappy. What did Tribhuvan Kaka do to help the farmers? How did he go about it? Were his efforts of use to the farmers? How did he come to be known as the “Father of the Cooperative Movement” in India? Read the inspirational story of a man who hoped and had the courage to dream about bettering the lives of the farmers.
My eight year old enjoyed reading the book with me. He was happy to know the story behind the company which makes one of his favourite chocolates and butter of course! We have all grown up watching the utterly butterly delicious and witty ads in media. The Amul girl is truly iconic! To know the story of a gentle man who chose not to be in the limelight but achieved so much was a delight. This book is part of the “Books to Inspire” series by Tota Books. We have read some of the others and loved them as well such as “Dhyan Chand - A Story of Focus”, “Bhimsen Joshi - A Story of Passion” and “Kalpana Chawla - A Story of Determination”.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 5/6+.
Reasons to Read
To know the story of how one man’s intent to solve the problems of local farmers led to the formation of Amul, today a household name.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Tota Books here.
An independent bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.