Sir Pherozeshah Mehta was one of the architects of the Indian National Congress which he, with his colleagues, controlled till his death.
His rare intellectual gifts and oratorical skill, combined with a genuine nationalist spirit, made him one of the most acknowledged leaders of his
time. He was the maker of modern Bombay, whose citizens looked upon him as their "uncrowned King." He organised
and presided over the first public meeting which Gandhiji addressed in India in 1896 seeking support for the cause of Indians in South Africa.
He it was who organised a "hero's reception" to the Mahatma in 1915, on his return to India.
Himself a strict disciplinarian, Gandhiji had publicly acknowledged that he learnt "the art of obeying orders" from Pherozeshah. |