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Biography: Ramnikrai N.Mehta
Wherever there is a virtue, wherever there is patriotism, and whenever there is service, Mr. Ramnikrai. N.Mehta will find a home.
It is impossible to deal lightly with the personal qualities of Mr. Mehta without dwelling on the austere beauty of his character.
He is eminently human. His soul is made for the noble society. He has a deep strain of natural pity. But he makes no hysterical or ostentatious use of it.
It is a very rare to meet one so pure and guileless. "I love Mr.Mehta" said one of his friends, "but I cannot like him". Continuing, he said, "We feel as if he speaks when silent, and is still present when he has departed."
Mr. Ramnikrai. N.Mehta was born at Bhavnagar, August 1884, the fateful year in which the Indian National Congress was founded. He is the descendent of a Gujarat Nagar Brahmin family whose traits are drawn from that blood in singular combination with very strong patriotic fervour.
He was educated at Junagadh, where his uncle served as the Chief Dewan and is father as thee Revenue Officer. Fresh from the College, a strong healthy youth he came to Bombay in 1907. While his friends were eager to begin some lucrative employment he interested himself in political activities.
In 1907 he attended the Surat Congress as a volunteer. Then his sympathies vaulted with the Moderates. At the desire of Mr. G.K.Deodhar he organised three Taluka Committee at Sabarmati. In 1915 he was in charge of the Gujarat Camp when the Provincial Political Conference was held at Poona. In 1919 he attended the Nagpur Congress. Returning he organised the Taluka Congress Committee at Matunga. He was elected the Vice President of the Dadar Congress Committee. From 1919-23 he was the member of the B.P.C.C.
K.L. Kamat/Kamat's Potpourri
Ramnikrai N. Mehta
He is equal to the greatest task of political navigation that has ever controlled a pilot. His extreme truthfulness makes falsity shrivel in his presence. It is this moral quality that is the true secret of Mr.Mehta's achievement.
In 1927 he became a member of the District Congress Committee and the M.P.C.C. The next year saw him as the treasurer of the Bombay District Congress Committee. In 1929 he was elected the secretary of the Bombay Suburban Congress Committee. When the Civil Disobedience Movement was started he was in charge of the volunteer camps in the Suburbs and Maharashtra.
He was arrested and sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment but was released when the Gandhi-Irwin Pact was signed. In 1923 he was again arrested and sentenced toe eighteen months imprisonment and a fine of Rs.500. With single-minded passion he worked in the campaign.
From a quarter of a century he is connected with the working of Bombay Provincial Cooperative bank. For twelve years he worked as its manager. He was elected the member of the A.I.C.C and the B.P.C.C. he is the President of the Suburban Congress Committee. He was a member of the Bombay and Madras Parliamentary Board.
Mr.Mehta is a man of large mould in every way and of bold, far-reaching ideas. His culture is suffused by his humanity. A child like mirth leaps in him.
His industry is tireless, his sense of patriotism high and his honour is above reproach.
Source: Haripura Congress Souvenir, 1938
