Author: Bhaavna Arora

When India gained independence in August 1947, the air crackled with celebration — but also with fear. The British had departed, leaving behind a bleeding subcontinent, freshly divided into India and Pakistan. Amidst the euphoria of freedom was a grim reality: the country was in danger of falling apart before it could even begin.

Over 560 princely states, each ruled by a hereditary monarch, were suddenly free to decide their own fate. Some were eager to join the Indian Union; others wavered; a few dreamt of sovereignty. The idea of India as one, single, functioning nation hung by a thread. At that moment of crisis, one man stood like a pillar of strength — Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

Known as the Iron Man of India, Patel was not a man of half-measures. As the newly a

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