Lal Bahadur Shastri
Essay No. 01
Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second prime minister of Indi He was an ocean of inter qualities. He dreamt of making India one of the most powerful countries of the world. He said, “That we may live or not live, but the flag of our country must fly high, to keep the nation’s head held up high. Our country must become one of the greatest nations of the world.”
Lal Bahadur Shastri was born on 2nd October 1904 in Mughal Sarai town situated in Uttar Pradesh.
He was very independent child by nature. He never depended on others for his work and would do every kind of work by himself. Lal Bahadur was only one and half years old when he lost his father, thus he grew up under the shadow of her mother and grandfather. He got abundant love and affection in his childhood.
He gained admission in `Harishchandra High School’ in Benaras. He was a brilliant student. He was loved and adored by everyone in the School. Lal Bahadur was very much influenced by the powerful speeches of Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi. At the mere age of 17, he joined freedom movement called `Satyagraha’ and thus was arrested for protesting against the British rule.
In the year 1927, he got married to Lalita Devi. Lalita Devi was a devoted wife. She never interfered in the political life of her husband and allowed him to serve the nation with true devotion. Lal Bahadur was thrown into prison in the year 1930 and 1932.
In the jail, he would keep only essential things for himself and distributed rest of them to others.
Lal Bahadur Shastri spent nearly 9 years in the prison. In 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri was appointed as the Prime Minister of India after the death of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.
Lal Bahadur Shastri died due to massive cardiac arrest on 11 January 1966 when he was away in Tashkent (U.S.S.R.) to sign the cease-fire treaty with Pak president Gen. Ayub Khan. The whole nation grieved the death of this valiant son of India.
Once Lal Bahadur Shastri commented, “You could attain success through peaceful means and control of mind. Therefore, we must have control over our Mind and heart.”
He shall be always remembered for his fortitude and love for the mankind.
Essay No. 02
Lal Bahadur Shastri
It has been rightly said that success is to be measured not by the heights achieved but by the difficulties surmounted. And Lal Bahadur Shastri is one of those who had been facing and surmounting difficulties galore right from his childhood. He was hardly two years old when he lost his father.
His birthday coincides with that of Mahatma Gandhi – for both of them were born on 2nd October. Lal Bahadur Shastri was born in 1904 in Mughal Sarai town in Uttar Pradesh. His father Sharda Prasad was a man of very limited means.
After his father’s death, his mother left for her parent’s house. After receiving primary education at Mughal Sarai, he went to his uncle at Varanasi and joined Harish Chander High School. As a student he was very hard working, honest and brilliant. He was imbued with patriotic feelings right from his childhood. Physically he was short-statured and slim and lean, but he was not at all lacking in inner strength. He had firm determination and resolute will. Humility was his special characteristic to be matched equally with his self confidence.
Those were the days when Mahatma Gandhi had risen on the Indian political firmament and national movement was picking up momentum. Gandhiji launched his Non-cooperation Movement in 1921. People from all sections of society responded to Gandhiji’s call and participated in the movement. Students were no less active than others. Lal Bahadur Shastri was also drawn to the movement. Not caring for his examination which was only a month away, he plunged into the movement. He participated’ in the anti-Government procession and was arrested. But he was let away in view of his tender age and shortstature.
Thereafter he joined Kashi Vidya Peeth at Varanasi, which was situated at more than ten kilo meters away from his home, which distance he covered on foot daily. Despite difficulties he passed his examinations in the first division.
After finishing his education, he was drawn towards social service. As a social worker, he tried to rid society of the ev4,9 of untouchability – a practice which Gandhi considered a sin against God and humanity. Soon Lal Bahadur Shastri became popular for his hardwork, honesty and dedication. In the, meantime he was married to Lalita Devi at the age of 24 years. It was almost a dowryless marriage.
He was bound to come into conflict with the Government due to his participation in the freedom movement. He offered Satyagraha and was sentenced to imprisonment at different times. In all he had to spend almost eight long years in internment. During this period he faced many hardships and deprivations. But he was a staunch Satyagrahi having unshakable faith in non-violence as propounded by Gandhiji. He observed his daily routine of prayers and physical exercises regularly during his imprisonment.
