Dr. Rajendra Prasad was born
on 3rd December 1884. He was the first President of India and first President
of the Constituent Assembly. He served as President of Indian National Congress
in 1934. He followed Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He was his disciple and has a
lot of contribution in India’s freedom struggle. He was a teacher, a lawyer and
a role model for many of us.
Childhood
Rajendra Prasad was born in
Bihar to Mahadev Sahai, a scholar of both Persian and Sanskrit language and
Kamleshwari Devi, a religious woman. He was the youngest of all his siblings.
He was very attached to his mother and elder brother Mohendra.
Education
Rajendra Prasad studied
Persian, Hindi and Arithmetic. He was a brilliant student. In 1902, he stood
first in the entrance examination for Calcutta University to take admission in
Presidency College and got monthly scholarship too. Later he changed his focus
from Science to Arts and completed dual master degrees in Arts in Economics and
Law and passed with first division and won gold medal too. In 1937, he
completed his Doctorate in Law from Allahabad University. He was a dedicated
and sincere student and an active member of the dawn society. He was
instrumental and a great politician. He formed Bihari student’s conference in
1906 in Patna College.
Career
Dr. Rajendra Prasad wished
to pursue his career as a teacher and for that matter he served in various
educational institutions. He became a professor of English at Langat Singh
college of Muzzafarpur and progressed to become the principal. After that he
served Calcutta City College as a Professor of Economics. In 1916, he joined the court of Bihar and
Orissa (now Odisha). He was appointed as the member of Senate and Syndicate of
the Patna University. He had many literary contributions too like Satyagraha at
Champaran, Atmakatha, Mahatma Gandhi and Bihar, Some Reminiscences, Bapu ke
Kadmon Mein, Since Independence and Bharitya Shiksha.
After becoming the disciple
of Gandhiji, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, got engrossed in freedom struggle. He played
an active role during Non-Cooperation Movement and got arrested in 1931 while
participating in Salt Satyagraha. As soon as Dr. Rajendra Prasad was released
from the jail he immediately set himself for the task of raising funds. Again
in 1942, he was arrested for his active participation in Quit India Movement.
In 1950, he was elected the
first President of India and was re-elected in 1957 and became the only person
to hold the office twice as President of India.
At the End
After he took retirement
from Politics in 1962, he was awarded nation’s highest civilian award, Bharat
Ratna. After such an enormous contribution towards the country he died on 28
February, 1963.
