The weather was cloudy. The sun was about to take a dip in the western horizon. Darkness was slowly envelop- ing the sunshine. A school-return boy had stood  by the side of the river Ganges which was full to the brim. The boat man charged a single copper as ferry charge, but the boy was so poor that he had not even in possession of a single copper to pay as the ferry charge. Without any consideration he leapt into the river,  swam, crossed the river and reached home safe and sound.

In another occasion,  once he was addressing a mammoth crowd in a meeting when he was the Railway Minister of India.  An octogenarian old lady was crying to see her son; but she was obstructed by the police not to cross the cordon. From a distance the minister could see that she was none else than his mother. He came down the dais and bowed down before her who congratulated him out of glee. The whole mass was stunned to see the venerable respect paid by the hon’ble minister to his old mother.

Again, in the mean time while working as the Railway Minister, once his grandson approached him and asked for a paltry sum of money to purchase a slate which he could not afford to pay and patted the grandson telling him to wait till the 1st day of the next month  when he will get his salary and able to pay the amount.  He was Lal Bahadur Shastri — late lamented Prime  Minister  of  India, who has occupied a special throne in the heart of all Indians as an apostle of peace. Shastriji’s  honesty  and integrity was above board.

Shastriji was a  devotee of the truth and nonviolence — a true disciple of Mahatma Gandhi, who dedicated his life for the sake of the motherland. He was born on 2nd October, 1904 in Mughalsarai’ in Baranasi district as the only son of his poverty stricken father Sarada Prasad and mother Ram Dulari.  His parents’ religious character greatly influenced Lal Bahadur. His uncle Raghunath Prasad helped him for his higher education. Lal Bahadur was a hard working,  disciplined and attentive student. ‘Swaraj is my  birth right’ — the slogan given by  Bal Gangadhar Tilak greatly influenced him.

Sastriji  left his education at the call of Gandhiji and joined the Non Co-operation  movement in 1921 and courted imprisonment at a premature age. Subsequently he took admission in Kasi Bidyapith where from he was awarded the title of Shastri. Born and brought up in a poor family he realized the tinge of sorrow and sufferings of poor for which he was very much sympathetic towards poor and joined as a life member of Bharat Sevak Samaj in 1926 and subsequently became its President. In order to free our motherland from the clutch of British Rule he was imprisoned for more than nine years.

After Independence Shastriji  became a minister in Uttar Pradesh Assembly, there after M.P. of Rajyasabha. In 1951 he joined Jawaharlal Nehru’s ministry as minister of Railways and did a lot of improvement in Railway Department.  A serious Railway accident occurred in Ariyalur station which took a heavy toll of  human lives. Shastriji burst into tears and immediately resigned in 1956.  This sort of selfless sacrifice by taking the responsibility on his own hand is rather a sparkling examples for others to imitate. In 1957, Shastriji returned to the Cabinet following the General Elections, first as the Minister for Transport and Communications, and then as the Minister of Commerce and Industry. In 1961, he became the Home Minister.

Shastriji was very close to the  Nehru who had implicit faith on him. After the death of  Pandit  Nehru Shastriji became the Prime Minister of India in 1964. He did a lot of improvement by bringing ‘Green revolution’ by which India became self sufficient in the matter of ‘Food production’.  Being envious Pakistan raised war all on a sudden in August 1965, but Shastriji was not perturbed. Our army  gave a reply  in bullet against bullet. Pakistan was about to defeat. The Indo-Pak war ended on September 23, 1965 with a United Nations-mandated cease-fire.

After the declaration of cease-fire, Shastriji and Pakistani President Muhammad Ayub Khan attended a summit in Tashkent (former USSR), organized by  Kosygin. On January 10, 1966, Shastriji and Khan signed the Tashkent  Declaration. The next day Shastriji, who had suffered two heart attacks earlier, died of a heart attack at 1:32 am. Tears rolled from the eyes of not only Indian but throughout the people of the world.

Shastriji was at little stature but he was a dexterous brave hero. All his lifetime, he was known for honesty and humility. His slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan’ enthused the spirit of action in the hearts of all Indians. He loved peace and died for peace. Therefore he is popularly known as ‘Apostle of peace’. He was the first person to be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, and a memorial “Vijay Ghat” was built for him in Delhi.  He will be ever remembered and his name finds a place in ‘Golden letters’ in History of India.