He utilized the forced leisure during his imprisonment for studying different authors like Kant, Hegel, Laski, Russel, Marx and Lenin etc. He devoted some time to writing also. He translated Marie Curie’s life history and also wrote about Quit India Movement. In fact, he was highly impressed by self-less service rendered by Marie Curie. Like Jawahar Lal Nehru, he put to maximum use the time of his imprisonment. Jawaharlal Nehru and purshottam Das Tandon, besides Gandhiji, impressed him the most.
He was given different responsibilities such as General Secretary of the Congress, Union Home Minister and later on as Prime Minister. He shouldered them all with great success.
Before assuming ministerial position in the cabinet, he was minister in charge of Police in ‘Uttar Pradesh. He made a lot of improvement in his departments and won popular acclaim. In 1962, Pandit Jawahar. Lal Nehru invited him to join Union Cabinet as Railway Minister. During his minister ship, a railway accident occurred at Mehboob Nagar in Hyderabad due to the carelessness of a junior employee. Shastriji took the entire responsibility on himself and submitted his resignation, which he didn’t take back despite persuasion by Pt. Nehru. Thus he established the highest democratic tradition.
As prime minister he had to face a multitude of problems. In fact, he assumed the office of Prime Minister immediately after the death of Jawahar Lal Nehru. Pakistan adopted a hostile attitude towards India which resulted in a full-fledged Indo-Pak War in 1965. The country was already facing drought condition. Many state governments were pressurising the Union Government for help. Such a situation was bed of thorns for the new Prime Minister.
During Indo-Pak war, Lal Bahadur Shastri showed rare quality of courage and determination. He also demonstrated that he possessed remarkable qualities of leadership. His speeches during the war inspired the people of India.
They were galvanised. He gave a slogan “Jai Jawan Jai Kissan”. The slogan instilled in the forces a triumphant spirit. Indian Jawan did show his mettle in the war and the enemy had to suffer heavy losses and was forced to come to the negotiation-table.
Russian Government offered good offices and Tashkant Agreement was signed by both the countries India and Pakistan. Immediately after the declaration he succumbed to a massive heart attack. He died on 11th Jan, 1966. The tragic news of his death at Tashkant spread-like a wild fire. Now Vijayghat stands memorial to this heroic man.
Lal Bahadur Shastri was truly a great man who gave less importance to himself and more to institutions. For he knew that when the individual puts himself above institutions both suffer as a consequence. This trait of his endeared him to the Indian people and carved for him a permanent niche in their heart.
Essay No. 03
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri was the second Prime Minister of India. As a true patriot and great leader he dedicated his life in the service of his country.
He was born on October 2nd in the year 1904 in a poor family of teachers. He did his early education at Kashi Vidya Peeth at Varanasi. Inspite of his poverty he pursued his education. He was a brilliant student.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi he plunged himself into the freedom struggle and was sent to prison eight times by the Britishers. Being a man of determination, nothing could shake his faith.
Shastriji could not bear the suffering of the people and he was deeply moved by the plight of his country’s people. With the earnest wish to end the suffering of his people he joined politics.
In 1952, Shastriji was made the General Secretary of the Congress and later in 1961, he became the Minister of Home Affairs.
In 1964 Shastriji became the Prime Minister after the death of Pt. Nehru. During his Prime Ministership he had to face many crises like famine, flood and most importantly the 1965 War with Pakistan in the Jammu Sector.
Being a peace lover, he went to Tashkent in Russia for peace talk with Pakistan and signed the Tashkent Agreement with Pakistan. It was in Tashkent, on 11th January, 1966 after signing the agreement that he died of heart attack.
He had a soft corner for the Indian farmer, as he considered them the backbone of India. It was he who gave the popular slogan “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan.”
Shastriji was a dedicated leader, in whom there was a great blend of flexibility, patience, perseverance and firmness and because of these qualities he won the hearts of his countrymen.
He was one of the greatest leaders of India and though he is no longer with us, his ideals and his memories are still alive in the hearts of the masses.
